12 Square Meters

E458748

12 Square Meters is a 1994 performance art piece by Chinese artist Zhang Huan in which he sat covered in honey and fish oil in a filthy public toilet, allowing flies to swarm his body as a commentary on human endurance and social conditions.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf artwork
performance art piece
artisticGoal commentary on social neglect
critique of living conditions in urban China
exploration of limits of the body
countryOfOrigin China
creator Zhang Huan NERFINISHED
depicts artist sitting motionless
flies swarming human body
documentedBy photography
video
duration extended period of time
genre performance art
hasEffect attracted flies
hasInfluenceOn discourse on Chinese performance art
hasSubject physical suffering
psychological endurance
public hygiene conditions
relationship between body and environment
hasTitleLanguage English
inception 1994
intendedAudience art world
general public
languageOfWork nonverbal
locationOfPerformance Beijing NERFINISHED
public toilet
materialUsed fish oil
honey
medium live performance
movement body art
contemporary Chinese art
performance art
notableFor extreme use of the body
staged in a public toilet
use of insects as part of the performance
notableWorkOf Zhang Huan NERFINISHED
partOf early works of Zhang Huan
performer Zhang Huan NERFINISHED
settingCharacteristic filthy
unsanitary
theme bodily vulnerability
human endurance
marginalization
social conditions
urban squalor
uses artist's naked body

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Zhang Huan notableWork 12 Square Meters