Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Response #4.

This is in response to Chelsea's question in which she asked, "Do you agree or disagree that it [body painting] is an appropriate form of self-expression and how do you feel about nudity in art?"

I agree with you that body painting is not only an appropriate form of self-expression, but a beautiful form. I've always found the human body beautiful on it's own - just the way the body works, the way the muscles move, all of the different modifications we can do to the human anatomy that may people overlook. It's poetry in motion, in a way. Body painting combines the elements of the physical realm and the mental realm, bringing to life ideas in one's mind painted on one's body. In this respect, it's very much like tattoos except it is not permanent, which I think allows for a lot more freedom and spontaneity in the art. Self-expression that tattooing may lack because some people my be afraid of its permanence can be more elaborated on with body painting.

As for nudity in art, because I find the human form so beautiful, I think it's one of the most organic and natural means of art around because it is what we are, what we know, and what we experience day in and day out. It is what we experience in it's most natural form, and often times its most vulnerable form. For art, this means a lot because art communicates emotions, feelings, states of mind, experiences we all go through, and the vulnerable human body speaks loudly in the art world.

My question is, "According to Tolstoy, art is a communication of feeling. Has there ever been a time where you have seen a piece of artwork or a musical composition or any other form of art, and felt no emotion whatsoever?"

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