Case Study: Art or Not? (Vol. 1)

There is an ongoing history of artists who use their own bodily fluids in the fabrication of their art works. Most famous, perhaps, is Italian conceptual artist Piero Manzoni's preservation of tin cans of his own excrement in 1961, cans of which today have sold at auction for as high as $181,000.



Resulting in a negative lasting effect on the National Endowment for the Arts in the U.S., Andres Serano’s famed Piss Christ works added fuel to the 1980s culture wars.



This following video by Millie Brown, Nexus Vomitus, features the contemporary artist slurping up tall glasses of thick, pastel “paint.” Then, she makes herself vomit it onto a canvas while a choir of opera singers softly serenades.



Certainly an argument can be made that all of these works are "art". Convincing someone that these works are "good art" is much more difficult. To learn more about artists who use bodily fluids in their works, check out Marina Galperina's article on Flavorwire.

By Randy Gladman for the Ministry of Artistic Affairs.