Rhytm 4

The work consists of six photographs, arranged in two sequences, which show the artist, naked, standing in the corner of an empty room in front of a large, working industrial fan. She is first positioned facing the fan, then turns her back and kneels, then poses with her arms crossed, finally crouching in the corner. This is a photographic documentation of a performance from the Ritmo (Rhythm) series, in which the artist subjects herself to progressively more intense physical stress in public, pushing the limits of her endurance. The aim is to demonstrate her maximum control and the ability to tolerate all kinds of fear, humiliation, pain and fatigue. Marina Abramovic began performing between 1973 and 1976, so Ritmo Quattro belongs to the initial phase of her exploration , now widely recognised as a pivotal moment in the history of performance art.