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Video and performance artist Cheng Shih-chun has gone through many of the same ordeals in life as a lot of people: heartbreak, hopelessness and disappointment. But his way of handling them is a bit different.
After one recent breakup, Cheng took to defecating on a soft, white rug of fake animal fur, forming the Chinese character for 'love'. Entitled Big Love (2003), the video installation was one of his earliest in a series that played with the heart symbol.
In his next video piece, Heart to Heart (2004), Cheng drew a heart on his arm with red lipstick, then took to the streets of six cities around Taiwan. As he visited parks and temples, he politely asked strangers for a cigarette - then asked them to put it out on the heart.
Those who agreed stubbed the cigarette against the skin over and over. 'They were enjoying themselves,' says 27-year-old Cheng. 'Some even took the time helping me create a clearer shape of the heart.' Others, mainly matronly types, would scold him, and tell him he was committing a sin. Cheng says it's Chinese tradition to keep the bodies in the natural form given by parents - he wasn't about to do that.
By the time his heart was nearly filled, the skin was covered in blisters at various stages of popping and weeping.
It's something of a relief, then, to see Nothing Happens (2005), in which Cheng returns to animal fur rugs, this time lying face-down, his shirt half way up.