Cannibalism has been a source of morbid fascination in our culture for a while - from Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs to the 1972 Andes disaster, which saw survivors of a plane crash eating their fellow victims' remains.
Now police in Latvia are looking into a stunt staged at a museum where two performers apparently had flesh sliced from their backs before it was fried and fed back to them. Gross.
The performance, staged by artist Artūrs Bērziņš, attracted a number of complaints after it was streamed on Facebook Live for all and sundry to see.
In the performance, which took place at a museum in the Latvian capital city of Riga on 6 March, two people - a man and a woman - were shown sitting on a bench before they were eventually joined by a third person in a white forensic coat. Hmm, all seems fairly straightforward so far.
Advert
The 'scientist' then cuts chunks of flesh out of the two participants' backs using a scalpel, apparently without any anaesthetic at all, leaving them wincing and blood dripping down their backs. Wait, what?
Shocked viewers of the performance were then forced to watch the 'scientist' take the two pieces of flesh they'd just cut off and cook it in a frying pan in front of the two participants.
The pair were then summoned to their feet to open their mouths in order for the scientist to plop the cooked flesh into their mouths for them. Gourmet cuisine it ain't.
Advert
While it isn't clear whether or not the flesh was real or not, the performance looked pretty convincing, enough so that authorities are now said to be looking into the performance, according to the Daily Mail.
Apparently, the premise of the show was to show what terrible fate would befall the human race if global food sources were to ever run out.
Bleakly, what happened seems to suggest that people would quickly turn into cannibals if we were to ever face extinction. Well, that's a cheery thought, isn't it?
Advert
This isn't the only provocative art performance to take place in recent years - remember that guy who said he'd lose his virginity in public in front of everyone?
Back in 2013 the world went crazy for Central Saint Martins student Clayton Pettet, whose first performance piece called Art School Stole My Virginity made everyone think he'd have sex in front of a live audience.
The eventual performance wasn't quite that graphic, although it did involve participants penetrating his mouth with a banana before he snapped it in half in front of them. Trust artists to make us feel uncomfortable.
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Artūrs BērziņšTopics: Viral, World News, Interesting, Performance, Community