Body Mods, Art and the Modern

this is a responce to this. please read it.

we live in america, a country founded by people so uptight, the british kicked them out. most of the uptight-ness that came with the territory (forgive the expression) has been exorcized, and one of the things we're left with is a community of artists who think everything is art. this claim is most utterly false.

it should be known that i have a very serious bias against what is called "modern" and "post-modern/ contemporary" art. throwing paint at a wall does not make you an artist in the exact same way that sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken. modification is not art by default. to say it is, is to say that the kid who crushes chain links into his face is an artist. i don't think we want this.

i think tattoos and piercings are pretty damn interesting. these are traditions that have existed for generations upon generations, and for good reason: they can mean something. the canvas of the body modification artist is the flesh. this is not a piece of paper on which one can erase mistakes, or even throw out if everything goes to hell. because of this exact fact, the body mod artist CANNOT claim the same creative affluence that, say a painter, could. if they screw up, it's for life. there are no second chances.

the discipline of body modification should be taken more seriously due to its permanence. the body mod'er is more than just an artist, he/ she is the artwork and the artist all in one!

this is what i believe to be the next step in "art," making one's self the subject of experiments and curiosity and potential beauty, moving the canvas off the frame/ whatever and on to the body. again, this is not new, but it is being re-discovered on a much larger scale then ever before. there's a reason tribal tattoos and piercings and scarifications are called tribal.

body mods are treated as though they are art, like paintings and sculpture. they are not. they are more.

[originally posted 3/25/07]