Beauty and the Body by alana hampton

Beauty and the Body What research, reﬂec,on & inves,ga,on look like in the visual arts

Beauty and the Body

Begin with the concept Beauty and the Body Consider: what is beauty? If you can’t think of anything, at any stage, just play un,l something comes to you ... But make sure you ac,vely seek associa,ons – always

Consider some possible focuses/approaches to the concept e.g. •  body and nature •  inner and outer beauty •  wriGen on the body Select one of the following contexts •  psychological •  physical •  environmental NOW : take a series of photographs e.g. explore the body, sec,ons of skin in close-‐up, body with shadows cast on it etc. This is number 3 in the triptych manipulated in Photoshop using symmetry devices Play with the images, crop, print in black and white, overlap, uses symmetry in Photoshop etc. Print images and cut them up, work back into them, turps rub etc. Arrive at several ( 3 -‐ 5 composi,ons) then begin to hone your idea.

Scan and print your favourite composi,on to overhead and project and draw it up larger. Collage it, colour it, tear it up, project other images over it and re-‐photograph, re-‐project, draw over etc. Con,nue to push the works un,l you have arrived at something you ﬁnd pleasing and then

Can you work out what the image on the ,tle page is?

Art and Beauty

Beauty and the Body

All these approaches on the previous page cons,tute research and inves,ga,on.

Now for some reﬂec,on. Research ideas of beauty over ,me and cultures – there are some examples on the following pages.

Reﬂect on the ques,on ‘what is beauty’? and come up with some ideas to share. This research involves Cultural and Historical context, even Socio-‐Cultural contexts which might involve Feminist are prac,ces. Contexts are the lenses through which you look at a concept or focus.

Look at Jenny Saville’s work Propped, 1992. This work has a Socio-‐Cultural context i.e. it makes comments on no,ons of beauty and the treatment of women. Note the text scratched into the image. Examine the other Saville works in the Powerpoint and examine the surface of these pain,ngs. How might you apply text to a version of your experimental drawings to make and communicate meaning?

Beauty and the Body

hGp://www.katetaGersall.com/victorian-‐feminine-‐ideal-‐the-‐perfect-‐silhoueGe-‐hygiene-‐grooming-‐body-‐sculp,ng/

Beauty and the Body Â

Beauty and the Body

Jenny Saville Propped 1992 Saachi Gallery

Beauty and the Body

Depic,ons in churches Sheela na Gig at SS Mary and David's Church, Kilpeck, England The Normans had a major influence on English Romanesque architecture when they built a large numbers of Chris,an monasteries, abbeys, churches, and cathedrals. These Romanesque styles originated in Normandy and became widespread in north western Europe, par,cularly in England, which has the largest number of surviving examples. Sheela na Gig is a common stone carving found in Romanesque Chris,an churches scaGered throughout Europe. These female figures are found in Ireland, Great Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, and in the Czech Republic. Their meaning is not clearly iden,fiable as Chris,an, and may be a concept that survived from ancient forms of yoni worship and sacred pros,tu,on prac,ced in the goddess temples. Some of the figures seem to be elements of earlier structures, perhaps devoted to goddess worship. Other common mo,fs on Chris,an churches of the same ,me period are spirals and ouroboros or dragons swallowing their tails, which is a reference to rebirth and regenera,on, a concept well known in pantheism. Other creatures including the succubus make an appearance in the sculptural reliefs of the church that have a long history in the oral tradi,on of previous civiliza,ons that preceded Chris,anity that may relate to earlier goddess worship.

Beauty and the Body

Ana Mendieta’s Silueta Series of the 1970s is composed of tracings and imprints of her body in natural sehngs in places such as Iowa and Mexico. She outlined these with flaming gunpowder, blood, rocks, flowers, and fireworks; she even bound herself in cloth and covered her body with mud and rocks.

Beauty and the Body

Ancient sandstone statue of an Apsara (heavenly maiden) from Karnataka, India.

Beauty and the Body Â

Beauty and the Body see some of the related areas I found below: Ideal of Beauty

HERE

Women’s Ideal Body Types through History

The Deﬁni,on Of 'Sexy' Around The World

Body Augmenta,on

If you scan down the right side of this link there are examples of beauty ideals from around the world A great deal of this is about stereotypes. How are gender stereotypes constructed? Examine the MoMA link and complete the ques,ons and ac,vi,es

Artist responses to similar concepts, focuses and contexts

AnneGe Messager – HERE An interview about her prac,ce for Casino

JANINE ANTONI: LICK AND LATHER

JANINE ANTONI: LOVING CARE

BARBARA KRUGER

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AH XIAN

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Beauty and the Body Examples of Visual Diary work: Research, Reﬂec,on, Inves,ga,on

Beauty and the Body examples of Visual Diary explora,on work: Research, Reﬂec,on, Inves,ga,on

RESOURCE: MoMA Learning – The Body in Art

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