In 2002, participants in the Long March Project began a “Walking Visual Display” along the route of China’s historic, six-thousand-mile Long March (1934-6). As the team undertook the arduous journey, Beijing-based artist Qin kept in close contact with them and tracked the group’s route, with needle and ink, on a tattooed map on his back. Three years later, Qin continued the trek where the original marchers had left off. He was accompanied by three cameramen, who recorded their movements over unremittingly demanding terrain—from snow-covered Himalayan peaks to swamp grasslands—and a tattoo artist, who continually updated the groups progress on Qin’s back.

Via The Map of The Art.