It illustrates how quickly civilized behavior can vanish when individuals feel they are not held accountable.
The instructions for Rhythm 0 were disarmingly clear. On a small sign, she wrote:
This is the segment of the that shocks most viewers. The atmosphere in the room turns electric and hostile.
"I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility." The Duration: Six hours, from evening until late night.
There were flashes of tenderness. One visitor read poetry into her ear; another carefully fed her grapes. For every intimate kindness, a harsher impulse surfaced: a man aimed the gun at her, then at the crowd, and someone cheered. When the bullet remained untouched and the safety unexamined, the decision hung like a question mark over the whole experiment.
By declaring herself an object and taking full legal and physical responsibility, Abramović stripped away the social contract. The audience was given total autonomy, completely free from the fear of consequences or retaliation. The Progression: From Shyness to Sadism