No. 93: Body As Medium

According to Bird, using the body as a medium was present as early as cave-art where hand prints were used to mark the human presence. Dead body parts were also commonly turned into art and utilizing the body was often linked to rituals. Bird mentions that because everyone has a body, it is a universal medium. Lastly, using the body artistically played a large part in the launch of performance art.

Using the body as a medium is a tricky concept. When I think of performance art, I automatically think of dance. I think dance is such a powerful expression that speaks to audiences similarly to the way visual art does. In particular, I love modern dancing, and the movements often tell a story. It would be interesting to use dance as a performance art piece and "choreograph" a painting. The line quality and brushstrokes could be directly linked to the type of movements in the dance. Another avenue to explore is hair. Hair is kind of interesting to me. Hair is sacred to a lot of people, and many of take pride in maintaining and styling our hair. It can be beautiful but repulsive at the same time. For example, if someone finds hair in the sink, or perhaps in their food, it becomes a sickly foreign object. How could I explore this juxtaposition about hair and culture in my own work? Lastly, I could combine my passion for running and using the body as medium by using footprints to record my strides.