Pyotr Pavlensky, Russia's Controversial Self-Mutilating Artist

Pavlensky lies on the ground wrapped in barbed wire during a protest action in St. Petersburg in May 2013 to condemn the prosecution of punk collective Pussy Riot.

WIth U.S. artist David Woinarowicz (left), Pavlensky sews his lips shut as part of another protest in support of Pussy Riot.

Pavlensky nails his scrotum to cobblestones on Moscow's Red Square to protest the "political indifference" of Russians in November 2013. 

During his latest stunt on October 19, 2014,  Pavlensky cuts off his earlobe to protest the forced use of psychiatric treatment against dissidents.