Chapter 5:The Body
- Friday Mar 7,2008 12:26 PM
- By krista
- In 3D Design
When i read this chapter about the body i was interested in the part when the author stated that objects can be used to substitute the body and that a lot of art gives the impression of the body without actually having the body. I think that objects that represent the body can have as great an effect as if the body was there. For example, Maureen Connor’s piece Thinner Than You uses a dress to show the pressure women are under to be skinny. When reading this another exhibit i saw came to mind. I saw a ton of shoes that were worn by Jews while in Auschwitz. Do you think objects can have the same impact without the human body?
4 Responses for "Chapter 5:The Body"
This is a great thought to consider. I like the idea of using an object “as a metaphorical substitute for the body.” I agree with the idea that these objects can have a great effect, even without the body there. I think that objects can have the same impact, if not, a greater impact, without the body. What about the memorial at the Oklahoma City bombing? There are these chairs lined up in the middle of a field to represent all the children who died in the bombing. Crosses for awarness on abortion have the same effect. I think that absence of a body gives the subject more impact than just by placing it in plane view.
I agree. The body can have an impact in some situations, but in other situations no body can have an even bigger impact. I went to New York City a few years ago. At a museum, there were several exhibits showing people coming into the harbor from across the seas. Photographs, paintings, even some sculptures of the struggle and the joy of coming to America. But then there is the memorial at the site where the Twin Towers once stood. The area is fenced off, but in the center of the rubble, there stood a lone wooden cross. Thinking back on it now, that probably had a bigger impact on me than the museum pieces did.
Having no body in a piece makes the people who are looking at the piece use their imaginations. It makes us picture what happened or what could be happening if there was a body in the piece. Not having a body, I think, makes us become part of the piece by interacting and picturing in our minds what is missing from the piece. Or in some cases, we put our own bodies into the piece. For me, I put myself in the dress in the “Thinner Than You” piece. I can’t imagine myself being thinner, but that piece really put it into perspective for me.
Objects can have the same impact without the human body and sometimes have a greater impact. Substituting the body for objects can allow us to place our own views and images in mind. How we see the piece of art is by our own decisions. It also can help us think outside of the box. Like Flagslayer said, the chairs lined up in the field can draw in a sense of desolation or hurt for those who lost their lives. It shows the emptiness of what happened to these people and the impact that on the lives that were associated with them. The dress to show the pressure for women to be skinny hits hard because we see it indirectly in an everyday piece of clothing. Women hide behind their clothes and to have the dress be the body brings attention to the issue.
I agree when the actual body is missing it makes the viewer think about the piece more and about what the artist is really implying. An object can be bold and symbolic without even having people in the art work.
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