The performance ended after six hours, with Abramović having been subjected to a wide range of actions. The results were both disturbing and thought-provoking. Abramović aimed to explore:
In the final hour, a man loaded the gun, placed it in her hand, and aimed it at her neck. A fight broke out among audience members as a protective group intervened to stop him. The Aftermath and Legacy marina abramovic experiment 1974
In what would become a landmark (and harrowing) work of performance art, Abramović tested a simple but dangerous hypothesis: If given absolute freedom without consequence, how far will people go? The performance ended after six hours, with Abramović
"There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired. I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility. Duration: 6 hours." The Descent: From Curiosity to Cruelty A fight broke out among audience members as
Spectators began to use the "pain" objects. Her skin was slashed with razors, rose thorns were pressed into her stomach, and one man even drank the blood from a cut on her neck.
Abramović’s premise was deceptively simple. She stood still for six hours, offering herself as a "passive object" for the audience to interact with. Beside her was a table with , ranging from items of pleasure (a rose, honey, perfume) to items of pain and death (scissors, a scalpel, a whip, and a gun loaded with a single bullet ).
Initially, the audience was cautious and gentle. People offered her a rose, kissed her, or moved her arms into different poses.