BodilyMatters:HumanBiomatterinArt
Materials/Aesthetics/Ethics
(L)AndyWarhol,OxidationPainting(1978)Copper,metallicpigmentandurineoncanvas.
(C)MarcQuinn,Self(2006-15)Blood,liquidsilicone,stainlesssteel,glass,perspexand
refrigerationequipment.
(R)AndrewKrasnow,HollowMuscle(2006)Humanskin.
ConferenceJuly7th~8th2016-CALLFORPAPERS
UniversityCollegeLondon|InstituteofAdvancedStudies
From Andy Warhol's oxidation paintings, made using urine, Andrew Krasnow's
twoandthree-dimensionalartworksutilisinghumanskin,BillFink'smeticulously
constructed images created with human hair to Marc Quinn's blood-sculpture
series Self and Rose-Lynn Fisher's photographic series Topography of Tears, the
humanbodyhasbeenusednotmerelyasthesubjectofartworks,butalsoastheir
substance. Diverse in terms of their image and object-making practices, and
encompassing casting and sculptural processes, drawing, painting and
photography,theseartworksneverthelesshaveonethingincommon:theycanall
beconsideredtobeexamplesofwhatweterm"biomaterial"artworks.
The human body has long provided a source of interest for artists, as both the
subject and object of a wide range of artistic practices throughout history and
acrosscultures.Thebodyinarthasbeenthesubjectofanextensiveandgrowing
literaturethatengageswiththemesasdiverseasthehistoryofanatomyandthe
arts,contemporaryperformanceart,bodymodificationpracticessuchastattooing,
bioartpracticesthatutiliselivingmatterasitsnewmedia,andextensivefeminist
andqueerreadingsofart,powerandpolitics.Whilstthehumanbodythusremains
an important concern for scholars studying visual and material culture in fields
such as art history, anthropology and the medical humanities, little scholarly
attention has been paid to modern and contemporary art practices that use the
rawmaterialofthehumanbodyitselfintheproductionofartworks.
This interdisciplinary conference seeks to address this by examining the creative
manipulation and use of human biological matter in the production of artworks,
their display and critical reception. Artworks in all media will be considered,
providingthathumanbiomatterhasbeenusedintheproductionofthework.The
conference aims to explore biomatter-as-art-medium, in multiple forms: Body
fluidssuchasblood,semen,tears,milkandvomit;excretasuchasfaeces,urineand
sweat;skinandadnexasuchashairandnails;boneandteeth;organsandwhole
bodies;andcellculturesandDNA.Humanbodilymaterialsarefrequentlyinvested
with highly symbolic cultural power and complex visceral and emotional
entanglements, thus the use of human biomatter as art medium opens up an
intriguing cultural space to reflect critically upon the relationships between
materiality, aesthetics, affective response, ethics and the production of cultural
meaning. Bodily Matters seeks to engage explicitly with biological materials and
post-mortembiomatter,aswellasexpandingourfocustoincludeawiderangeof
biomaterial art processes that may encompass photography, sculpture, painting,
assemblagesandinstallation,andperformanceart.
20-minutepaperproposalsareinvitedfromscholarsandartistsinanyfield,which
engage with, but are not limited to, material, aesthetic and ethical approaches to
artworksmadewith/fromhumanbiomatter.Topicsmay,forexample,include:
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The post-mortem body - ethical and legal aspects of the use of human
remainsas/inart;
Artisticpracticeandthemedicalmuseum;
Wholebodiesvs.bodyparts;
Artist'sbodyvs.donated/appropriatedbiomatter;
Materialityofbiomatterasitrelatestoaffectiveresponse;
Materialandethicalapproachestobioartpractice;
Biomatterasprocessand/orsubstanceofartworks;
Science/artcollaborations;
Livingvs.deadbiomatter;
Solidvs.fluidbiomatter;
Biomaterialethnographicartefacts,anthropologyandart;
Representations of biomaterial artworks in literature, film and popular
culture;
Exhibition,displayandcriticalreceptionofbiomaterialartworks.
Pleasesend300-wordproposals(attachedasa.docfile,inEnglish)togetherwitha
short biographical note including institutional affiliation (if relevant) to Gemma
Angel (gemma.angel@ucl.ac.uk) by March 1st 2016. Contributors will be
notified that their proposal has been accepted by mid-April 2016. It is proposed
thataselectionofpaperswillbepublished.
Formoreinformationvisit:http://thanatocorpus.com/bodily-matters/
SupportedbyUCLInstituteofAdvancedStudies,UCLPathologyMuseum&UCL
CentrefortheStudyofContemporaryArt.