The importance of the body

in art and politics

Inga Adaszkiewicz-Postrych
Maksymilian Sinocha
The presentation outline
01 02 03
Introduction Historical Body in
contexts contemporary
art and politics

04 05
Other Bibliography
cultural contexts
 01
Introduction
Defining the body
 Body

-the whole physical structure that forms a person or animal

-mostly associated with tangibility
-a term strongly connected with appearance
 Beneath the surface

-body as a tool of expression (nonverbal communication)

-body as a form of art
-body as a subject of vital disputes and breakthroughs
Classification of the body in art
and politics

2.
1. Criterium
Criterium
of time
of place
 02
Historical contexts of body
in art and politics
The Human Body in
Ancient Art and
Politics
 I. Egypt
-Art meant not to be admired but to be used during vital rituals
to worship gods or the deceased (significance of
mummification)

-Sculptures of the bodies linked the soul with the

presence or gods with humans

-The importance of symmetry

-The Egyptian canon of male and female beauty

Outer beauty connected with inner one

-Foreigners’ bodies depicted in a different way

 II. Greece

--Connection of art and philosophy;

Perceiving body and mind as a whole

-References to mythology

-Sculptures exposing male nudity

(kouroi)

-Female statues, often depicted in thick

drapery (korai)
 III. Rome
-Depicting separation of the body from the mind by
separating head from the rest of the body in sculptures

-Head- often imperfect, filled with signs of aging; the

body-symbol of youth and strengh

-Verism- political aspect; wrinkles perveived as a

symbol of authority and gravity

-Avoiding nudity- they associated it strictly with

sensuality which caused conflict with their main
thought that the essential human value is wisdom
The Human Body in
Medieval Art
-Duality existing in every human being- mortal body and soul linked to the God

-Some female mystics perceived body and soul as a whole

-In art there were reflections of the disagreements about the nature of the body
 The Human Body in
Renaissance Art and Politics
 Human Body in Italian Renaissance Art

-artists become to equal anatomists-

attempt to achieve more realistic portrayal
of human’s body

-art complementary to science

-Leonardo da Vinci- series of detailed

studies of the human skull;
human dissections

-Andreas Vesalius- „De humani corporis

fabrica”
 “Before dressing a man we first draw him nude, then
we enfold him in draperies. So, in painting the nude,
we place first his bones and muscles which we then
cover with flesh so that it is not difficult to understand
where each muscle is beneath.”

Leon Battista Alberti- “On Painting”

 The Influence of the Human
Body on Renaissance Politics

- Better knowledge about human’s body anatomy

provided political life with complexed bodily
metaphor

- Thomas Hobbes’s „Leviatan”- reference to

internal organs; image of human’s body utilized
to reflect political theories
The Human Body in 03
Contemporary Art and
Politics
The Human Body in Contemporary Art
Movements

-60s of the XXth century- the birth of

body art

-Body art- artistic genre, in which the

physical body of an artist is
integral part of artworks. For
example, performance art., body
painting, tattoos and other body
modifications etc.
 Body politics and art

-Body politics- refers to the operations of power concerning

the body

-Term first used in the 1970s, during the „second wave” of the
feminist movement in USA

-The history of human body is political

-Using body art to conform with or rebel against social

conventions

-Stuart Brisley as the protoplast of reflecting body politics

contexts in his work
 Hannah Wilke

-American performer, whose works have

their core in body art

-works concerning feminism

-focused on expressing wide array of

emotions and being authentic
 Performance „Gestures” (1974)

-Recorded on a videotape, with no

audience participation
-Skin as a sculptural material
-Gesture- reflecting the exact emotion
-Expressing extreme emotions
-Authenticity- showing personal, intimate
gestures
 Post-human contexts

-exploring the impact of artificial intelligence and notions of the

post-human

-Hershman Leeson’s attempt to create and live the life of her

alter ego

-Marcel-li Roca’s attempts to construct humanoid, using

advanced means of technology
 04
Body in other Cultural
contexts
 Asia

- Although in Asian countries allowed

physical expression is lower, due to
conservatism and collectivism, it
doesn't fully stop people expressing
themselves.
 Africa

African Body art is mostly visible in body

painting and other body modification.
A lot of african art is closely related to
tribal tradition.
THANKS!
 Bibliography
https://pl.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ancient-egypt-ap/a/egyptian-art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artistic_canons_of_body_proportions#:~:text=The%20Egyptian%20canon%20for%20
paintings,figures%20stand%20with%20feet%20together.

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/beauty.htm

https://eduzaurus.com/free-essay-samples/depiction-of-human-body-in-egyptian-and-greek-art/

https://www.gdcinteriors.com/body-in-greek-art/

https://www.gdcinteriors.com/body-in-greek-art/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verism

https://theancienthome.com/blogs/blog-and-news/roman-statues

https://guerrerohistory.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/roman-art-draft/#:~:text=Roman%20art%20has%20a%20differe
nt,covering%20the%20characters%20with%20clothing
.

https://www.samfogg.com/exhibitions/34/

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/anat/hd_anat.htm

Art, Anatomy and Political Theory in the Late Renaissance

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/wilke-hannah/

https://aestheticamagazine.com/stuart-brisley/

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-body-modern-art-oxford/fQUx-sPaHdhdKQ?hl
=en

https://www.lynnhershman.com/project/roberta-breitmore/

http://marceliantunez.com/work/joan-lhome-de-carn/

https://eudl.eu/pdf/10.4108/eai.25-4-2016.151162