Performance art and body modification : body as a tool for artistic expression
Paju, Pihla-Maria (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025120231645
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025120231645
Tiivistelmä
The aim of this thesis was to explore practices of body art and modification and how they are related to performance art. The purpose of exploring these practices is to understand the reasons why artists choose to use the body as a medium or a tool. Analyzing the works of artists Marina Abramovic, Fakir Musafar and Ron Athey, the research investigates how body has been used as a medium in artistic working and what purposes it is serving to the artists. To understand the purposes, the study explores performance art, body modification, and the history of body art. The analysis aims to identify recurring motivations for the use of the body in artistic expression.
The data for this thesis was collected from various sources such as books, newspaper articles, artist interviews, documentary films and academic papers. The research documents a practice-based project, a video installation titled “Numb”, made by Pihla Paju, in which performance and body art techniques were applied as central methods. The study examines the artistic process of the artwork “Numb” as well as the outcome.
The findings suggest that performance and body artists employ body modification and physicality to access intensified physical states, seemingly in order to create distinction between the artistic and the everyday self. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the contemporary culture of body art and modification remains connected to its historical origins, despite ongoing cultural changes.
The data for this thesis was collected from various sources such as books, newspaper articles, artist interviews, documentary films and academic papers. The research documents a practice-based project, a video installation titled “Numb”, made by Pihla Paju, in which performance and body art techniques were applied as central methods. The study examines the artistic process of the artwork “Numb” as well as the outcome.
The findings suggest that performance and body artists employ body modification and physicality to access intensified physical states, seemingly in order to create distinction between the artistic and the everyday self. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the contemporary culture of body art and modification remains connected to its historical origins, despite ongoing cultural changes.