No Holes Barred

I’ve been inspired to new heights as an artist and I have none other than Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to thank for it:

A performance artist who once lay naked in a shallow grave with a vial of his own blood dribbling out of his anus is among seven winners of one of Canada’s most prestigious visual arts awards this year.

In the early 1980s, Kantor began a series he eventually entitled his Blood Campaign.

In the first instalment, Restriction 1, he suspended himself naked, filled his mouth with his own blood and assumed the lotus position. In Liaison Inter-Urbain he dug a shallow grave, inserted a vial of blood into his anus and contorted himself so that the blood flowed into his mouth. — CBC

Why, this is nothing short of an epiphany! Here I’ve wasted all this time photographing sunsets and flowers when I should have been photographing bloody anuses. I’m not quite sure how one would light paint that (mix the blood with tonic water and use a black light perhaps), but I’m sure it could be managed. And for a Governer General’s award, no less! Wow!

 

*cough*

I did notice that Istvan Kantor was described as a no-holds-barred artist by the GG’s jury. Perhaps no-holes-barred would have been more appropriate considering the nature of his, um, work.

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