Body art

Home > Literature and the Arts > Art and Architecture > Art: General

Body art. A type of art in which the artist uses his or her own body as the medium; it is closely related to Conceptual art and Performance art, and flourished mainly at the same time that these forms of expression were at their peak—the late 1960s and 1970s. Sometimes the work is executed in private and communicated by means of photographs or video recordings; sometimes the execution of the ‘piece’ is public. The performance may be pre-choreographed or extemporaneous. Spectator participation is not usually invited.

The leading exponents of Body art have often been concerned with self-inflicted pain or ritualistic acts of endurance. Probably the best-known specialists in this vein have been the American Vito Acconci (1940– ) and the Italian-French Gina Pane (1939–90), who worked mainly in Paris. Acconci's best-known performances include ‘Rubbing Piece’ (1970), in which he sat at a restaurant table and rubbed his left forearm with his right hand until a distinct weal appeared, ‘Trappings’ (1971), in which ‘he spent three hours dressing his penis in doll's clothing and talking to it “as a playmate”’ ( Michael Archer, Art Since 1960, 1997), and ‘Seedbed’ (1972), in which he spent hours every day masturbating under a gallery-wide ramp while the sounds of his activity were relayed via loudspeakers to visitors overhead. Pane's performances include ‘Nourishment’ (1971), in which she forced herself to regurgitate meat, and ‘Action Sentimentale’ (1973), in which she pushed a row of tacks into her forearm. She believed that her work had a purifying effect necessary ‘to reach an anaesthetized society', and wrote that ‘My corporeal experiments show that the body is invested and fashioned by Society; they have the aim of demystifying the common image of the body experienced as a bastion of our individuality to project into it into its essential reality, with the function of social mediation'. Other explanations of the philosophy behind such works seem equally obscure.

In Art of the Seventies (1980) Edward Lucie-Smith writes that ‘Perhaps the most drastic of these sado-masochistic body artists is the Californian Chris Burden [1946– ]. In 1974 his roster of activities included one in which the spectators were invited to push pins into his body, one in which he had himself crucified to the roof of a Volkswagen, and one in which he was kicked down two flights of concrete stairs. In the name of art, Burden has also had himself shot, and has had his body splashed with burning alcohol.’ Other artists who have put themselves through unpleasant and potentially harmful experiences include Stuart Brisley, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, and the Vienna Actionists.

Exponents of Body art in a more playful vein include the American Bruce Nauman and the Scottish-born, London-based Bruce McLean (1944– ). One of Nauman's best-known works is Self-Portrait as a Fountain (1970), a photograph in which he is shown spouting water out of his mouth. McLean, who has worked with Gilbert & George, has had himself photographed in poses parodying the works of famous modern sculptors. In 1972 he founded ‘Nice Style', ‘the World's First Pose Band', with which he performed until 1975: ‘After a year of preparation and preview performances … the Pose Band presented a lecture on “Contemporary Pose” (1973) at the Royal College of Art Gallery in London … it was illustrated by members of the group variously dressed in silver spacesuits (inflated with a hair-dryer), exotic drag and a distinctive double-breasted raincoat [a tribute to the group's hero, the Hollywood star and “self-confessed bad actor” Victor Mature]. The “perfect poses” that the lecturer discussed at length were demonstrated with the aid of specially constructed “stance moulds” or “physical modifiers” (articles of clothing with built-in poses) and giant measuring instruments which ensured the accuracy of an elbow angle or a tilted head’ ( RoseLee Goldberg, Performance Art, 1988).

Although the 1970s marked the heyday of Body art, there has been something of a revival in the 1990s, one of the best-known exponents being the French artist Orlan (1947– ), whose means of expression consists of having her face and body reshaped by plastic surgery to produce features based on Renaissance masterpieces, such as the chin from a Botticelli Venus. Edward Lucie-Smith writes that ‘The operations are choreographed by the artist as public performances, with musical accompaniment, poetry, and dance. The artist herself directs them, since the surgery is performed under local anaesthetic only, using an epidural block. The sado-masochistic undertone of much of the avant-garde art of the 1990s is here married to a form of “appropriation”’ (Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century, 1996). Orlan herself writes: ‘My work is not against cosmetic surgery, but against the dictates of beauty standards which are imposed more and more on feminine flesh … I have given up my body for art. After my death it will be given to a museum for mummification … As my friend the French artist Ben Vautier says, “art is a dirty job but somebody's got to do it.”’ (Benjamin Vautier (1935– ), who works under the name Ben, is a painter and Performance artist whose work has included Vomit Pictures, consisting of black canvasses onto which he vomited, and performances in which he banged his head against a wall.)

Body art. A type of art in which the artist uses his or her own body as the medium; it is closely related to Conceptual art and Performance art, and flourished mainly at the same time that these forms of expression were at their peak—the late 1960s and 1970s (there was something of a revival in the 1990s). Sometimes works of Body art are carried out in private and communicated by means of photographs or films; sometimes the execution of the ‘piece’ is public. The performance may be pre-choreographed or extemporaneous. Spectator participation is not usually invited. Body art is often playful in spirit, but several leading exponents have been concerned with self-inflicted pain or ritualistic acts of endurance. For example, in ‘Seedbed’ (1972) the American Body artist Vito Acconci (1940– ) spent several hours daily masturbating under a gallery-wide ramp while the sounds of his activity were relayed via loudspeakers to visitors overhead. Even more extreme is another American, Chris Burden (1946– ): ‘In 1974 his roster of activities included one in which the spectators were invited to push pins into his body, one in which he had himself crucified to the roof of a Volkswagen, and one in which he was kicked down two flights of concrete stairs. In the name of art, Burden has also had himself shot, and has had his body splashed with burning alcohol’ ( Edward Lucie-Smith, Art of the Seventies, 1980). Other artists who have put themselves through unpleasant and potentially harmful experiences include Rudolf Schwarzkogler and the French artist Orlan (1947– ), whose means of expression consists of having her face and body reshaped by plastic surgery to give her features based on Renaissance masterpieces, such as the chin from a Botticelli Venus. The philosophy behind such works is obscure.

Body art A type of art in which the artist uses his or her own body as the medium: it is closely related to Conceptual art and Performance art, and flourished mainly at the same time that these forms of expression were at their peak—the late 1960s and 1970s (there was something of a revival in the 1990s). Sometimes works of Body art are carried out in private and communicated by means of photographs or films; sometimes the execution of the ‘piece’ is public. The performance may be pre-choreographed or extemporaneous. Spectator participation is not usually invited. Body art is often playful in spirit, but several leading exponents have been concerned with self-inflicted pain or ritualistic acts of endurance. For example, in ‘Seedbed’ (1972) the American Body artist Vito Acconci (1940– ) spent several hours daily masturbating under a gallery-wide ramp while the sounds of his activity were relayed via loudspeakers to visitors overhead. The philosophy behind such works is obscure.