The World’s Weirdest Artwork

Published April 6, 2012
Updated November 9, 2023

Urination is art? Apparently so. A fascinating look at some of the world's weirdest artwork.

Human Body Statues, Dr. Gunther von Hagens

The World's Weirdest Artwork Human Body Statues

German anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens has a penchant and pride for turning real human bodies into statues with a technique called “plastination.” By using a volunteer’s dead body and injecting a liquid plastic solution into it to harden and preserve the cadavers entirely, von Hagens creates “timeless” art. However, the controversial nature of his work means that much like a mad scientist, he must work out of a secret lab. Von Hagens’ first displayed his sculptures at a 1995 exhibition in Japan.

Human Body Statues

Weirdest Art In The World

The World’s Weirdest Artwork: Flesh Dress, Jana Sterbak

Flesh Dress

Move over, Lady Gaga; Canadian Jana Sterbak is the true originator of the meat dress. Displayed lovingly in the National Gallery of Canada, the artwork caused immense controversy, as people couldn’t believe real “art” could be the submission of food scraps to a gallery.

The Fountain, Marcel Duchamp

The Fountain

In 1917, Dadaist king Marcel Duchamp used an ordinary urinal and called it art. To the chagrin of the masses, Duchamp’s ‘artwork’ was displayed in New York and sparked debate about what actually constitutes art.

Egg Art, Henk Hofstra

Egg Art

In the name of art, Dutch artist Henk Hofstra covered one of the Netherlands’ largest city squares with several large eggs. The installation art remained throughout Zaailand for six months in 2008, with each egg measuring 100 feet wide. Unsurprisingly, no one is sure what Henk’s statement actually was.

Weird Art

Face of Iron Man

Strange Art

A Taiwanese man pees in his toilet bowl and finds blood in his urine. Same man realizes it resembles the face of Iron Man and enters it into an art competition. The artwork beats out 600 other entries to win the top art prize. True story.

author
Savannah Cox
author
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
editor
Savannah Cox
editor
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.