contemporary-art

Blood: Attract & Repel explores why we're both attracted to and repulsed by blood — a liquid that fills our body but still makes people squirm.

So how do you feel about blood? Let's take a look at some of the featured works, in which art and science collide in curious and sometimes confronting ways.

Compass made from placenta

Art and metallurgy combine in this surprising artwork, where the blood of 69 women's placentas was used to forge the metal needle of this compass.

The performance work at the Sydney Opera House requires six kilometres of rope, and may or may not result in lift-off. Its title, Cherophobia, means the fear of joyfulness or happiness.

"It's about the process, the anticipation, the wonder and unknowingness of if anything will happen," Lakmaier, a British-Viennese live performance artist, says.

The childlike balloons, reminiscent of the animated film Up, are counterbalanced by the tension provided by the rope, which restrains the artist and her body.

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT.

The three-hour '150 Action' show, directed by 78-year-old Hermann Nitsch, is described as "a bloody, sacrificial ritual performed by the patriarch of Viennese Actionism, his devoted disciples and an orchestra" and is set to take place in June as part of the Dark Mofo festival, produced by Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).