Top 10 Most Intense Performance Art Pieces (GRAPHIC VIDEO)

Performance art, an unconventional medium in itself, has taboos in its roots. Sex, violence and religion are pretty much a given. But when you have the holy trinity of performance art mixed in with cow carcasses, secret masturbation and a dying dog, well then things are getting interesting. These ten performance pieces will make you gag, make you squeam and hopefully make you think. Let the following visionary weirdos bring out the freak in you. But be warned, there are graphic images in here of every shape, size and color. Let the games begin.

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Comments

[Fanny Lebowitz]

10:01 PM on 12/26/2011

Dear Huffingtonpost, is there some reason you are not letting me leave comments? I don't use curse words, I am not spam, I am not picking fights or trolling. You seem to have it out for me and I have no clue why, but it is pretty flipping frustrating!

[Fanny Lebowitz]

09:45 PM on 12/26/2011

What the hell has happened to art? I mean real art, not this nasty nonsense. What happened to the celebration of beauty that was the renaissance era? Botticelli's "Birth of Venus", THAT'S art. When did it become a contest of who could be the most disgusting? Sigh. I was born in the wrong time period.

[Henry Welt]

12:53 PM on 12/24/2011

It must be the Huffington Post's take on the Christmas spirit, but it's awfully hurtful and of no news value to dredge up this immature mistake that Tom Otterness made some forty years ago, and for which he has both accepted responsibility and repeatedly apologized... Just forgetting or forgiving are sometimes good traits but in the case of Tom Otterness, we don't really need to call upon them. I would hope that we could balance the enormous artistic contributions, the countless laughing children who play in Tom's Battery Park and similar sculpture gardens, the countless buildings and public spaces created and adorned with Tom's work, all of which enrich our lives and invite us to think about our society. And once we put this episode into the context of his life and artistic contributions, we would see this episode as the youthful foible of a young artist, and we would allow him and us to move on.
Interestingly, the Mayor of San Francisco thought it sufficient to offer a brief apology for the police over reactions (brutality) she oversaw in recent demonstrations in her City and asked the public to put these events in the past and move on. But she doesn't offer Tom that same grace. Shame on her.. and shame on Huffington Post for dignifying these events with a story that just pours salt in these wounds. Come on guys, it's Christmas time... lets' show some generosity of spirit!

Henry Welt

[PerryLogan]

06:55 AM on 12/24/2011

Performance art is what you do if you just can't draw.

[HOMEBOYDOC]

11:52 PM on 12/23/2011

"Let the following visionary weirdos bring out the freak in you."

Unacceptable tone for "arts coverage" and generally disappointing, HuffPo. It's one thing not to "get" or like performance art as a genre (as proven in the comments, per usual, here and at large) but your coverage is typically far more professional than this.

[stepintothelight]

11:41 PM on 12/23/2011

Performance Art ....

Just another excuse not to rehearse!!!

[lmb21]

11:19 PM on 12/23/2011

Please don't show Marina how Russian roulette is played.

[dg knutsen]

11:16 PM on 12/23/2011

This is Art ?

[HOMEBOYDOC]

11:39 PM on 12/23/2011

Not a valid question.

[Jesse Rincon]

03:27 AM on 12/26/2011

All questions are valid, some statements are not.

[SapphireBlaze9]

11:00 PM on 12/23/2011

Very interesting stuff. Do you have the actual video of Tom Otterness shooting the dog? If you do, you should link to it on that last slide. People who are too squeamish or whiny can GTFO, or heed the 'graphic video' warning and not press 'play'.

Great slides- I haven't heard of any of these performances. Controversial or disturbing art like this is fascinating. I would be interested in learning about more of them.

[Kevbo68]

10:10 PM on 12/23/2011

Okay, NOW I'm finally feeling that old Christmas spirit!

[Keith Dagsaan]

08:03 PM on 12/23/2011

And don't forget Throbbing Gristle's Aktions with Genesis P'Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti.

[Keith Dagsaan]

08:01 PM on 12/23/2011

Im surprised Otto Muehl's various Aktions did not make the list, or AManda Feilding's Trepanation experiment. I have always been a admirer of the Vienna Aktion Group and Herman Nitsch. Furthermore Piero Manzoni canning his ecremant and selling it based on the weight of gold should have made the list too.

[lmb21]

11:21 PM on 12/23/2011

You limit yourself by not mentioning Von Scheerms rendering of the calf shinning. Pity, you had me for a brief moment.

[maymay2]

07:14 PM on 12/23/2011

Does anyone remember Chris Burden conceptual art in the '70s.
Few artists are trying to emulate his shocking performances.

[Bucket-Of-Love]

01:53 AM on 12/24/2011

I remember it first-hand. And, personally, I think that works such as his and by those whose similar interests emerged in that time, are very much OF that time and should be contained historically. Those works have meaning in their own historical contexts -- the reasons for this can be easily elaborated upon with just the slightest consideration of historical trend and development. Appropriating history as one's own -- lacking concern that art is an ever-present temptation to indulge in style (as it's always been!) -- is something to be cautious of.

[maymay2]

01:05 PM on 12/24/2011

I agreed. There were people who tried emulate Burden's acts at UCLA where he was the head of the Art Department. His concerns of the danger involved for some of the performances, and the distastefulness of some artists who copied his acts, resulted him in leaving UCLA.

[jackflash23]

06:44 PM on 12/23/2011

Today they're considered artists, yesterday they were carnival freaks.

[Comicoffee]

06:37 PM on 12/23/2011

So, according to Vito Acconci, all the homeless guys spanking it in the alleyway are really performance artists?

[Nick SketchCat Wilson]

07:58 PM on 12/23/2011

Only if they declare it as such.

[Comicoffee]

08:17 PM on 12/23/2011

I guess that would make the arresting officer an art critic then. :)