One Meter Democracy

One Meter of Democracy 2010 challenged the endurance of viewers as well as the courage of the artist In a quasidemocratic process He Yunchang invited approximately 20 friends to vote in a secret ballot on whether he should have a surgeon cut a one metre incision the length of his body from collar bone to knee without anaesthesia The vote was carried by a narrow majority with several abstaining The performance was documented in video and photographs that reveal the emotional cost of witnessing this gruelling event This work sometimes also known as Asking the Tiger for its Skin was also staged on a symbolic date 10 October 2010 was the 99th anniversary of the Wuchang uprising and the Xinhai Revolution which led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China The final image shows the group with sombre shocked faces