Featured Image Credit: Darren Gerrish/WireImage for Serpentine Gallery via Getty/Marina Abramović Institute/YouTube
Topics: Art, Marina Abramović
Callum Jones
Topics: Art, Marina Abramović
An artist who accepted she was 'ready to die' after allowing spectators to do anything they liked to her for six hours has explained the mad reasoning behind it.
Back in 1974, Marina Abramovic allowed the public free rain of her body for six hours in a controversial art piece.
Spectators involved were provided with 72 objects they could 'use' on the artist as they desired.
No matter what they did, Abramovic said she would take 'full responsibility'.
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While some of the items were less harmful such as an apple and perfume, more damaging items like razors and knives were also included.
Spectators were tame at first, but events shortly took a sinister turn as a knife was stuck between the artist's legs half-way through the experiment.
One individual reportedly cut her neck to drink her blood, while another showcased the other side of humanity by wiping away her tears and trying to intervene.
As the shocking artist's performance has been talked about a lot in recent times, everyone is asking the same question... why would Abramovic do it?
Well, speaking with The Museum of Modern Art, Abramovic revealed the controversial piece was a response to criticism artists were getting in the 1970s.
Back then, artists were continuing to push boundaries and create incredible pieces of art.
However, the rise of performance artists was not liked by some of the public, so Abramovic thought she'd prove a point.
She said: "In the beginning, the public was really very much playing with me. Later on, it became more and more aggressive.
"It was six hours of real horror. They would cut my clothes. They will cut me with a knife, close to my neck, and drink my blood, and then put the plaster over the wound."
The artist continued: "They will carry me around, half-naked, put me on the table, and stuck the knife between my legs into the wood."
Abramovic also reflected on the performance on the Marina Abramovic Institute YouTube channel, dubbing the piece as 'really difficult'. Surely the understatement of the century.
"The experience I drew from this piece was that in your own performances you can go very far, but if you leave decisions to the public, you can be killed," she said.
In a separate interview with the Guardian, Abramovic admitted she was 'ready to die'.