Body Art

Body art was a form of Action art, which used the human body as artistic material. It acted as a medium, which could be used to represent abstract processes and cultural phenomena. From the 1960s, the human body and more specifically, the naked torso became a blank screen for gender-specific questions.
This was exemplified in VALIE EXPORT’s (born 1940) "Tapp- und Tastkino" (1968), and her performance 'Aktionshose: Genitalpanik' (1969), or Marina Abramovic (born 1946) and Ulay’s (born 1943) 'Imponderabilia' (1977). During this action, the artists became 'living doors', standing naked at the entrance of a museum in such a way that visitors entering were forced to have physical contact with them.
Body artists challenged, maltreated and injured their bodies. They inflicted diverse forms of self-injury, with pain and suffering as central metaphors, which were discoverable by the medium of the body and meant to be inscribed on it. This was demonstrated by Chris Burden (born 1946), who allowed a friend to shoot him in the upper arm (Shot 1971), Gina Panes (1939-90) in her 'Escalade non-anesthésiée' (1971), during which she climbed on and off a primed metal fence with razorblades and thorns poking out of it, so that with each movement they bore deeper into her flesh. Other examples of Body art include Vienna Actionist Günter Brus’ (born 1938) 'Zerreißprobe' (1970) and Vito Acconci (born 1940) who bit himself all over, painted the bite wounds with ink and used them as individualised stamps ('Trademarks', 1970).
The audiences also played a special role in these actions – they were frequently expanded through the "compassion" factor. Kathy O'Dell goes one step further in her study "Contract with the skin", when she describes an imaginary and nevertheless binding contract between observer and artist, and the consent resulting from the freely elective presence and, in the end, participation of the audience in the action.