Abramović stood passively in a room with a table containing 72 objects and a set of instructions: Instructions
She noted that the violence escalated not because the individuals were monsters, but because of diffusion of responsibility . Each person thought, "I only cut her shirt—I didn't pull the trigger." But collectively, they brutalized her. The video is a masterclass in mob psychology: the nicer the objects were used first (rose, feather), the more permission the crowd felt to use the violent ones later. marina abramovic rhythm 0 performance video
In the video, we see a young, brunette Abramović standing motionless behind a wooden table. She is wearing a simple white blouse and jeans. On the table are 72 objects, arranged like a market stall of doom. They range from benevolent (a rose, a feather, honey) to utilitarian (a scalpel, scissors, a hammer) to lethal (a loaded pistol with one bullet). Abramović stood passively in a room with a
If you're interested in experiencing the performance for yourself, the video documentation of "Rhythm 0" is available online. Please note that the video contains some disturbing and violent content. In the video, we see a young, brunette
She then placed a sign on the wall that read:
If you spend any time in the dark corners of YouTube exploring performance art, you will inevitably stumble upon it: a six-minute video set to haunting, ambient music, showing a woman standing still in a gallery while people around her cry, undress her, and point a loaded gun at her head.
The objects were categorized into items associated with physical comfort and those associated with potential harm. They included common household items like a rose and grapes, alongside sharp tools and heavy implements. Six Hours of Human Behavior