So a friend of mine got kicked off Facebook for god knows what, too much body exposure? Same old bullshit. Can’t they discern between individual artists sharing their work and porn advertisers on the hustle? Idiots. Anyway, his name is Ron Athey, and he’s an amazing artist, and I’m a big fan! (I’ll be doing an interview with him on his recent monograph, Pleading in the Blood, for an upcoming issue of Duke University Press’ Cultural Politics).
There’s no easy way to sum up his work, or anyone doing important intriguing difficult visionary work in a blog post (yes, they have their limits). Its body-based, durational, in keeping with what’s been deemed the “masochistic” work of artists like Gina Pane, Bob Flanagan, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (my Believer piece on Gen’s Warhol show is up, btw, if you haven’t seen it!). Still that says little to nothing about the profoundly sacrificial aspects of his work, or how BDSM-queer theory have shaped it. Some performances can be hard to witness, a testament to their power IMHO, other are downright warm and fuzzy. Many people seem unable to let go of their discomfort long enough to see how deeply intelligent, thoughtful, and giving Athey is, instead – almost invariably – he’s treated like a freak show. And I’m talking about art journalists here.
BUT the point of this post was to share a few pics culled from a Google image search I did after I saw Ron’s new profile pic (after his 30-day probation). As you can see, it shows him in warrior stance, right palm above heart, tribal body sleeve almost done. I was particularly attracted to the nipple studs, the stretching of the skin to accommodate them the way ear lobs are commonly done. It looked really beautiful. Body modification as an expression of malleability interests me, and the results can be striking. The culture around it is never one I’ve been active in as I’m hopelessly squeamish about cutting into my body. I distinctly recall feeling violated when I got my ears pierced, LMAO, at 16, I guess by the violent blast of the gun. Perhaps method is everything. I don’t have any tattoos. I have friends who are covered and I love it (when the art is good, obviously), and sometimes I want to just cover my body, even my face. But I never do. Instead I wait and appreciate it on others:) But I do sometimes like to look at what people are up to, what the trends are (like last year’s bagel head).
Ok, well here are some images of nipple adornment/modification I came across that I found appealing/fun! And if its too tame for you, check out this blog by former founder of BME (Body Modification Ezine) where he talks about flayed penises.
