For the exhibition Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present in Museum of Modern Art, Abramović performed in the atrium every day the Museum was open between March 14 and May 31, 2010. Visitors were encouraged to sit silently across from the artist for a duration of their choosing, becoming participants in the artwork. Through silently breathing and eye-contacting with the artist, participants are challenged to find their presence in the public space.
T Magazine recently posted a video of Abramović training the performances at the exhibit and discussing performance art.
In Rhythm 0, artist Marina Abramović allowed people to use one of the 72 objects, such as chains, feathers, a Polaroid camera, olive oil, razor blades, an axe, a rose, a bullet and a gun, on the table in any way that they chose upon her for six hours. During the project, she stood totally passive and surrendered control of her body to the participators without knowing what the result would be. As time passed, Abramović noted that people began to act more aggressively while they reacted with caution and modesty at the very beginning. The consistent allowance of trust juxtaposed the increasing degree of violence she received, as those intimate actions were neither written at her behest or subject to her approval.
