At a registry office in Beijing, Sun Xiangshu and Shi Ci pose for photographs, their wedding certificates in hand, having just officially become man and wife.

But like many unions in China, this is a marriage that won't last long. In fact, their wedding is a piece of performance art staged by an artist known as Nut Brother.

The two strangers have been brought together to tie the knot then divorce within 48 hours in an attempt to stir debate about the meaning of the institution of marriage in modern China, which has a soaring divorce rate.