Body Art: more than just skin. The human body as an exhibition area

The visual art always takes care of the body. With full physical effort, numerous exhibitions related to body art and body art , which devoted to a constant favorite object of the fine arts and sometimes could be carried out of the curve.

Over time, the visual art human body . central motif in art for centuries and has been portrayed in a variety of ways.

The idealization of the human body popular in Greek antiquity The Greek sculpture was characterized by its realistic representation of the body, with the striving for perfection and harmony emphasized.

The famous statues such as the Venus of Milo or the discus thrower are still impressive testimonies of that time.

But even long before the ancient Greeks, the representation of physical attributes played an important role in different archaic cultures.

In Egypt, for example, pharaons were portrayed as strong and powerful rulers, while women were often shown as a fertility -enhancing symbol. , various art movements have dealt intensively with the topic of the human body.

While in some epochs more idealized forms dominated, other periods focused on the realistic illustration of individual characteristics and emotions.

The human body in contemporary art

21st century, too, this fascination for the body -like one continues to find an expression in numerous exhibitions and works of contemporary artists. It is not only about the mere representation of the body, but also about the reflection of social norms and identity.

In today's society, we are presented with an intact, beautiful body than the most natural in the world.

Whether in magazines, on posters, on TV and not least on the Internet and social media - everywhere we are confronted with perfect and flawless bodies. This ideal of beauty is omnipresent and exerts enormous pressure on us.

It almost seems as if it has become a duty to adapt to this ideal. We strive to shape and improve our body. Diets , gyms and beauty operations are just a few means that we use to meet our desire for an attractive exterior.

It is therefore not important to make us more aware that beauty is not exclusively defined on the outside. An intact beautiful body can also go hand in hand with imperfections - scars tell stories, wrinkles show life experience and curves symbolize femininity or masculinity.

With full physical effort, artists are committed to exploring and presenting the human body in all its facets. They carry exhibitions on their shoulders to keep the audience new perspectives on the topic.

Not only traditional media such as painting or sculpture used, but also new forms of art such as performance , action art , installations , concept art or digital media are used.

The body as a cultural concept

Body is subject to changes, just from an evolution and medical point of view (keyword: aging). But also from aesthetic and cultural aspects.

But was the body fundamentally different than today? "Certainly not ," postulates Philip J. Sampson , author of "The Representation of the Body" .

A body remains a body whether it is that of Leonardo da Vinci or the steel muscle mountains of Arnold Schwarzenegger in an action film. The body has no wish and no ability to change. That seemed obvious. But is that still true?

The idea of ​​the human body remained constant over several centuries. It was assumed that the body is a complex but unproblematic natural object and, due to its physical and biological properties, requires food, heat and oxygen.

The shape of the body has changed relatively little since the last evolutionary jump (unless it is timeless) and is also not significantly influenced by social or cultural circumstances. All of these assumptions are questioned by postmodern theorists and sometimes seem quite naive.

The human body is a product of culture and our understanding of it has developed in the course of history. ”

The human body - or rather the perception of it - is a product of cultural development and our understanding of it has steadily developed in the course of history. From the ancient ideals of beauty to today's modern ideas of aesthetics, we went through a remarkable change.

For example, we take the bodybuilding , in which the already mentioned Arnold Schwarzenegger rose to world fame and the zeitgeist of the bodybuilding high phase against mirrors te.

However, the roots of bodybuilding go back to ancient Greece. There, the human body was revered as an expression of beauty and strength over 2000 years ago. Athletes have been admired for their muscular bodies and their athletic skills. This worship formed the foundation for later bodybuilding.

The development of bodybuilding as an art form was primarily advanced by the media. Films like “Pumping Iron” with Arnold Schwarzenegger or magazines such as “Muscle & Fitness” meant that more and more people were inspired by the aesthetics of bodybuilding.

The focus was no longer on individual competitions - a whole subculture around the topic was created. In addition to great discipline and hard training, supplements such as amino acids for muscle building a role in the athletes.

It is particularly interesting how much the pop culture and penetration of our modern life with social media continues to influence our body awareness, identity and definition of ideals of beauty.

In a world in which selfies and edited images are omnipresent, the pursuit of perfection is becoming more and more present. It seems to be almost compulsive - this excessive body cult in young people as well as in the elderly.

Fitness studios are booming, diet programs become trend and even surgical interventions to beautify your own appearance are very popular.

The ubiquitous body cult is the result of a complex interaction of various factors: social pressure, media influences and personal motivation everyone plays a role in our perception of one's own body and the striving for beauty.

However, it is important to note that the ideals of beauty change over time. What is considered beautiful today can be out again tomorrow. Therefore, the subjective term of aesthetics to constant adaptation.

A small art history of the body in modernity

The title of Marina Schneede's publication, "with skin and hair" , provides us with a good basis for considering body art and the human body as a canvas, projection surface and material since the 1960s.

This is about the body and its most important components in contemporary art . But not only the topic is illustrated by this title, but also the passion and dedication with which the artists devote themselves to this subject.

, the German art historian Marina Schneede illuminates various aspects of the body in art: from classic representations to abstract interpretations, a wide variety of artistic positions are presented.

The variety of materials and techniques with which the artists approach the topic is particularly interesting. Whether sculptures made of marble or bronze, paintings on canvas or installations in public space - each shape has its own meaningfulness and conveys very different impressions to the viewer.

But what combines these works is their intensity. The artists campaign with passion for their object - they literally go into their work “with skin and hair” They not only research external characteristics of the human body such as proportions or anatomy , but also penetrate deeper: they address emotions , identity and social norms .

They do not shy away from provocative or controversial representations, but are deliberately looking for new perspectives. This use for the body in art is also an expression of the zeitgeist .

In a world that is characterized by technological progress and virtual realities, contemporary art sets a sign: it reminds us that we, as humans, still have a physical presence - with all our strengths and weaknesses. ”

The works shown convey a body awareness that does not aim at standardized body styling, but rather to explore the borders of the psyche and body. They consider the body as an expression and examine both its ritual and manipulative use.

The 60s and 70s: Body Art and era of self -assurance

In the 1960s, artists began to use the human body as a direct field of work . Initially, this happened in the form of body art , in which the body itself became a work of art.

Body-Art, also known as body art , developed as an artistic concept from the happening and fluxus movement . The human body is used both as a medium for art and the actual art object itself.

Well-known artists of the body art movement are Marina Abramović, Chris Burden, Günter Brus, Gina Pane, Pippilotti Rist, Carolee Schneemann, Vito Acconci, Valie Export and Timm Ulrichs. Many artists of Viennese actionism from the 1960s are also included.

A central element of Body Art is to challenge the viewer. The value of a work of art hung from how much the viewer's diskroutines are mixed up and it is torn out of his passive role.

Later in the 1970s, they then used the body as a material for their works. Was this development a reaction to the dominance of abstract art ?

There have been various reasons to include your own body directly. It was certainly also an answer to the abstract art, but in the opinion of the art historian Marina Schneede, the main thing was to generate immediate experience

This was of crucial importance for the then artists. An example of this is Germany's most famous action artist Timm Ulrichs , who already exhibited himself as a living work of art in 1961.

But there were also other considerations: for example, some researchers wanted to explore the space specifically - especially the environment of their own body. Rebecca Horn invented glove fingers -finger extensions of one meter in length -to examine this aspect of the room in more detail.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, more and more artists began to see themselves as politically active people . They strived to get attention and to shake up the followers of the carefree prosperity society and the comfortable audience of the economic miracle. This required drastic artistic forms of expression and content.

These should be apparent and shocking, which often required the full commitment of the individual.

What could illustrate a stronger and more unconditional use at that time than to make own body as an expression of the artistic message

My body is the intention, my body is the event, my body is the result ”,

once announced Günter Brus , who transferred his initial self -painting into public body analyzes from 1967, which went hand in hand with razor blades, digestive products, blood and physical suffering.

To what extent does the representation of the body in modern art differ from that past epoch?

Has the awareness of the body changed?

The examples mentioned by Marina Schneede clarify that the immediate artistic occupation with the body - which in most situations meant: with your own body - continues to exist to this day.

The 80s and 90s: alienation, body modification and biotechnology

In the 1980s, the AIDS epidemic became the new threat to the body and Mona Hatoum , an artist at Documenta 11 in 2002, emphasized the vulnerability of the body as the central point of her work shortly after the new century begins.

In the 1990s there were rapid developments in genetic engineering, biotechnology and information technology , the possibilities and dangers.

In an era in which new physical cults flourished and dealing intensively with the functions and restrictions of the human body, while there was a risk of dissolution in cyberspace, the place of individual self-self was discussed in view of the individual self in view of body design, brain transplants and gene manipulations. This discussion moved between overstimulation and virtual imitation.

Although artists cannot intervene directly in biotechnological discourses, they can represent strangeness through manipulation in pictures and thus express the uncertainty through these projects.

Mona Hatoum

The unknownity of one's own body, the feeling of strangeness about its usability and the potential threat of not being able to perceive itself as a unit of body and spirit - all these aspects of a possible division of consciousness in the 21st century were impressively depicted by Mona Hatoum in Kassel.

She visualized this by an endoscopic journey through her interior.

Orlan

Since 1990, the French action artist and feminist Orlan to make an extraordinary decision: she undergone a number of facial operations . But these were not only purely aesthetic, but were staged for artistic performance in a renowned New York gallery.

With this spectacular action, she wanted to question nothing less than the common ideals of beauty of our time .

Orlan documented the entire process of its repulsive transformation through a fascinating photo series that she presented to the public. As a result, every viewer immediately witnessed how her face was changed after each surgical intervention.

These shocking images clearly showed what was going on behind the scenes of the beauty industry and stimulated thought About us aesthetics.

With her performance, Orlan put the topic of body modification (body modification) into a completely new light. Instead of giving up the pressure for perfectionism and conformity, she deliberately staged her own individuality and uniqueness.

Through her radical act of resistance to the prevailing norms, she asked us all to question our own definitions of beauty.

Marina Abramovic and Jenny Holzer

The scene of body art is a dazzling community from early body artists to ethically motivated and socially policy-political artists such as Marina Abramovic and Jenny Holzer .

They seem to be a lot and the audience, work meditatively or with startling means.

Jenny Holzer, a renowned artist and concept artist from the USA, designed a magazine for the Süddeutsche Zeitung in 1993. In doing so, she set a provocative and shocking accent by mixing blood into the font of the title sheet.

This unusual design had a very specific purpose: to point out violent bloodshed in the world. Through her artistic work, she tried to point out the terrible effects of violence and war.

The integration of blood into the design of the magazine caused an enormous effect among the readers. It triggered strong emotions such as horror, disgust or outrage.

By using this radical form of art, Jenny Holzer directly addressed our human responsibility in view of the worldwide suffering through acts of violence. Her goal was not only to point out that such bloody events take place; Much more wanted to encourage their works to deal with this problem and actively search for solutions.

100. Biennale di Venezia

The human body was also the central theme of the 100th Biennale in Venice in 1995. In an impressive exhibition, which convinced with its abundance of materials, both the art history of the past 100 years was presented under this aspect and sometimes compared to scientific studies.

The exhibition convinced with its diversity and quality of the exhibits. From classic paintings to modern installations, it offered a comprehensive overview of various art movements and styles that had chosen the human body as its main motif.

Body art in the 21st century - Body Art Renaissance?

The visual artist Käthe Wenzel , who has been a professor of aesthetic practice at the European University of Flensburg since June 2016, focused on three extraordinary artists in a book a few years after the turn of the century, who have chosen the human body as an exhibition object .

Gunther von Hagens , a renowned anatoma and plastinator, has gained worldwide awareness through its groundbreaking techniques of preparation and plastic representation of the human body.

Its fascinating plastinates enable the viewer to experience the complex interplay of organs and tissues in a unique way.

Another protagonist in the book is the photographer Michael Brendel . With his artistic approach, he skilfully stages the human body and creates impressive pictures full of aesthetics and profoundness. Through his gaze to details, he manages to capture the beauty of the human body in all its facets.

The British installation artist Damien Hirst is also one of the main actors of this work. Known for his provocative works of art around life and death, he also represents people as a central element. With his spectacular installations, he stimulates thinking about mortality, transience and existence.

Here, a detailed insight into the creation of three outstanding artists and their examination of the human body is revealed as an expression of life and transience. Incidentally, there is a detailed book criticism here: Deutschlandfunk Kultur - the body in art.

But there are still more radical artists who act with full physical effort - and sometimes even violent. This was also shown in 2010 in the Center d'Art Contemporain in Brétigny near Paris near Paris in France in France.

In the exhibition, photographs of an extremely provocative and controversial campaign were presented, in which polyurethane foam and various prostitutes played a central role.

This staging showed the ladies wrapped in black plastic film, while they took clear and explicit positions that were definitely not intended for young eyes.

The artist Sierra had decided to hire several men to specifically inject the foam towards the female genitals - a daring decision with the aim of exceeding limits and encouraging discussions about sexuality and dealing with sexual taboos. The series of images creates a strong visual effect and at the same time triggered intensive reactions.

In recent years, some art exhibitions have dealt with the new adjustments and forms of expression of the human body in the age of genetic manipulation, body modification and capitalist reproduction ( SZ reported ).

The exhibition “Body Extensions” in the Museum of Design in Zurich, for example, examined the increasing importance of fitness and beauty in our society, which is perfected by plastic surgery and artificial body prostheses.

The Vienna Secession, on the other hand, presented strategies for advertising and escape fantasies within the global commercialized body structure in the exhibition "Body Display" .

Art is often about the human body, but above all about its powerlessness . In Teresa Margolles' exhibition “En El Aire” you entered a room that is reminiscent of a laundry room. Two humidifiers significantly increased the water content in the cell and the evaporation of previously washed corpses was contaminated.

These corpses were supposedly anonymous victims of the drug war in Mexico City. The exhibition asked to ask more precisely and recognize the reality of the drug war.

What remains?

Margolles and Sierra's work are reminiscent of the body art movement of the 1960s and 70s when artists used their bodies as canvases and pierced with weapons. The aim was to write experiences such as pleasure, suffering and death directly in the body.

Chris Burden, Gina Pane and Marina Abramovic also exposed considerable pain to demonstrate on impressive how the body art served to overcome dull feelings and social oppression.

The Vienna School of Radical Action Art around Otto Mühl, Günter Brus and Hermann Nitsch was rediscovered in museums in Vienna and Graz in the 21st century. However, their former destructive potential today appears rather playful and humorous instead of scandalous. Their trust in the authenticity of the body is naive and overtakes in the age of genetic manipulation and the capitalist mass conformity of the body.

The body art of the 60s and 70s , in which artists used their bodies as a canvas to present experiences such as pleasure, suffering and death, is now replaced by a more refined and cynic form of body art.

This new body art carries the real battlefields to the museum and is posthuman. Nevertheless, this new body art is not immune to kitsch and pathos.

Source directory and bibliography

Books and magazines

• Art Forum: Vol. 132 - The Future of Body I (1995)
• Marina Schneede : With skin and hair: The body in contemporary art , Dumont Literature and Kunst Verlag (2002)

Internet

• Philip J. Sampson: The representation of the body :, https://www.kunstforum.de/artikel/die-rasprasentation-des-korpers/
• Deutschlandfunk : with skin and hair. The body in contemporary art , https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/mit-haut-und-haaren-der-koerper-in-Zeitenoessischen-100.html
• Susanne Nessler : The body in art , Deutschlandfunk Kultur, https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/der-koerper-in-kunst-100.html
• Holger Liebs (Süddeutsche Zeitung) : The human body in art : the naked and the chaots, https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/der-menschliche-koerper-in-kunst-kunst-nacken-und-d.-chaoten-.1.415429

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011. Successful conclusion in web design as part of a university degree (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expression painting and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through many years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.

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