How’s this for a macabre way of making a living? Icelandic artist Snorri Asmundsson recently caused a media stir in preparation for his latest project.

He has publicly asked for dying people to come forward and agree to donate their corpses in the name of art. He wishes to use their dead bodies in a dance video, promising to return them to their families once he’s done.

The outlandish idea first came to Snorri back in 2008. He has since made moves to turn his idea into reality by creating a Facebook ad asking for people on their deathbeds to get in touch with him. Seemingly unperturbed by the weirdness of his request, the advert simply read:

Looking for dead bodies in the name of art. I need a few corpses for a video installation. If you are dying I would like to borrow your remains after you die. The bodies will be returned to the undertaker in the same condition.”

Understandably, the ad caused quite the controversy. “It was in all the media in Iceland and I had strange articles written about me,” Snorri said. “Some people contacted vicars asking their opinion. People had decided that I was going to do something really unethical with those corpses. It’s nothing like that.”

Amazingly he received 20 responses to the initial ad, with people willing to appear in the video. However, after government funding cuts he was unable to continue with the project.

Until now. With a revitalised Icelandic economy, the money is available once more. There are of course still many critics of his vision. In his defence Snorri insists:

I’m not a sociopath, I want to do this art project in collaboration with the deceased person with respect to them and their family,”

Watch this space for an update on the finished work.

(Source: Icelandic Monitor, Image Credits: Snorri Asmundsson)