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15 Extreme Pieces Of Performance Art

RIP our innocence.

15 Extreme Pieces Of Performance Art

May 16, 2021

If you’ve never thought of prancing around in public wearing a suit made entirely out of chicken skins, then you’re probably not a performance artist. Or maybe you just have, like, normal nightmares. We’re not going to pretend to know what goes on in the minds of the following people, is what we’re saying. Also, fair warning: Know that some of these entries may be disturbing to some. We tried to add some palate cleansers. We tried.

15

"Flesh" by Victor Ivanov and Lewis G. Burton

PERFORMANCE ART FLESH British artists Victor Ivanov and Lewis G. Burton took a huge amount of chicken skins and sewed them together to create a bodysuit. Burton then wore it in public. They also made a mock exercise video wearing the suit, as well as a line of merchandise that included curtains and wallpaper. CRACKED.COM — Artnet

14

"Being Green" by Jess Dobkin

PERFORMANCE ART BEING GREEN In 2009, artist Jess Dobkin painted herself green from head to toe, put on a Kermit the Frog collar, and had her assistant-dressed as Jim Henson-fist her on stage while she lip-synched to It's Not Easy Being Green. CRACKED.COM — 6 Perverted Sexual Fantasies People Passed Off As 'Art'

13

"The Lovers" by Marina Abramovic and Ulay

PERFORMANCE ART THE LOVERS In 1983, Serbian and German performance artists Marina Abramovic and Ulay decided to walk the Great Wall of China from opposite ends to join in the middle and get married. It took years to get everything set up with permission from the Beijing authorities, and the walk finally began on March 30, 1988. But it wasn't about getting married anymore. Instead, it was about a break-up. After walking for 90 days, they met each other on a stone bridge, embraced, and went their separate ways. CRACKED.COM — The Guardian

12

"Eschatology:" by Arthur Berzinsh

PERFORMANCE ART ESCHATOLOGY. THE LIVE-STREAM CANNIBALISM In 2018, Latvian artist Arthur Berzinsh live-streamed a cannibal performance piece Where two performers had a piece of their flesh cut off, fried, and fed to them. The artist said that it was a metaphor about a consumers society consuming itself. CRACKED.COM — Artnet

11

The "Rooster-Penis" Performance by Steven Cohen

PERFORMANCE ART THE ROOSTER-PENIS PERFORMANCE South African artist Steven Cohen was arrested in France in 2014 for walking with a rooster tethered to his penis with a ribbon near the Eiffel Tower. Cohen said the piece was about an increasingly homophobic, xenophobic and anti-Semitic world. He used a rooster because it's the emblem of France. CRACKED.COM — Reuters

10

"The Artist is Humbly Present" by Lisa Levy

PERFORMANCE ART THE ARTIST IS HUMBLY PRESENT Lisa Levy sat naked on a toilet for five hours a day in a studio in New York, with another toilet placed opposite her Where people could sit and connect with her. It was meant to be the antithesis of Marina Abramovic's performance in The Artist Is Present. CRACKED.COM — Artnet, The Artist Is Present

9

"Seedbed" by Vito Acconci

PERFORMANCE ART VITO ACCONCI'S SEEDBED In 1972, Acconci built a ramp in a studio, climbed under the floorboards, and masturbated for eight hours a day while people walked across the ramp and listened to him monologuing his sexual fantasies about them over a microphone. CRACKED.COM — Tate video

8

"The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan by Orlan"

PERFORMANCE ART THE REINCARNATION OF SAINT ORLAN BY ORLAN The artist Orlan did a series of videotaped plastic surgeries in which she was to be transformed into a composite image she made of herself that fused features from the Mona Lisa, Botticelli's Venus, Jean-Leon Gerome's Psyche, and Francois Boucher's Europa. CRACKED.COM — JSTOR

7

Russian Performance Art

PERFORMANCE ART FIXATION Russian artist and political protester Petr Pavlensky kneeled in the middle of Red Square in 2013, took a Crucifixion-style nail and attached his scrotum to the paving stones to symbolize the passive nature of his country's people. CRACKED.COM — The New York Times

6

"3rd I" by Wafaa Bilal

PERFORMANCE ART THE 3RD I NYU professor and Iraq-bor artist Wafaa Bilal surgically implanted a camera into the back of his head in 2010 and embarked on a year-long surveillance project, publishing the photos captured to the web and calling it the things we leave behind as well as commentary about surveillance. At one point he had to get surgery because his body rejected one of the titanium posts anchoring the device to his skull. CRACKED.COM — Huffington Post, CNN

5

"Futureclown:" by Rachel Mason

PERFORMANCE ART FUTURECLOWN. THE REENACTMENT OF RAND PAUL'S 13-HOUR FILIBUSTER. When artist Rachel Mason heard Paul's filibuster over the news, she decided that it would make for a great performance art piece, so she dressed as a eaky-looking clown and lip-synched the entire thing to the original audio CRACKED.COM — Rachel Mason YouTube video

4

"Fire Angel" by Walker Babington

PERFORMANCE ART FIRE ANGEL In 2014, artist Walker Babington took the concept of snow angels, set himself on fire wearing fireproof clothing, and proceeded to make a fire angel on a wooden panel dropped over him for 30 seconds. CRACKED.COM — Vimeo

3

"Art Whore" by Cheng Li

PERFORMANCE ART ART WHORE Performance artist Cheng Li was sentenced to a year in a Chinese Labor camp for having sex with his assistant in front of a private audience in public. Cheng said that the piece was about the popular trend of commercializing art is nothing but a trade of sex for commercial benefits. CRACKED.COM — Huffington Post

2

"Casting off my womb:" by Casey Jenkins

PERFORMANCE ART CASTING OFF MY WOMB: VAGINAL KNITTING Feminist artist Casey Jenkins spent 28 days knitting from wool inserted into her vulva. The Australian artist said: I hope that people question the fears and the negative associations they have with the vulva. CRACKED.COM — Gawker

1

"Shrapnel:" by Adrian Parsons

PERFORMANCE ART SHRAPNEL: THE LIVE CIRCUNCISION Artist Adrian Parsons performed a live circumcision using a dull Swiss army knife. He then stuffed his foreskin into a glory hole at The Warehouse Gallery. The performance was meant to penetrate the gallery and audience using organic shrapnel. CRACKED.COM — Washington City Paper, Huffington Post

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