Saturday, May 07, 2011

Art student's performance led to death by asphyxiation

Colombian art student John Jairo Villamil has died after covering his head with a rubbish bag during a performance piece. He suffocated during a performance about his perception of his hometown Bogota.



It involved him covering his head with a bag and placing his feet inside a bucket of water while holding a chain with bills in one hand and a leaf in the other.

The 25-year-old’s audience at the Universidad del Bosque, in Colombia, thought his heavy breathing and convulsions were part of the performance and did not react.


YouTube link.

He was described as brain dead immediately after the show – which aimed to depict the perception of his hometown Bogota – and declared dead five days later. His mother is said to have provided tips on how to make the performance more shocking and is now blaming the university for neglect.

2 comments:

L said...

A 25-year-old should know better than to put a plastic bag over his head. You can't sue everybody else because your child is stupid. It's not their fault.

soubriquet said...

A win for Darwin.

Perhaps the person she should be blaming is herself, for bringing up a son who was so stupid he did not realise that there's a good reason all the other parents tell their kids never to put a polythene bag over their heads.