6th Action
Rudolf Schwarzkogler
Austrian, 1940–1969
1966
A gelatin silver print documenting a staged performance by Rudolf Schwarzkogler in which a heavily bandaged figure and clinical props are arranged to stage a ritualized exploration of bodily pain and the limits of representation.
The photograph hits with a clinical stillness: a shrouded, anonymous body bent over a mirror‑black panel while a coiled stethoscope and bandages give the scene the charged ambiguity of both medical care and menace.
Emerging from 1960s Viennese Actionism, this work turned performance into carefully composed photographic tableaux, forcing viewers to confront the body as a site of ritual, trauma, and mediated spectacle.
Medium
Gelatin silver print, printed 1982
Dimensions
13 5/16 × 13 5/16" (33.8 × 33.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Family of Man Fund
Accession
177.1998.58
Palette
Exhibitions
