1. BODY ON EDGE
Question: Taking the notion of ‘the body on edge’ as your starting point, present an account (an overview) of the of artistic and theoretical developments in this sphere over the last 40 years. Refer to selected works of art in each phase.

2. FOR US… Artists push their bodies to extreme situations.
Pushing the boundaries of what an artwork ‘is’.
Use of body as a medium to perform.
Focus on: identity, politics and aesthetics.

3. AMELIA JONES – PERFORMING THE SUBJECT – ‘‘POSTMODERNISM, SUBJECTIVITY, AND BODY ART, A TRAJECTORY”
Body = In danger
Explanation of exposing the body and authority.
Questions troubles of being a woman artist.
References to colonized gaze.
“Replotting the relationship between perceiver and object, self and other.” – Amelia Jones
Body = Tool, sign, source of meaning
Potential source of empowerment.

4. BODY ON EDGE- OVER THE YEARS:
The meaning has changed.
Engagement and physical element.
Embodiment = moment + relationship of artists with the viewer.
LIFE PERFORMANCE IN COLOURS – NATASHA KUDASHKINA

5. 1970’s SUMMARY
‘In the 1960’s and 1970’s. The body became an influential site for artistic inquiry and exploration. By replacing paint and canvas with the immediacy and physicality of the human form, body artists aimed to unite physical, psychological, and emotional experience.’

6. Through the Night Softly, 1973
CHRIS BURDEN
Five day locker 1971
Burden locked himself in locker 5 in the University of California for five consecutive days.
The locker above held a 5 gallon bottle of water and the locker below held a 5 gallon empty bottle.
One of Burden’s early body works that experiment with his body’s durance and capabilities.
Through the night softly 1973
Performance consisted of Burden slithering across a floor of broken glass in his underwear with his hands tied behind his back.
Live performance allowed audience to view Burdens glass shredded and bloodied body personally.
Could also be viewed in night advertisement spots – allowed viewers to experience performance in the detached setting of their homes
Transfixed 74
Burden physically attached himself with nails to a Volkswagen and was driven out of his garage with engine revving, in view to an audience.
Correlation to the crucifixion of Christ – reminder that multiple people were crucified to death in the Roman times – bringing the audience the reality of pain.
Through the Night Softly, 1973
Transfixed, 1974
Five Day Locker, 1971

7. MARINA ABRAMAVIC – THOMAS LIPS – 1975
Ambramovic, performing nude, used a razor blade to cut the shape of a star into her stomach, she then laid down on blocks of ice, then gets up and whips herself repeatedly. Afterwards, she eats a spoon of honey then drinks a glass of red wine. This sequence was performed until midnight the day of the performance.
Abramovic: ‘Theres no such kind of a logical ending in dealing with pain. I create a structure in which I can go far into the physical limits that a body can take. I don’t want to die. That is not the purpose. I want to experience the edge and how much I can take to this edge.’
Abramovic: ‘Theres no such kind of a logical ending in dealing with pain. I create a structure in which I can go far into the physical limits that a body can take. I don’t want to die. That is not the purpose. I want to experience the edge and how much I can take to this edge.’

8. 1980’S SUMMARY
In the 1980’s, there was more of a movement to create a link between life and art, and to involve the public more within the art world.

9. ONE YEAR PERFORMANCE (ROPE PIECE) – TEHCHING HSIEH AND LINDA MONTANO – 1983- 1984

10. REST ENERGY – MARINA ABRAMOVIC AND ULAY –– 1980

11. 1990’s SUMMARY
Abjection art became more of a trend, abject art is said to "explore themes that transgress and threaten our sense of cleanliness and propriety particularly referencing the body and bodily functions.” – Tate Website
Julia Kristeva – Powers of Horror
Exquisite Corpse, 2000, Jake and Dinos Chapman
Read quote from ‘Body art and Performance’. – martyred or exultant flesh, particularly when looking at the body on edge.
Abjection art – many people became aware of the theory from Julia Kristeva’s book – powers of horror
Abjection art covers all aspects of the body and fluids that make us feel impure
Spider, 1994, Louise Bourgeois

12. MARINA ABRAMOVIC – CLEANING THE MIRROR – 1995
In this performance, Abramovic is not the focus of the performance, that has been allocated to the skeleton. The piece is deathly, and strange. It puts the audience in an uncomfortable position.
First artist being discussed for the era of the 90s
Made herself less of the focus of the performance
Cleaning the mirror – film of her cleaning a human skeleton with a brush
Show the clip - Cleaning the Mirror, 1995
Her performance is deathly, and a bit shocking
It puts the audience in an uncomfortable position, looking at a corpse being bathed as if it’s a child being washed
Abjection art, it fits into this category
Next artist is quite gory, heads up for those who are squeemish

13. HERMANN NITSCH – ORGIEN, MYSTERIAN AND THEATER – 1962 – 1998
Nitsch, Austrian artist, works a lot with religion and blood
His art is very gory, involves a lot of animal sacrifice, blood, organs, crusifiction.
Associated with the Viennese Actionism – who are also quite a violent group of artists who worked trying to develop performance art
His work involves putting a lot of other people – not sure if the audience or volunteers or other artists – bodies on edge, having animals cut open and ripped apart on top of them and drinking blood.
Nitsch is an Austrian artist who’s practice focuses mostly with religious art.He was associated with a movement called Viennese Actionism which was around in the 60s.

14. FRANKO B – AKTION 398 – 1998
PRESS RELEASE: ‘The work of Franko B is about being exposed and naked, with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. His work consistently takes an unshirking look at the body as a canvas and as an unmediated and unrefined site of representation for the beautiful, the untouchable, the unspeakable, the ignorant and for the pain, the love, the hate, the loss, the power and the fears of the human condition.’
2:00, when you finally enter the room and see franko B
Aktion
Franko B, works heavily with blood, with putting his body to the limits of what it can do
Works a lot with getting himself to bleed in his performances, running the risk of bleeding out.
Abject, its uncomfortable, its horrifying to see a person bleeding and hurt yet the audience books in advance to come and see him do it
Summarise – 90s art work moved into a lot about using the body and pushing its limitations, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere.

15. CONTEMPORARY SUMMARY
Throughout the last 20 years, body art has arguably lost its strong political messages and has become more about the aesthetics of the work. Although this could be true of the 2000’s, artists seem to be returning to use their bodies in a dramatic way to make a statement rather then just for shock factor.

16. DAVID CATA ‘MY BROTHER JAVI’ – 2012
• Sews portraits into the palms of his hands
• “My brother javi” A flower of skin, × 15 cm. Photography, thread and skin. 2012
• pieces are works in progress
• People whose lives have had an impact on his own
• Says that he feels no pain
• Does that defeat the purpose? •

17. MARC QUINN – ‘SELF’ – 1991 – PRESENT
• Creates sculptures out of his own blood frozen
• Uses around 10 pints per sculptures
• Self-portraits of his own head
• Used to keep himself connected to try and escape alcoholism
• “self”
Blood (artist's), stainless steel, perspex and refrigeration equipment Dimensions208h x 63w x 63d cm •

18. MILO MOIRE – ‘A BIRTH OF A PICTURE - 2014
• “ the plopegg painting performance#1 – A birth of a Picture” •
• A lot of people don’t understand the work
• She thinks it’s all personal and feels strong when using her body
• The meaning of it seems to get buried under criticism

19. BIBLIOGRAPHY
"‘Plopegg’ Vagina Egg Paintings By Artist Milo Moire (NSFW) | Artfido's Blog" Artfido.Com. Accessed March
"Abject Art" Tate.Org.Uk. Accessed March 19.
Abramovic, Marina, and View profile "Thomas Lips, 1975, 1993, 2005". Marina-Abramovic.Blogspot.Co.Uk. abramovic.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/thomas-lips-1975.html.
B, Franko "FRANKO B: Aktion 398". FRANKO B: Aktion
Cata, David "Cite A Website - Cite This For Me". Davidcata.Com. Accessed March 19.
Gallery, Saatchi "Hermann Nitsch - Artist's Profile - The Saatchi Gallery". Saatchigallery.Com. Accessed March
"Hermann Nitsch | Artnet" Artnet.Com.
Jones, Amelia Body Art - Performing The Subject. Minneapolis (Minn.): University of Minnesota Press.
Kristeva, Julia Powers Of Horror. 1st ed. New York, NY: Columbia Univ. Press.
Kuriyama, Emily "Everything You Need To Know About Chris Burden's Art Through His Greatest Works". Complex UK.
"Marina Abramović | Cleaning The Mirror II (1995) | Available For Sale | Artsy" Artsy.Net. Accessed March
"Performance In The 1970S" Walkerart.Org. Accessed March 5.
"Rope Piece: A One Year Performance Piece" Ghost- Create. Travel. Live. Accessed March performance-piece/.
Sofaer, Joshua "What Is Live Art? | Joshua Sofaer". Joshua Sofaer. Accessed March 19.
Vergine, Lea Body Art And Performance. Milan: Skira Editore.
Youtube, Marina Abramovic + Ulay - The Other: Rest Energy (1980). Video.
Youtube, Cleaning The Mirror 1 - Marina Abramovic - Performance Art. Video.

20. BIBLIOGRAPHY IMAGES
artFido, Plopegg - Milo Moire. Image. Accessed March 19.
artillerymag.com, Amelia Jones - Body Art Performing The Subject. Image. Art.jpg.
Artsy.net, Chris Burden - Through The Night Softly. Image.
Blogspot, Marina Abramovic - Thomas Lips. Image.
Five Day Locker - Image Via Ronald Feldman / Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York Image. Accessed March
Ghost, Rope Piece - TEHCHING HSIEH AND LINDA MONTANO. Image.
Inked, DAVID CATA ‘MY BROTHER JAVI’ – Image. Accessed March level/2/.
marcquinn.com, Marc Quinn - Self. Image. Accessed March 19.
nitsch.org, HERMANN NITSCH – ORGIEN, MYSTERIAN AND THEATER – 1962 – Image. Accessed March en.html.
Pinterest, Life Performance In Colours - Natasha Kudashkina. Image. Accessed March 19.
shopify.com, REST ENERGY – MARINA ABRAMOVIC AND ULAY – Image. Accessed March
Tate, Exquisite Corpse, 2000, Jake And Dinos Chapman. Image. Accessed March
The Guardian, Spider, 1994, Louise Bourgeois. Image. Accessed March &s=af11b24e98505fbd27119f4becff428c.
unkown, Chris Burden - Through The Night Softly. Image. Accessed March
unkown, Juila Kristeva - Powers Of Horror. Image. Accessed March 19.
Vimeo, Franko B - AKTION 398. Image.
Wordpress, Transfixed. Image.