A gruesome body of work: Chinese artist films himself having rib removed WITHOUT anaesthetic and wears it as a necklace

• ICTURE

Body of work: In order to perform the operation, He Yunchang performed under the supervision of a doctor, he cut a metre-long gash, from his neck to his thigh, and filmed it on a camera

When somebody asked artist He Yunchang to show them his body of work, he took the request rather literally. 

Never one to turn down the chance to suffer for his art, the Chinese performance artist had one of his own ribs removed - and wore it as a necklace.

In order to perform the operation, held under the supervision of a doctor, he cut a metre-long gash from his neck to his thigh, and filmed it on a camera.

Incredibly, he underwent the entire procedure without any form of anaesthetic.Chinese blogger and art consultant Mélanie Wang described the oeuvre, called 'One-Meter Democracy', on her blog.

She wrote: 'Before the execution of this operation, there was a pseudo-democratic voting procedure.'

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'Artistic performance can be distinguished from everyday life only when it is given a certain intensity,' he said after the performance. 'I want my work to move people.'

He added that the work was designed to highlight the 'tension between the individual and the state' in China.

Born in 1967, He is now one of China's leading performance artists, known for performances designed to test his strength and endurance.

Previous works include casting himself inside concrete for 24 hours, trying to ‘cut a river in half’ with his own blood while suspended from a crane.

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'According to the artist Ah Chang [sic], the vote was under the guise of a democratic process to decide whether he was going to perform his work or not … the result was 12 votes in favor of the work and ten against, with three abstentions.'

That's when the gruesome procedure began.