Art Basel Miami 2011에서 한국계 미국인 미루 김의 행위예술이 눈길을 끌고 있다.

그녀는 아트갤러리 한구역을 점하고 있는 유리창이 설치된 격실의 돼지우리 안에서 완전나체로 두 마리의 돼지들과 함께 104시간을 풀타임으로 살아냈다.

콜럼비아 대학에서 의학을 전공하였던 그녀로서는 세균감염의 위험성을 모를 리가 없겠지만 모든 위험성을 무릅쓰고 이런 모험을 감행한 그녀의 용기는 진정한 예술인으로서의 열정과 실험정신의 구현이라는 굳은 목표가 있기 때문이라고 그녀는 밝히고 처음 돼지우리에 들어가 섞이자 돼지들은 약간 경계하는 빛을 띄다가 곧 호기심과 흥미를 느끼기 시작하고 다음에는 흔쾌히 어울리는듯 했다고 그녀는 말했다.

또 돼지와 인간은 육체와 정신면에서 유사성이 많으며 그래서 곧 친해질수 있었을 것이라고 말하기도 했다.

30세의 그녀는 한국에서 활동하고있는 철학자 김용옥씨의 딸인데 나흘동안 돼지우리안에서 나체로 돼지들과 함께 먹고 자며 지내는 동안 그녀 자신에게는 끔찍한 경험이기도 하지만 많은 관람객이 유리창을 통해 그녀의 생활을 관찰하는데 흥미를 느낄 그것은 행위예술의 전시일 뿐이라고 말한다.

그녀는 전에는 터키의 이스탄블을 배경으로 촬영한 자신의 나체사진을 기지고 전시회를 갖기도한 매우 전위적인 행위예술가이다.

She admits she has a fear of germs.

But for her new art installation, Miru Kim has decided to live with pigs for 104 hours, non-stop.

The former medical student is staying in a pen at the front of one of the galleries at Art Basel Miami 2011, and visitors can watch her, naked, through the window.

Performance: Miru Kim lies with two pigs in a glass enclosure as part of an art installation, I Like Pigs And Pigs Like Me. She will live with the animals for 104 hours. 'When I mingle with pigs, I feel my existence more than ever,' she said

Spending four days naked inside a glass box living and sleeping with pigs might not be everyone idea of fun, but the performance artist calls it high art

She will eat and sleep alongside the animals for the next four days.

And getting down in the dirt wasn't easy for the 30-year-old, who suffered badly with obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child.

'It's a very concentrated industrial environment, so the level of smell is toxic,' she told the Huffington Post.

'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.'

Kim, the daughter of a Korean philosopher, has gained notoriety for stripping off and photographing herself naked in strange places such as abandoned factories, tunnels and bridges.

She said the work helps her get over her fears -  'fear of darkness, fear of dangerous activities in general, and fear of dirt'.

Dedicated: Kim will eat and sleep alongside the animals for the next four days

Baring all for her art: Kim, who has gained notoriety for producing art involving her own naked body, is performing at Art Basel Miami. The former medical student said her work helps her overcome her fears

Eye-catching: Visitors can watch Kim through the window of the art gallery

Bemused and confused: Visitors watch as Kim lies with two pigs within a glass enclosure. The Miami installation is called 'I Like Pigs and Pigs Like Me (104 hours)'

She was inspired to create I Like Pigs And Pigs Like Me after reading French philosopher Michel Serres's book Five Senses: A Philosophy of Mingled Bodies, which explores the characteristics of skin.

'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.'

Kim became fascinated with pigs during a university dissection when she was a student at Columbia University in New York.

But she went on to develop a strong attachment to the animals.

'That is when I noticed that their anatomy and skin colour is close to ours,' said Kim about her first intense encounter.

'Pigs are sensitive, intelligent creatures and when I enter the pen with them on these farms they react with fear or curiosity at first.'

Using two normal pigs from a nearby farm, Miru will literally save their bacon after the weekend's performance is up.

'They will lead a very happy life and are already better off than when we found them," said the America-Korean artist.

'We are looking to place them as pets with a family or at a community farm after the show.'

Her Miami performance isn't the first time Kim has lived with pigs, but previously, visitors had only been able to see photographs of her experience.

Now she's hoping her live performance, which ends on Saturday, will convey elements that her previous photo series couldn't.

'I want people to feel the process of my body mingling with pigs, the sense of touch that is harder to grasp in the final photographs,' she said.