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Instructions: There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired.

Performance: I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.

Duration: 6 hours (8pm–2am.) Studio Morra, Naples

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[–] 274 points 2 years ago (7 children)

As Abramović described it later: "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."

I swear so many people are actual psychopaths and just good at hiding it.

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  • [–] 119 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    A lot of people aren't even good at hiding it, their traits are just seen as virtues in our modern capitalist society

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  • [–] 51 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    what always stand out to me every time I come across this story is the person who took the gun away

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  • [–] 39 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    What would you even do? If I saw this as an advertised event, I wouldn't go. Neither participating or spectating sounds very interesting. Only psychopaths are going to show up.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    This sums it up for me. An invitation can be open to everyone, but the activity they're being invited to will determine what sort of people show up. When I read, "Come and do whatever you like to an unresisting human who will sit still for six hours," I immediately turn away--not just because I'm not interested in "doing whatever I like" to a person, but because I don't want to be in a room with the crowd of people that I imagine would want to do whatever they like to a person.

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  • [–] 36 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    The authorities should recreate this act to use as a honeypot to identify all the psychos in society.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    The British have something similar at Buckingham palace. Theirs these guards that just stand around being motionless as possible which attracts people who want to do funny shit to them. They attempt funny shit and get arrested

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    And do what? Being a psycho isn't illegal in itself.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Assault is, and much of what was done to her would qualify.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Is it still assault if it's consensual?

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Most likely. For example you can't consent to allowing someone to kill you - see the case where a man agreed to be killed and eaten by someone else.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3286721.stm

    The man who killed him was ultimately convicted.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Wait was the gun fake or real

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  • [–] 36 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It was real and loaded. The actor was commited to any outcome including being murdered on stage.

    The audience first tested the waters and gradually escalated to more extreme forms of violence. When the violence started the audience factionalized into those who were committed to stopping her from being shot, arguing and shaming aggressors or physically stepping in.

    While I don't know if I can condone the piece ethically it certainly says more about human nature than most art pieces.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I hope someone made a list of everyone who hurt that poor woman.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Weirdly I don't know if I could class her as a "poor woman" ? She was the one who set up all the objects on the table which included ones that were potentially lethal and she specified the parameters of the piece and very specifically could have stopped the performance at any time by moving of her own volition and speaking. She went into it accepting her own murder as a potential outcome and was committed to carrying on regardless of what happened. It being an art peice would not have protected a participant from a murder charge while assult charges have to be made by the victim of the assault... So there was at least that.

    While she may not have been able to account for the long term psychological effects and may have had some initial optimism that people would not choose the darker options made available... I think terming her a "poor woman" might actually be dismissive of the actual volition and personal grit she had in the construction and performance of the piece? While it may have been ballsy to the point bordering madness dangerous stunt performances where athletes risk death for their audiences are a thing and those performers go in with the same expectation of potential fatality.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Nah, blaming her is weaksauce. It's not about the art show. It's about the fact that people were hurting an innocent woman -- and she is innocent regardless of her choices -- and doing shit they're not supposed to be doing regardless of what she says.

    The people who made the choice to hurt her should have been recorded and exposed so we know who to trust and who we can't.

    The art show exposed a truth that humanity has to learn to accept if it's to protect itself from evil.

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