Belgian artist Wim Delvoye walks the wild side. He burst onto the international scene with an installation called Cloaca, otherwise known as the "poop machine." Mimicking the human digestive system, the piece even left real droppings. Wow.
Delvoye's also known for his tattooed pigs. A vegetarian, Delvoye began raising and tattooing his own pigs in 2004 at his own "Art Farm" in China (though started tattooing skins in 1997). Some were skinned or stuffed for display, others got to walk around with their new art. The project was just one of many unusual efforts by Delvoye to question value in the art world and also societal reaction to animal rights. Some of his walking art works have been banned by international art fairs.
The skins grow with the pigs, and in Delvoye's mind, grow in value over time. Some have sold for over $150,000.
Houhouhaha recently published a pictorial retrospective of Deloye, so we figured, hell, let's take another look at this odd art project too.
