Book : The Body in Contemporary Art

So, after my feedback from my Tutor I was told to buy this book from Amazon called 'The Body in Contemporary Art' by Sally O'Reilly Thames & Hudson world of art, because I got told it would be helpful to my research into the 'body' in photography.  I have found the book very interesting and will always be a great book to have in my photography book collection, but there are only a few artists and images that I felt were relevant to my ideas and are very helpful.  Here is my copy of the book below;

 

So, Since I have had this book, I have briefly read about every image in the book and have selected the ones I feel I like the most.  I have chosen images that are relevant to the 'Body' and the images most relevant to my ideas of body movement. Some of the images within this book are rather grotesque and some are quite disturbing once read about, so I have chosen some of the calm images as research.

The first image that I thought was relevant to the 'body' was Edouard Manet's Olympia, 1863 (above left), because it shows the beginning of the female body being portrayed. It says in the book that, "the name Olympia was commonly adopted by prostitutes in the 19th century". The name is used to show the scandal of what was going on around her. Quite interestingly, the female in this painting was the 'type' of female that was considered unrepresentable.

I have chosen to put an image by Yasumasa Morimura Portrait (Futago), 1988-90 (above right) next to Manet's painting, and quite obviously because it is a re-creation of Manet's painting. Morimura slips into various historical, social and racial roles in re-staging a series of Old Master paintings.  I think the idea of re-staging old paintings is quite interesting but only if the though of the exact role is considered. I have re-staged an old painting before and it's something I would consider doing again.

The next image in the book related to the 'body' is Dorota Sadovska, Corporalities, 2003 (above left). It shows breasts "demystified and abstracted", but it also is an attempt to show how de-nuding them of sexual potency by treating them as a sculptural matter, reminds us of the medical necessity of self-examination. I think that it is a quite interesting concept and shows the body/nude in a very unique way.  I think many nude images can be said to be de-nuding the body by hiding away certain body parts. It is definitely something to think about when I next do nude photography.

The image next to this is Bettina von Zwehl, Alina 1, 8, 9 and 11, 2004 (above right) which is more to do with body language than the body but still interesting. In this series of portraits each sitter is sat at a table in a darkened room and a piece of music is played, there is a single flash used to capture the way they react. They all sit with arms crossed in a white vest but whilst music is playing they all involuntarily look downwards. This could be an interesting subject in my ideas of what do dancer think about whilst dancing? which is my mixed media project ideas.

Rineke Dijkstra is a photographer who's work I have looked at and studied a lot. The reason I have used her as inspiration before is for her 'deadpan' images of portraits on beaches. The simplicity also gives so much to think about when concentrating on the subject. Here her images (above left) are Tecla, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 16 1994, 1994, and Kolobrzeg, Poland, July 26 1992, 1992. In her beach series the clothed body out of the sea, shot against a neutral featureless seascapes, many of the subjects appear obvious to nationality stereotypes. The differences between sassy California swimsuits to prim dresses in south England, each are quite different and stereotypical. In the series of women who have recently given birth, she captures moments of vulnerability, and expressions of pride and relief after birth, Dijkstra manages to show expressions from her subject without even asking for it.

The image next to Dijkstra is by Katy Grannan, Austin, TX, 2000 (above right). This images shows how whether consciously or not, the language of the representation of the body influences our behaviour in front of the camera, Grannan approaches her subjects in public places like parks and asks them to pose as nudes  and say what they think about 'art photography' then they arrange their bodies how they feel is right. This could work quite well for finding the differences in each person, is a way of showing that specific personality in a way.

This image (above left) is by Vanessa Beecroft, VB.45.107dr, 2001.  Beecroft see's live performance's as a commercial framework, this instillation of 'girls' as she calls the models, shows us her view on idealised beauty in real time and space. She draws on the feminist dematerialising strategies of the 1970's, although her outcome shows subjects in nude. She has done other installations of long-limbed slim beauties lounging among Louis Vuitton handbags which brought up feminists and anti-capitalists.  Beecroft is involved with the fashion and beauty industries and the art market.  The thing I personally find interesting and is mentioned is how the live installations last for hours, so therfore the models wilt and therefore show the lie to their image perfections - cracks to show the real body. This same idea could be portrayed in photography too, if shown the differences between idealised body types.

The image (above right) is by Robin Rhode, Untitled (Rings), 2006.  "Serial photography animates these drawings on tarmac, so that they become dynamic events activated by the artists body. I really like these images and think that it is a really thought out and successful idea. It is something that I would like to try if I could get above my subject in the same way. The work was done to signify the worlds of street culture and graffiti, these rings drawn on the ground could be mistaken for road workers instructions, until the artist performs an illusion that transforms them into gymnastic rings. The stretches and flexes in real time and space show how it could look in real.  New lines are drawn to almost look as if it is a storyboard animation, showing previous movements that are still visible.
This piece of work above right (robin rhode) is probably most relevant to my ideas of the body movement and how we see the body move.

This image by Mona Hatoum, Pull, 1995 (above left) "subverbs our expectations of digital jiggery-pokery". With this installation the audience are invited in the tug on the hair braid hanging down, which is underneath a screen that shows the artists head upside down.  With each tug on the hair the face shows shock and pain. I would think and as well the viewer thinks it would be a clever software editing  that interacts with viewer and artwork but it is actually a live feed, the hair is the artists own hair attached to her head still and is sensitive. I think it's a great idea, really confusing the viewer and makes us think, but not the thought of someone tugging too hard!

The last image that I have decided to show from this book is by Jerome Bel, The Show Must Go On, 2001 (above right). This image also fits in well with my ideas of body movements because it is a dance show. "The performers wear everyday clothes and display an array of body types that are not expected to move with particular litheness or circumstances.  Bel's choreography has more in common with banal, everyday gestures than the hyperbole of ballet. Here the performers have slumped to the ground to the soundtrack Killing Me Softly.  Dance is a great way of showing how the body moves and many different body shapes and positions. This is why I have linked dance with my ideas. Here shows them all on the ground because of a particular piece of music, I would like to use a similar technique in my work and ask dancers to move in a certain way to music and see how their body moves. This artist, choreographer and images will be more useful to my Mixed Media ideas more-so than this module as I am linking the two ideas, but producing a film for mixed media.

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Out of this book I have come away with 10 interesting and helpful ideas for working with the body. They have each different in their own way but have given me so many ideas to work with in the future.  Some have been very relevant to my idea of movement, mostly:

Robin Rhode for actual body movements, shown in different ways, and
Bettina von Zwehl for the how the subconsciousness mind affects body movements.

But overall this will be one book of many to help me along with my research.