The most controversial works of performance art

When it comes to performance art, the odds are that whatever the work it will likely be controversial in
some shape or form. From the anarchic dadaist movement that came out of Zurichs Cabaret Voltaire
in 1916 and Joseph Beuys cradling a dead hare to the disturbing performances of Hermann Nitschs
blood-drinking and ritualistic incorporation of human entrails, performance arts shock value often far
surpasses alternative media. That being said, it is also often the medium most worthy of critique and
ridicule.
But performance art isnt all about getting naked and proclaiming transcedent statements about the
universe. At its best, performance art can be dangerous and relevant, tearing away the veneer of
civilisation. In Cut Piece, Yoko Ono allowed visitors to cut her clothes with scissors, and in doing so
took an aim at the violent treatment of women in society. Chris Burden offered genuine personal risk
as artistic expression in his 1971 piece Shoot, where he was shot in the arm with a rifle from close
range.
It would be unthinkable not to mention Marina Abramovi; the doyenne of performance art, she has
one of the most robust oeuvres. In the past, Abramovi allowed viewers to pierce her skin with thorns
and point loaded guns at her head, look into her eyes for 736 hours, and watch her almost die in a
flaming five-point star. To celebrate her latest exhibition at Londons Serpentine, 512 Hours, in which
visitors can view Abramovi doing nothing for eight hours a day, six days a week, we take a look at
ten of the most controversial performance artworks in recent times.
SEBASTIAN HORSLEY CRUCIFIXION (2000)
When British painter Sebastian Horsley wanted to paint the crucifixion, he decided it was necessary
to be actually crucified in order to understand the biblical event better. He travelled to the Philippines
and paid 2,000 for the experience of having five-inch nails hammered through his hands, while being
hoisted onto a cross. As well as the indescribable pain and losing consciousness, Horsley explained
he felt hallucinogenic endorphins during the half hour process, despite his foot support breaking
beneath at one point.
MAO SUGIYAMA TESTICLE BANQUET (2012)
As the famous saying goes, you cant have your testicles and eat them. Unfortunately, Japanese man
Mao Sugiyama wasnt present for that class. The self-described "asexual" decided to have his
genitals fried up for a banquet to raise awareness about "sexual minorities, x-gender, asexual
people. Five people paid around 100,000 yen (600) in total, to consume the severed penis,

testicles, and scrotal skin alongside a garnish of button mushrooms and Italian parsley. Sugiyama
was later threatened by police with charges of indecent exposure.

Mao Sugiyama
WAFAA BILAL THE 3RD I (2010-11)
Visual artist and New York University professor Wafaa Bilal spent many years living a nomadic
existence in the Middle East, and became sick of it. His piece, The 3rd I, saw Bilal have a titanium
plate implanted into the back of his head, while a camera was attached capturing an image every
minute for 24 hours a day, automatically posting online. According to Bilal, it would raise "important
social, aesthetic, political, technological and artistic questions," but due to privacy issues, he was
forced to cover the camera while on campus.

MILO MOIRE PLOPEGG (2014)

At Art Cologne 2014, Swiss artist Milo Moir stood naked on a pair of stepladders outside the
German art fair, proceeding to squeeze paint-filled eggs out of her vagina. Each egg smashed on the
blank canvas below, creating a supposedly colourful expression of fertile creativity. Moir explained:
Im interested in pushing boundaries through art, living and expressing my art with my body and mind
while opening mental doors.
ALIZA SHVARTS ABORTION ART (2008)
There arent many topics more controversial than abortion. Aliza Shvarts tackled the issue by
repeatedly artificially inseminating herself and carrying out self-induced abortions every month, using
legal, herbal drugs. At the time a PhD student in Performance Studies at Yale University, Shvarts
sparked a protest on campus, a backlash on the Internet, and widespread debate around the country.
She even filmed herself in her bathtub cramping and bleeding from the miscarriages. Yale distanced
themselves, claiming the work was fiction.

PETR PAVLENSKY FIXATION (2013)

In an act designed to be a metaphor for apathy in Russia, performance artist Petr Pavlensky went to
Moscows Red Square, close by Lenins mausoleum, and nailed his scrotum to the cobblestones.
Intended to coincide with Police Day, officers demanded that he stand up until they realised the
artists ballsy situation. He sat there for an hour and a half. Pavlenskys previous work, also strongly
led by the theme of repression, saw him sew his mouth shut, and another, where he wrapped himself
in a blanket of barbed wire while naked.

ZHU YU EATING PEOPLE (2000)

"No religion forbids cannibalism, argued Chinese artist Zhu Yu. "Nor can I find any law which
prevents us from eating people. I took advantage of the space between morality and the law and
based my work on it." Zhu Yu recorded himself in his own kitchen eating a six-month old dead foetus,
which was supposedly stolen from a medical school. It led to a global outcry, and as a consequence,
Chinas Ministry of Culture cited it as a menace to social order and the spiritual health of the Chinese
people.

DEBORAH DE ROBERTIS ORIGIN OF THE WORLD (2014)

An avid student of art history, Luxembourgian performance artist Deborah de Robertis went to Paris'
Muse d'Orsay in order to respond to Courbets famous 1866 piece Origin of the World. The painting
itself was riotously controversial for the 19th century, depicting a vagina in vivid detail, but De
Robertis believed that it was still through the male gaze, and got out her own Origin of the World, in a
performance. Gallery visitors applauded, but two museum guards filed complaints against her.

GUILLERMO VARGAS EXPOSICION N 1 (2007)

In a performance piece that caused fury amongst animal rights activists, Costa Rican artist Guillermo
Vargas tied a starving dog just out of reach of a pile of food. The animal was supposedly captured in
the alleys of Managua near to the exhibition space Galeria Codice by some children paid by the
artist. Meanwhile, the statement eres lo que lees - You are what you read - was written on the
gallery wall in dog food. Vargas received dozens of death threats, but it merely proved his point: take
a stray dog off the streets, put it into a gallery, and it suddenly becomes an ethical phenomenon.

Habacuc

LAI THI DIEU HA SKIN IRON (2011)

Hanoi artist Lai Thi Dieu Ha is known for using her own body as a material in her work. Her 2011
piece took this to the extreme, with Dieu Ha applying hot irons to a mass of fresh pig bladders. She
then rubbed them all over her bare face, arms and legs. The 35-year-old artist then supposedly
applied the iron to her own arm until the skin blistered, and also fused the pig flesh to her own. The
audience was understandably terrified, and images leaked to the wider world, despite cameras being
banned.

A leaked image of Lai Thi Dieu Ha's perfomance