body art

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

Form of painting that uses the artist's own body as its central tool and material; it is closely related to action art. Body art grew in the late 1960s, and reflected society's more liberal attitudes towards experimentation with sex and drugs, and the discussion of psychosexual subjects. The art form varied considerably in its interpretation, and was usually a live or videotaped ‘event’. It was often influenced by masochism (desire for personal pain or humiliation), and included themes such as self-mutilation. In one notorious example, the body artist Chris Burden had himself shot.

The top left trigram symbolizes summer, south, and heaven. The top right trigram represents autumn, west, and the moon. The bottom right trigram stands for winter, north, and the Earth. The bottom left trigram represents spring, east, and the sun. Effective date: 21 February 1984. >>