It is often discussed alongside social psychology experiments regarding authority and group behavior, showing how quickly social norms can dissolve.
This is the phase that makes legendary. The audience loaded the pistol and placed it in her hand, forcing her finger around the trigger, pointing it at her own head. A fight broke out in the gallery. One group wanted to force her to pull the trigger (the bullet was real; the gun was loaded). Another group, horrified, tried to intervene.
The reaction of the crowd was immediate: many fled the room. Faced with the reality of the person they had just treated as an inanimate object, many participants could not maintain eye contact. By reclaiming her humanity, Abramović forced them to confront their own behavior during the performance.
: Available via SSRN , this paper discusses the fusion of performance art and psychology, detailing how the 70+ objects served as catalysts for exploring the psychological responses of the participants.
The instructions for Rhythm 0 were simple, stark, and posted clearly on the gallery wall: marina abramovic rhythm 0
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 (8 pm – 2 am).
Initially, the public was really very much playing with me. They'd move my arms and joke around.
The performance was divided into three phases, illustrating a rapid decline in morality:
On the evening of the performance, Abramović placed a long table against a wall. On it, she laid out 72 objects. They ranged from the gentle to the grotesque: A fight broke out in the gallery
The most iconic and horrifying moment occurred when a participant pointed the loaded gun at her head. A fight broke out among audience members who were divided between those wanting to protect her and those willing to see her murdered.
Abramović, now clothed in shredded rags and covered in blood and marks, finally began to move. She took on the role of a living, breathing human being again and walked toward the audience, looking them directly in the eyes. The reaction of the crowd was telling: .
On an evening in 1974, at the Galleria Studio Morra in Naples, Abramović began her most famous and terrifying work. She stood motionless in the center of a room, next to a simple white-draped table upon which she had arranged 72 objects. The objects ranged from gentle items that could give pleasure to instruments of intense pain and even death. A note on the table laid out the rules:
For the duration of the performance, Abramović declared herself a passive object. She stood motionless in a room containing a table with 72 objects The reaction of the crowd was immediate: many fled the room
Rhythm 0 took place at Studio Morra in Naples, Italy. Abramović was already known for pushing her physical limits in her previous Rhythm series, but this performance shifted the focus from her own actions to the actions of the audience. She placed a simple notice on the wall:
Rhythm 0 brutally demonstrated how quickly a group of people, given absolute power and absolved of responsibility, can descend into savagery. It mirrored findings from notorious psychology experiments like the Stanford Prison Experiment, showing how easily ordinary individuals can be transformed into perpetrators when they are part of a faceless crowd and face no consequences for their actions.
The performance remains a significant case study in both art history and social psychology. It parallels findings in experiments regarding deindividuation and the loss of moral restraint in group settings. By surrendering her agency, Abramović forced the audience to confront their own capacity for both compassion and cruelty. Legacy and Impact