Examples of Body Art
Vito Acconci once documented, through photos and text, his daily exercise routine of stepping on and off a chair for as long as possible over several months. Acconci also performed Following Piece, in which he followed randomly chosen New Yorkers.
The Vienna Action Group was formed in 1965 by Herman Nitsch, Otto Muhl, Gunter Brus, and Rudolf Schwartzkogler. They performed several body art actions, usually involving social taboos (such as genital mutilation)..
In France, body art was termed art coporel and practised by such artists as Michel Journiac and Gina Pane.
In Italy in the 1970s, one of the famous artists in the movement was Ketty La Rocca.
Marina Abramovic performed Rhythm 0 in 1974. In the piece, the audience was given instructions to use on Abramovic's body an array of 72 provided instruments of pain and pleasure, including knives, feathers, and a loaded pistol. Audience members cut her, pressed thorns into her belly, applied lipstick to her, and removed her clothes. The performance ended after six hours, when someone held the loaded pistol up to Abramovic's head and a scuffle broke out.
The movement gradually evolved to works with more directed personal mythologies, as those by Rebecca Horn, Youri Messen-Jaschin, Javier Perez, and Jana Sterbak.
Jake Lloyd Jones, a Sydney based artist, conceived the Sydney Body Art Ride, which has become an annual event. Participants are painted to form a living rainbow that rides to the Pacific Ocean and immerses itself in the waves.
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