Art Vs Body Art

Body art is one of the type of performance art which is conceptual. Artist uses their body as a canvas and erase the distinction between the creator and the work created. Transforming into art pieces themselves. By becoming art, they render the disinterested aesthetic judgments of the art object absurd or irrelevant. Harming one self is often seen as an attempt towards suicide but harming one self in a gallery space or in front of people suddenly becomes a performance or performance art. Zhang Huan, a Chinese performance artist had a similar approach. He noticed for his performances of self inflicting pain and over coming the pain. The argument of this paper is to draw attention between the similarities of Zhang Hunan’s practice with the

This spectacle is a third thing, to which both parts can refer but which prevents any kind of “equal” or “undistorted” transmission. It is a mediation between them. That mediation of a third term is crucial in the process of intellectual emancipation. To prevent stultification there must be something between the master and the student. The same thing which links them must separate them….”

Zhang Huan performance makes himself a spectacle during the performance of 12 kilometers and 65 kilograms. He wanted to show Physical pain, endurance and cruelty where audience watches him as he suffers alone. His works are something that you cant unsee,the way he imposes pain on himself and then also endures it and remains calm through the whole process , no matter how agonizing or un bearable it become. The pain of the general public and the torture they go through .During these performance audience views him as a spectacle ,he also makes a connection with the audience, they watched him suffer in pain through out which shows how desensitized humans have become, they watch others go through pain and misery but all they do is watch and ignore. The audience who first view his performance is only seeing the pain but the idea behind the performance stays with the artist , this gap makes artist a spectacle,

Standing in water with other people created a rise in the water levels . He did this to shed light on the effects of social development of China .it is also a representation of a literary quote which says that one person can make a change, he drastic change in the rise of water level. I represent that . It also shows development has a price, which comes in the shape of natural calamities like floods ,sandstorm and Zhang work modernization is a form of development but it creates a tension between human will and nature or between human effort and ecology . Also the most important part here was a child sits on Zhang shoulders probably to show that what are they leaving for their kids, the future of