Top 5 Craziest Artworks
1. Milo Moire, A Birth of a Picture — Plopegg, 2014.
Outside Art Cologne in 2014, renowned performance artist Milo Moire put on a highly a controversial show. For the performance, a nude Moire inserted paint-filled eggs into her vagina, which she then proceeded to squeeze out onto a blank canvas. Paint is splattered organically across the canvas, which is then folded in half to produce a symmetrical and beautifully coloured artwork. Whilst the method with which this artwork was made is somewhat unconventional, Moire is touching on highly important topics, including the femininity and the monthly release of the egg. Additionally, the canvas itself features articles criticising the art world, which to Moire has become corrupt in many ways, “fairs like the Art Cologne are the ultimate decision-makers. For artists, they are like birth-control centers that determine future artistic descendants.” — Miro Moire
2. Andrea Fraser, Untitled, 2002.
Andrea Fraser is a performance artist whose work exists largely in the area of institutional critique. She has made a name for herself with performances including ‘Museum Highlights: A Gallery Talk’ and ‘Little Frank and his Carp,’ but the performance which is perhaps the most controversial is ‘Untitled.’ In 2002, Fraser asked her dealer, Friedrich Petzel, to arrange a very special commission for her with an unnamed collector. This commission was for a sexual encounter with Fraser, which was to take place in a hotel room and recorded. Of the resulting film there would be 5 copies made, with the first edition going to the collector. The film lasts for approximately one hour and is completely unedited. While the nature of this piece is somewhat shocking, Fraser remains one of the most interesting and important artists of today, whose work touches on many important issues, feminism being at the forefront.
3. Mao Sugiyama, 2012.
Mao Sugiyama is an artist from Japan who in 2012 offered up his own genitalia as a meal to five lucky diners, after undergoing elective genital removal surgery at age 22. The highly unusual offer was made on Twitter, with Sugiyama writing “Please retweet. I am offering my male genitals (full penis, testes, scrotum) as a meal for 100,000 yen… I will prepare and cook as the buyer requests, at his chosen location.” Unbelievably, six people signed up for the dining ‘experience,’ and when the day came, five of these people actually ate the meal, paying the equivalent of $250 each. The genitals were prepared by the artist himself and served with a button mushroom garnish. Dozens more attended the banquet to witness the spectacle, but don’t worry, they didn’t go hungry as they were served up some beef and crocodile meat.
Now let’s get to the legal ramifications of the meal. Firstly, the participants had to sign a waiver beforehand, which meant the artist would take no responsibility if they got sick from consuming the meat. In Japan, cannibalism isn’t actually illegal so the guests are seemingly in the clear, but things aren’t looking so good for Sugiyama himself. As his genitals were exposed in public, it is looking as though the artist may be charged with indecent exposure, which could actually result in jail time and an extremely hefty fine of up to 2.5 million yen.
4. Casey Jenkins, Casting Off My Womb, 2013.
This particular artwork was executed by performance artist Casey Jenkins, who knitted with a ball of wool from inside her vagina. A new reel of wool would be inserted into the vagina daily, which unwinds from the inside in order for there to be minimal discomfort. The performance piece was executed over a period of 28 days, which means the artist was menstruating for part of the duration, resulting in the wool being coloured by the blood. Jenkins uses art to stand against social and feminist issues, and this particular work was made in order to combat the ‘fearful’ approach many have towards female genitalia. To the artist, female genitalia are nothing more than natural and deserve not to be viewed with such a sense of revulsion.
5. Piero Manzoni, Artist’s Shit, 1961.
‘Artist’s Shit’ was an idea conceived by Manzoni in 1961, when he produced and canned ninety tins of his own faecal matter. The work reflects the artist’s thoughts at the time about art collectors and how they are seeking something deeply personal from the artists’. To Manzoni, ‘shit’ is about as personal as it can get. Though it is unknown whether the tins are actually filled with excrement, the pure sense of irony and wit behind the work has given both it and the artist a notorious reputation. This was not the only time Manzoni created work using his own body, another example was when he filled balloons with his breath and sold them.
