BODY AS LANDSCAPE 

BODY AS LANDSCAPE

Ana Mendieta, Untitled (from the Silueta series), 1976.

I look at this piece. I am conscious of my own bodily form and the often blurry borders of my being, just as the waves wash them away in this image series. I resonate with this piece's grasp on my own bodily experience while engaging with the work. The object seems to be aware of my eagerness to experience it, to make sense of it in the context of my bodily experience. It's like the human tendency to see faces in 'ordinary, non-human objects' like cars. In any case, the idea of objects being separate from humans and, analogously, humans being separate from nature leads me here...



Rosy Leake, 'My body, my Landscape', 2018.

Scroll right to see the rest of the piece.

The content of this object is large, the subject (part of a human body) is usually seen in context. This framing of a human body part takes it out of context and creates a new, unique place. Furthermore, this object, this work, is too large on the page to reduce into a specific meaning. As Morris puts it and is quoted in Fried's piece, "It is this necessary, greater distance of the object in space from our bodies, in order that it be seen at all" (Morris, 839.) Keeping in mind that this is a virtual exhibit and that you are not in the same physical space as a print of this image, your engagement with it is highly dependent on other factors like what device you are viewing it on and the space you're viewing it in. For example, is there a glare or smudges on your screen? This scene of the human body as a landscape may feel alien, like a sprawling desert; and yet, perhaps this scene is too familiar. We constantly see our bodies in these extreme close-up glimpses, but maybe choose not to register it.

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In researching Ana Mendieta more, I learned that Mendieta participated in protest activities along with fellow artist, Nancy Spero. According to an article on the Tate website, by Joanna S. Walker “…Their bodies functioned as the site and agent of political protest” (Walker, 1.) This quote stood out to me as a clear instance of the body being framed as not just a vehicle for the human journey but a destination itself–– a place.

I believe bodies are places, and these places are embedded in our surrounding environments.

We humans often try to make the distinction that our kind is separate from nature, above it, even. The word ‘nature’ alone, indicates that we  rely on this distinction. But this is a delusion designed to protect us from recognizing our vulnerability in this chaotic world.


Laura Aguilar, Grounded #111, (2006)

These are not just works of art to be admired with one’s eyes, but to be engaged with and experienced on a corporeal level. In other words, beyond the obvious humanoid shape alluded to or featured in these works, the relationship to the viewer that these works demand is tangible and embodied. This is interactive, not in the sense that you must choose from a menu of choices or click on a ‘next page’ button, but that these images of the human form insist on the viewer’s awareness of their own body.

Michael Fried’s piece on ‘Art and Objecthood’ made me realize that body art and art that explores the human form seems to fall under the category of art as theatre or experience. As a filmmaker this concept fascinates me, so I crafted a video form of this exhibit to attempt to demonstrate my experience of this art.

Click on this link to watch:
https://vimeo.com/657370710/b19cae49aa

Thank you!

Bibliography