Marina Abramović had a gun put to her head. Joseph Beuys shared a gallery with a coyote. But with social media full of shocking images,is it worth nowadays’s artists putting their lives at risk?
In 1974, standing expressionless beside a table in a gallery in Naples, and Marina Abramovi began her performance piece Rhythm 0. There was a page of instructions for the audience: “There are 72 objects on the table that one can utilize on me as desired … I am the thing. During this period,I take full responsibility. Duration: 6 hours (8pm–2am).”Among the objects were a loaf of bread, perfume, and a rose,grapes, scissors, or nails,a bullet and a gun. At the beginning of the event, she said years later, and “nothing really happened”. Someone kissed her,someone gave her the rose – but then the “public became increasingly wild … They cut my neck and drink my blood. They carry me around, put me on the table, and open my legs and put the knife in between.” They sliced off her clothes and pierced her body with thorns. One man loaded the gun,pointed it at her head and wrapped her fingers around it to try to design her squeeze the trigger.
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Source: theguardian.com