Photos via Daily Mail (U.K.)
When Miru Kim was a student at Columbia University in New York, her fascination for pigs developed after a university dissection.
“That is when I noticed that their anatomy and skin color is close to ours,” said Kim. “Pigs are sensitive, intelligent creatures and when I enter the pen with them on these farms they react with fear or curiosity at first.”‘
When Kim, the daughter of a Korean philosopher, read Michel Serre’s book, Five Senses: A Philosophy of Mingled Bodies, she was inspired by the book’s exploration of the characteristics of skin. The French philosopher’s book in turn inspired Kim to create her “I Like Pigs and Pigs Like Me” exhibit.
“Skin is not only an envelope protecting the inner body, or a membrane that allows exchange between exterior and interior of the body,’ Kim said. ‘It also serves as a mingling point between the outer world and inner self, and between body and soul.
“When I mingle with pigs, I feel my existence more then ever.”
The 30-year-old’s exhibit requires her to live, naked, with two pigs for 104 hours. Kim will be staying in a pen of one of the galleries at Art Basel Miami Beach 2011 where visitors can see her living amongst the pink farm animals.
For the artist, this project was a step towards working out her fears. As a child, the former medical student suffered a great deal with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Known for photographing herself naked in strange places, such as tunnels and bridges, Kim uses her work to help her conquer her fears, whether they be the fear of darkness, dangerous activities, or dirt.
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“I get into a mental zone when I am doing a shoot. After I’m done, however, if I can’t get the smell off my feet, it’s very disturbing.”
After this weekend, when the project is over, the two pigs Kim acquired from a nearby farm will be placed with a family or at a community farm. Kim’s project in Miami is her first live performance. Before, patrons were only able to see photographs of her experience but Kim hopes that the live performance would allow the patrons to experience her art in a whole different way.
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