Pushing The Dangerous Nature Of Boundaries Analysis

Ever wondered how artists are capable of pushing the dangerous nature of boundaries by using bodies within art? Well within this essay I will explore how artistic works utilise the materiality of the body in order to expose the precarious and dangerous nature of boundaries. I will be focusing on three key ways that five different artists have adopted the materiality of the body to push boundaries. The three key ways that I will be exploring are: audience participation, masochism within art performance and nudity- uncovering or using of the lower body. I will address the reactions that have been created by using these key factors within this essay.

Firstly, I would like to look at an artist who uses the body within art to push, or

The performance consisted of Ono sitting in the middle of the stage whilst she invited the audience to approach her and cut away her clothing. The audience came up to the stage one by one, with a pair of scissors, and were able to cut away as much clothing as they wished and they were able to keep the cuttings of fabric that they cut off. This was a piece that was known for challenging the neutrality of the relationship and the boundaries between the art and the viewer. To begin with, the audience approached Ono rather nervously, only cutting small amounts at a time. As it got towards the end of the performance, as Ono was becoming more and more undressed as her clothes fell from her body, the atmosphere started to become more hostile and somewhat demoralising. A male member of the audience entered the stage that saying ‘this could take a while’ and started cutting Ono’s shirt off followed by her bra. The audience immediately started shouting abuse such as, ‘that’s enough’…’get off the stage’. Due to the fact that the atmosphere changed during the performance would indicate that there was an acceptable boundary as to how much clothing was acceptable to be removed as so called ‘art’. There was definitely a boundary,

The first artist I would like to focus on is Ron Athey; Athey is loved for challenging and pushing the boundaries between ‘desire, sexuality and trauma. Athey’s work debates the preconceived ideas about masculinity and religious iconography through containing such elements as S&M and masochism in order to confront these ideas; this allows the audience to question their beliefs on these subjects. Athey is particularly good at pushing the physical and emotional boundaries of what are acceptable and what is not when it comes to pain and suffering for art. With Athey using his own body in his live performance, this allows the audience to relate to the pain that Athey is going through. Thus the body does not appear as simply just an art medium but as a living object that is living and breathing, allowing the audience to relate to the pain and suffering within the performance. Some, or most, of the audience members would not be imagining the joy and excitement that Athey will actually be feeling during this gruesome and violent performance. Due to him being a masochist, it actually brings him arousal and pleasure. For example, within his work, Athey includes anal penetration, surgical incision making and blood contamination with HIV positive performers. This is demonstrated in the piece titled Incorruptible Flesh (Perpetual Wound) performed at SACRED (see Figure 2) which was