She noted two things:

They lift her onto the table. They spread her legs. They insert a metal rod into her vagina. They cut her clothes completely off with the razor blade.

The audience has stopped seeing a person.

In 1974, the Serbian artist Marina Abramović asked that question not with words, but with her own body. The result was a six-hour performance piece called Rhythm 0 — and it remains one of the most disturbing, essential works of art ever created.

The audience was shy and polite. They kissed her, gave her a rose, or moved her arms gently.

A woman was applying lipstick to Marina’s face, but not on her lips. She had drawn a crude, smearing red circle around the artist's mouth. Another man was holding the feather, tickling her under the chin.