Artist Eats Baby
Ubiquitous
performance artist apparently eats a dead baby, calling it a
"thought-provoking film about extreme art in China."
Channel 4, which upset viewers with a dissection of a human corpse last
month, plans to air the documentary in which artist Zhu Yu shows off
photographs of himself washing a dead stillborn baby in a sink and
putting its dismembered parts in his mouth.
Politicians and media critics have condemned the plans but the
Broadcasting Standards Commission said it could not address a
program before it was shown.
In a preview provided to Reuters, Zhu is also shown having a piece of
his own body grafted onto a pig. He describes his work as expressing
his Christian faith, saying: "Jesus is always related to death, blood,
wounds, etc."
The show's presenter, a Sunday Times newspaper art critic, calls the
work "suffering for your art on a messianic scale."
He added: "I expected to be horrified by him, but I found him peaceful,
monastic and even charming. When the cameras were switched off he
admitted he'd vomited twice before going through his baby performance.
But it was crucial to do it, so he forced himself."
The presenter, who interviews the artist in his apartment, calls him
"China's most notorious contemporary cannibal," and says he actually
ate the baby's flesh.
A spokesman for Channel 4 said the program, which airs on Thursday
at 11 p.m., will carry warnings that viewers may be alarmed and
noted the hour complies with rules banning material unsuitable for
children before 9 p.m.
"The images appear in the context of an intelligent and thought-provoking
film about extreme art in China," he said.
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Scopata Fuori
> Channel 4, which upset viewers with a dissection of a human corpse last
> month,
Damnit, DirectTV just doesn't carry that channel.
ObT: I called to ask.