The Pain Artist

Chinese artist He Yunchang believes in suffering for his art. His performance pieces have included:
  • Having one of his ribs removed so that he could wear it as a necklace.
  • Having a doctor cut a one meter gash down the side of his body, without anesthesia.
  • Encasing himself in a cube of quick-setting concrete for 24 hours.
  • Trying to "cut a river in half" by suspending himself above it from a crane while holding a knife in the water, as blood dripped from cuts in his arms.
  • Painting the fingernails and toenails of 10 mannequins with his own blood.
  • Staring at 10,000 watt bulbs to damage his eyesight
  • Burning his clothes while wearing them.
Art critic Judith Neilson explains:
“He Yunchang is an alchemist of pain... He Yunchang evidently believes that pain and extreme discomfort, deliberately planned and willingly undergone, have a transcendent quality — and that it is this quality that raises mere action to the level of art. [His performances] serve as silent rebukes to contemporary Chinese society, where people undergo all kinds of suffering for money precisely because they see money as the ultimate protection against suffering."

[via The Rakyat Post]

     Posted By: Alex - Sun May 11, 2014
     Category: Performance Art





Comments
Sounds like an "artist" that I can't wait for his ultimate performance and be done with hearing about.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 05/11/14 at 11:09 AM
I can't help but remember my Mom saying, " It's all fun and games till someone gets set on fire!". Then it becomes Art! :lol: :coolsmile:
Posted by Tyrusguy on 05/11/14 at 12:54 PM
I didn't know Cenobites were real.
Posted by venomlash on 05/11/14 at 04:27 PM
Just a Masochist who has found his niche in life.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 05/11/14 at 09:48 PM
If he's happy, who am I to say different?
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/12/14 at 12:47 AM
I don't mind him suffering for his art, but I don't intend to suffer for his art myself.
Anyway, unlike most performance "artists", he at least has a valid point with the reason behind his choice of performance, even if the performance itself is not one I find particularly artistic.
Posted by Richard Bos on 05/13/14 at 08:36 AM
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