Artist who let people ‘do anything to her’ did another piece that 'could have killed her at any moment'

An artist known for performing risky and thought-provoking stunts started putting her life in danger very early on in her career.

Marina Abramović, now 78, quickly became well respected in the art community after she let spectators do anything they wanted to her body for six hours straight.

Quite frankly, 'Rhythm 0' is one of the most shocking displays of art you'll see. In 1974, the Serbian artist gave members of the public free rein over her body for six hours.

People had 72 objects to choose from and could use them on her in any way.

Participants had access to flowers, perfume and apples, as well as seriously dangerous items such as razors and knives.

Someone famously held a loaded gun to her head with the artist's finger on the trigger. After six hours, Marina had been stripped of her clothes and her skin was slashed.

Just three years later, however, she performed her riskiest stunt to date called 'Rest Energy' with a German visual artist named Ulay.

Marina Abramović risked her life with this 'Rest Energy' performance in 1980 (Marina Abramovic Institute)

The four-minute act involved Marina leaning backward as her weight was suspended only by the tension of a bow, held by her partner.

It was a terrifying balancing act with an arrow being aimed directly at her heart.

Relying entirely on each other's control and focus, the sound of their accelerated heartbeats was recorded via a microphone.

If either one of them let it slip, an arrow would have gone right through her.

The title itself refers to Albert Einstein’s famous equation E=mc² and the energy in a body at rest.

In the context of the performance though, it becomes a paradox as there is nothing restful about it.

Thankfully, Marina survived (YouTube)

"I have made two pieces in my life that were most dangerous for me," she told Art Monthly.

"The best pieces are the ones where I’m not in control. In the one called Rhythm 0 the public was in control – they could do whatever they wanted with me.

"The other one was this piece which was based on trust – if either of us lost control, the arrow would go straight into my heart.

"It was simple. We held the bow and arrow with our weight until we really could not hold it any more.

"We had to release at the same time."

The performance ended when Abramović and Ulay slowly released the tension in the bow, stepped back from their positions and disengaged.

Thankfully, no one was harmed as the piece ended in complete silence. For both performers, and the audience, it was a deeply emotional release of relief.