Rhythm 0 Official

In October 1974, at the Studio Morra in Naples, Italy, 28-year-old Marina Abramović enacted a radical departure from her earlier, more acoustically driven performances (such as Rhythm 10 ). She proposed a simple, terrifying equation: For six hours, Abramović stood motionless, having washed her hair and removed all jewelry to signify the stripping of identity. On a nearby table lay 72 objects, meticulously categorized between pleasure and pain: a feather boa, olive oil, a scalpel, a chain, a loaded pistol with a single bullet. A sign instructed: “Instructions. There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired. I am the object. I take full responsibility. Duration: 6 hours (8 PM – 2 AM).”

Rhythm 0 is often taught alongside the and Milgram’s obedience studies (1963) . However, Abramović’s work offers a crucial distinction: there was no authority figure demanding obedience. The audience was self-authorizing. rhythm 0

Advanced Topics in Performance Art and Social Psychology Date: April 14, 2026 In October 1974, at the Studio Morra in

Rhythm 0 was not a performance about Marina Abramović. It was a performance about you —the audience member, the citizen, the human being stripped of surveillance and consequence. This paper will explore how Abramović’s radical passivity functioned as a catalyst for collective psychosis, how the performance’s infamous “second act” of violence was not a failure of art but its horrifying success, and why the piece remains the most cited, most disturbing case study in the ethics of participation. A sign instructed: “Instructions