Body of art

In recent times, artists’ own bodies have become their muse, and more and more artists are discovering this new medium to make emphatic statements, writes Nonika Singh

Diwan Manna is neither selfconscious nor embarrassed about using his body as a medium of expression

Artist Diwan Manna steps inside — painted and nude — in the frames of his photographic series After the Turmoil. Sonia Khurana’s videos often feature her nude self. Her video, The Bird, has her flapping her arms like wings. Subodh Gupta decides to smear cow-dung over his body and shoot it as a video installation. Video and performance artist Pushpamala N is often the subject of her own compositions. In her ethnographic series of photographs, she enacts the stereotypes of women. Manmeet, better known as Mrs Manmeet, along with her spouse Shantanu Lodh, put up a nude art performance in an alternative space in Delhi.

Gone are the days when the public could only speculate about the identity of the model used in the art works. In the new fluidly changing art lexicon, artists are neither selfconscious nor embarrassed about using self as the vehicle to convey and express. As art is constantly pushing new frontiers, the body, nay the artist’s own body, has become a significant tool of exploration and expression, and more and more artists are discovering this new material — their own bodies — to make emphatic statements.

With art no more straitjacketed in conventional mediums, with boundaries between photography, painting, video, installations and even performance fusing, the body has suddenly been pushed to the foreground and has occupied centrestage.

"Nothing new in it," asserts eminent artist Prem Singh, who feels the body and art are interlinked, "for people began to decorate bodies much before art, as we understand it today, came into practice."

Delhi-based international visual artist Vivan Sundaram agrees that the human body has been the reference point of images since times immemorial. But he interjects that use of one’s own body is most certainly a 20th century phenomenon.

Video and performance artist Pushpamala N is often the subject of her own compositions. In her ethnographic series of photographs, she enacts the stereotypes of women; and (right) Tejal Shah (centre) in her works questions stereotypes that society has nurtured vis-a-vis what girls should do or not do. Photo: Religare Arts Initiative

Noted art critic Keshav Malik is categorical that negation of the self, and not projection, is part of our tradition. Art historian Dr B. N. Goswamy, too, recalls that many temples in Kerala have mirrors instead of images of deities. Says Goswamy: "Indeed, self can be a significant means, probably the first step towards the larger goal of realisation and awakening. But whether the new trend, where, at times, the body is being sensationalised, allowing people to become voyeuristic, has a similar purpose or even the intent. I have my doubts." Though he feels that it is perfectly legitimate to use one’s own body in one’s art and that there is nothing absolute in art, he is not sure of the consequences, when art crosses limits, especially cultural specific limits.

Malik, however, feels that intention is not the issue. Most certainly this kind of art can have an import, a socially relevant message, too. Take Sonia, a postgraduate from Royal College of Art London. Her works delve into the dynamics of identity. About her work, The Bird, art historian Leon Wainright writes: " It is about an encounter with a failed flight. It is an investigation of two kinds of limitations: the body confronting its own flesh and the forces of gravity, and a discreet questioning of accounts of the body, which overlook sexual difference." Sonia’s other work, The Closet, featuring a woman whose decision what to wear soon acquires an obsessive neurotic dimension conveys a larger point too of how appearances can play havoc in a woman’s life.

Similarly, Tejal Shah’s work questions stereotypes that society has nurtured vis-a-vis what girls should do or not do. Manmeet, who has done a collaborative performance piece, Hamam mein sab nange hain.. par yeh hamam kahan hai, explores fears related to showing off woman’s body in the middle class society.

Not only the body but also as nudity is being placed in the artistic framework, the question that immediately crops up — are Indians ready for it? Dr Alka Pande, art curator and historian, answers: "Depends on who is viewing it and how enlightened the viewer is. Is he ready for the gaze?"

Diwan, whose works, even the nude ones, adorn the homes of many art connoisseurs, thinks that sensibilities are changing. And why not. As Dr Pande reflects: "The body is, in any case, a metaphor used by artists in search for a personal language." Malik isn’t insinuating that this art doesn’t have a message. Only his main worry is — is message then the art?

So why are artists compelled to use their own bodies? Artists will not even entertain the query that they are doing it to shock or titillate. No, this is not a manifestation of or reflection of narcissism either. They are certainly not out to revel in their bodies. For one, these are no picture-perfect bodies. Indeed, Sonia is no svelte beauty and Diwan has no delusions of being the perfect Adonis. His art, he opines, is all about sharing his thoughts.

As Amanbir Singh writes of Diwan’s use of bare body: "Diwan has used his body as a recording device for catching the ephemeral contours and silhouettes of human beings, thereby displaying the tenderness and intimacy of human touch and the inner turmoil that haunts every relationship." The trigger to include himself in his works was borne partially out of expediency as the male model he intended to use suddenly became unavailable. Besides, he confesses, there was as a subconscious desire to share what others feel when they become part of my work. "And thus I became me," he claims.

Diwan admits that the desire to be part of the work is definitely immanent among artistic brethren and yet the self of the artists often includes others as he has done in his series of conceptual self-portraits. However, the opinion is unanimous that the manner in which avant-garde artists are using their body in their works is not the same thing as self-portraits, whose history goes back in time to greats like Van Gogh and Rembrandt.

Sundaram suggests that the keyword here is performative and that the photographs of his maternal grandfather Umrao Singh Shergil, when he posed in front of his camera, had that performative quality.

Call it by any name, Akitonsim, body art or performance art, Malik is not impressed. Indeed, theatre artists are using their bodies all the time but he quips: "Can this so-called performance art match the complete art of performing arts, especially the likes created by theatre stalwarts like Rattan Thiyam?"

UK-based renowned artist Avtarjeet Dhanjal is candid, and brutally so. "These kind of efforts are only an expression of desperation. In this new age, human relationships, sacred at one time, with the arrival of condoms and free sex, have lost not only the sacredness but also their meaning all together. Now there is nothing left for these young people to explore or express. This new generation may be remembered in history as the most free generation, but could also remembered as the Lost Generation. The unrestricted freedom expounded by the Western media through digital technology has given these artists the courage, but not the depth in their actions."

Undeniably, Malik observes that videos can be interesting and have attention value but do not really work the magic. Yet, he is not proclaiming: "Don’t do it`85 by all means. Only remember, it takes a painstaking long time to arrive at your artistic signature, which sets you apart."

Whether artists are happy with their 15 minutes of fame that everyone in future is destined to enjoy or want to create art for times when they will not be around, is a ticklish query and expectedly the opinion is divided. Dhanjal feels: "Maybe, all performance artists are standing on their heads just enough to hold the audience for one minute; whether anyone can hear the message, they wish to convey; if there is a message they have to convey; it is an open question."

Whether this new trend may gain momentum in future or may just fizzle out. Singh feels: "Art is all about exploration which must continue. Some ideas may settle down and others may be knocked out." But the breed of daring artists, some of whom have even risked the family’s ire as well as attack from conservatives, are willing to take the chance and live art at their own terms. Ultimately, art is all about expression, which subsumes self-expression.

Aktionism through time

Body art, performance, Aktionism, Happenings — these are all names for the many late 20th century art forms that have used the artist’s own body as the subject and object of the artwork itself. Whether acting out the gestures of painting (Jackson Pollock, Yves Klein, the Gutai group); voguing for the camera (Hannah Wilke, Mariko Mori); subjecting oneself to acts of violence (Chris Burden, Gunter Brus, Gina Pane); displaying acts of athletic prowess and courage (Matthew Barney, Marina Abramovic); many artists, since the late 1950s, have increasingly used their bodies to subvert, shock and politicise contemporary art.