Art as a Practice of Embodiment

I hate writing as a form of communication because it is harder to express myself. I prefer to embody my thoughts through art as a form of communication because it is visible. Some people find it easier to express themselves through dance, music, theater, literature, and film. However, my comfortability, talent and happiness lies in the realm of three-dimensional sculptures. I created a sculpture out of wire called Unwind that embodied my thoughts on recreational drinking. The piece represented the progression of time as you mature through a beverage. Another sculpture I created relates to embodiment on societal change. The work focused on the massive consumption of plastic humans use in their everyday lives. The point of this work was to bring awareness towards the ecological problem plastic waste causes for the biotic community. Ecological healing is an aspect of societal change that I relate to within my own practices of embodiment through the arts.

Unwind, 2015 wire and collective objects

The embodiment can be relevant in causing societal change because it has the potential to bring in a bigger audience. From the article, Art That Heals, Danielle Taylor’s collective poetry and film blog, “ Voices of the Penokee Hills: Becoming the Poets of our own Landscape,” helped bring awareness about a mining project that wanted to destroy a valuable, resourceful place that the native people called home for short term profit. This project brought people together allowing them to express their feelings and the importance of aesthetics for their culture. In the book, The Reenchantment of Art, Suzi Gablik acknowledges that aesthetics are not changing but are being enhanced by ecological perspective. “The ecological perspective does not replace the aesthetic but gives a deeper account of what art is doing.” In this essence, the art is going beyond the gallery system to put societal change in a new context such as the Penokee Hills film project.

In the film, The Artist is Present, Marina Abramovic embodied a spiritual healing towards others. When looking at a piece of artwork it is usually one person, one spirit. Abramovic challenged the interaction between the person and herself developing a dual spirit interaction during her show, The Artist is Present, at the Museum of Modern Art. Marina stated that she could feel some people’s pain and observed their reactions over the period of the exhibition. For some, this experience could have been a spiritual healing process because it was a moment in time where their bodies slowed down and reflected. Marina said that she could feel some people’s pain and anger during the experience while other just were curious.

Embodiment might be a reaction towards social or economic issues in our society. The United Nations of Refugee Convention developed drawings illustrating refugee’s needs for survival and protection. These drawings gave insight towards the life of female refugee’s and their basic needs for survival and protection including details of improvements for their life. Drawings like these are not following the gallery system idea on aesthetics. These works wouldn’t be considered beautiful, however, they are because they strip down the norms showing vulnerability towards the subject matter.

An embodiment can also be a reaction towards spiritual healing. The Idea of harvest is not only ecological important but spiritual as well. Watching the Harvest Education Learning Camp video, shows the culture of the tribes that visit the Penokee Hill’s region and their concern with the mining project. These people live the hunting, fishing and gathering lifestyle. For them to exercise the treaty rights sends a reminding that they still have rights. “We have to harvest or we will lose them,” is a relationship that is very important and spiritual. During the scene where the dream catcher was intertwined with the tree illustrates that nature will prevail. It was here before us and it will be here long after us. For artist to make a difference in societal problems like this they need to get away from deconstructing and start “participating in different activities, attitudes and roles that operate under the aesthetics of modernism,” for culture to heal says Gablik. Art needs original ideas where the artist steps out and take risks and becomes vulnerable.