Exploring the dangerously shocking performance art of Marina Abramović
Performance art is a contentious topic, harnessing reactions that range from extreme awe to jaded eye rolls. The medium has often received a reputation for being pretentious, yet this can be said about elements of every art form. While there certainly are performance artists who have prioritised an ostentatious display over genuine meaning, many have pushed themselves to the absolute limits, creating unforgettable artworks that explore human nature in a way no other medium can.
One of the most groundbreaking and bold performance artists is Marina Abramović from Serbia. Born in 1946, she studied art in Belgrade before completing her post-graduate studies in Croatia. The artist’s first pieces were performed in the early 1970s, beginning with the Russian knife game. Abramović explored the relationship between the mind, gesture, and ritual, using 20 knives to stab between her fingers, sometimes accidentally slicing herself. She recorded the ritual before replaying the tape, studying the sounds and attempting to replicate them.
The following year, 1974, she took her art to the next level by lighting a petroleum-drenched star for Rhythm 5. Abramović threw pieces of her hair and fingernails into the star before jumping through the flames and standing in the middle. The artist wanted to test the limits of pain, yet, she unintentionally passed out. As the fire got closer, she was removed from the setup, later writing, “I was very angry because I understood there is a physical limit. When you lose consciousness, you can’t be present, you can’t perform.”
This experience would probably put most people off from performing such dangerous stunts, yet Abramović incorporated it into her next piece, Rhythm 2. Interested in the relationship between the mind and the physical body, she ingested several pills, including one “given to patients who suffer from catatonia, to force them to change the positions of their bodies”, she stated. Abramović experienced seizures, yet she remained completely aware of her body’s involuntary movements, observing herself in a detached state. That was until she took a second pill for depression and extreme anger issues, which forced her into a dreamlike state that she could not recall.
Angered by audiences interfering with her work, Abramović decided to directly involve them in 1974’s Rhythm 0. It remains her most famous piece, highlighting the violence and cruelty inherent in many humans. For six hours, Abramović tested the limits of her audience by allowing them to do anything they wanted to her. She provided 72 objects on a table next to her, ranging from a feather to a gun. Discussing the piece, the artist explained, “What is the public about, and what are they going to do in this kind of situation?”
In Frazer Ward’s No Innocent Bystanders: Performance Art and Audience, he detailed the night’s events: “It began tamely. Someone turned her around. Someone thrust her arms into the air. Someone touched her somewhat intimately. The Neapolitan night began to heat up. In the third hour, all her clothes were cut from her with razor blades. In the fourth hour, the same blades began to explore her skin. Her throat was slashed so someone could suck her blood. Various minor sexual assaults were carried out on her body.”
“She was so committed to the piece that she would not have resisted rape or murder. Faced with her abdication of will, with its implied collapse of human psychology, a protective group began to define itself in the audience. When a loaded gun was thrust to Marina’s head and her own finger was being worked around the trigger, a fight broke out between the audience factions.”
Abramović claimed that the performance “pushed her body to the limits” and truly horrified her. “What I learned was that if you leave it up to the audience, they can kill you … I felt really violated: they cut up my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach, one person aimed the gun at my head, and another took it away. It created an aggressive atmosphere. After exactly 6 hours, as planned, I stood up and started walking toward the audience. Everyone ran away, to escape an actual confrontation.”
The performance cemented Abramović as one of the most daring artists of her kind. By objectifying her body, she made a bold feminist statement that risked genuine assault and even death. Following this, she continued performing risky stunts like Rest Energy, in which she and fellow artist Ulay balanced an arrow between themselves aimed at Abramović’s heart. It required total trust and concentration, with the artist referring to it as the most challenging performance she has ever done.
