The Human Body as a form of Activism

Intervention 1- The Human Body as a form of Activism

Hi everyone, 

    For my intervention project, I will be focusing on The Human Body and how it can be represented through  activism or be a form of activism itself. As an artist, I focus on creating art that is relative to my experience, as the concept of reflection is very important in my process. My artistic practice is a statement of capturing the raw beauty of experience through the human form using the reference of the female body often to show representation for non conforming gender roles through wearable art and abstract art pieces. I also prioritize desexualizing the human female body through art as a form of activism and throughout my day to day life. I bring emphasis to the nude body to deconstruct sexual implications of the female experience, showing appreciation of the divine feminine and to bring attention to the issues of gender roles in societies and cultures. 

    My artwork expresses the human body and the human experience as an art form. In my work, I explore different mediums, objects and images to create illusion. I believe that the human body is one of the most beautiful pieces of art there is, it is one of the most under-appreciated pieces of art, held in captivity, bounded by oppressive ideas, and ostracized on too many occasions. Yet, beholding so much strength and beauty, the human body experiences so much abuse, whether its through body shaming and self hatred, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, undergoing surgeries and diets to be objectified by society's beauty standards, body mutilation experienced in some cultures, and sexualizing young women in pop culture for fame and fortune through things like the rap and hip hop industries, only fans, and modeling to name a few.

    My goal of referencing the Body as Activism is to capture the pure elegance and simplicity of beauty in life that is not based off of typical cultural and societal standards through the arts. As an observer and enthusiast of different cultures, I see the beauty in all different people and lifestyles. With that being said, by "Being a Body advocate" I can create art that helps to promote healthy body image by sharing with others through education and awareness how to reclaim their body as their own, defined by their own rules of beauty and acceptance." Operating as a "Body Activist" can be apart of one's everyday life though healthy mindset, social events and engagements, apparel and fashion, conscious health choices, and making your art apart of your lifestyle.  Therefore, I think it's important to embrace our bodies, especially in their natural forms. It's important to practice liberation through concepts like self love, body positivity, body neutrality, radical self expression, and even representing the body in new and unique ways through art like wearable art, body paintings, and seeing the body as a tool for activism rather than seeing it through the sense of objectification.

    In the Interventionists Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life, they state "The call for art to merge into life returns today under the most improbable of circumstances." Documentation of the human experience through different contexts like photography, films, sculpture, drawing and painting is important to my process. I also explore this process called “The Chaos,” which symbolizes all of the distractions, ideas, labels and ignorance that society uses to oppress us. It is a technique I created mixing different mediums, water, spray paint and ink to achieve a layer which represents a transparent blindfold that's put over our minds, keeping us from embodying the beauty of our true selves. My art involves concepts of reflection, spirituality, Diaspora of cultures and pop/urban culture, feminism, gender studies and movement. I focus on creating art that is relative to my experiences, though I hope people who view my work can look into their perceptions and reflect on their own life experience through this expression of using the body as Activism. 

    For this project presentation, classmates and fellow activists can come and collaborate on my in progress art piece as a form of Body Activism. "Working collaboratively presents new challenges to be perfect. Sometimes we succeed in turning down the pressure on ourselves, only to work with others who ramp it right back up. If you’re working in a group, make a concerted effort to develop an atmosphere of cre-ative acceptance. This isn’t always easy, and it takes a lot of trust, but it is worth the struggle." By expressing different movements, gestures, drawings, words and ideas on my tapestry, together we kind of can create a micro protest towards body shaming, gender roles, self hatred and deconstruction of female sexualization. With 3-5 mins and art supplies provided, the class will be my social participants for this project and my tapestry will continue to evolve and be recreated in different forms in different times and spaces, just as the human body does.

Thanks for your participation,

Best, 

Aye

*This Artwork is Untitled and will always be in continuous progress. It will look different after presentation.

   

 In this art piece for this intervention, I have a tapestry that I created with the silhouette of a human body. It shares an intimate poem about healing and embracing self. It is also a collection of different moments and time, kind of like a traveling artifact that I have carried around with me to different places for the last 5 years. This piece is untitled and is an ongoing collaborative art piece, embracing the thought of carrying a genderless human form and throughout your journey you pick up things and ideas that were placed on you by society. Then you put them down by sharing with others and embracing yourself, this is a form of activism. 

Showing other artworks representing same concepts mentioned above in an Art gallery

Showcasing artwork outside public spaces in NY after artworks got rejects from an art show

Painted a gender neutral art piece, that was on consignment at a vintage shop in JC, paints were also commissioned for a "euphoria" inspired music video and modeled in a fashion show at Essex county community college.

Citations:

• Duncombe, Stephen, and Steve Lambert. “The Art of Activism.” Vitalsource Bookshelf Online, online.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781682192702/pageid/70. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023. page 57

• Ekern, Baxter. “Be a Body Activist.” Eating Disorder Hope, 16 May 2016, www.eatingdisorderhope.com/blog/be-a-body-activist. 

• Thompson, Nato, and Gregory Sholette. “The Interventionists Users’s Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life.” Https://Civicmediatacticaldesign.Files.Wordpress.Com/2012/01/the-Interventionists.Pdf, MASS MoCA Publications, civicmediatacticaldesign.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/the-interventionists.pdf.

• Houseofblouezz.com