Great Issues in Fine Arts: The Body as Art

HSP 172   CRN 7059
Tuesday and Thursday
 1:10 - 2:30 p.m.
Bobbitt  215C
Dr. Kara Morrow

Course Description:

 We have pierced, painted, carved, injected and scarred our bodies throughout human history. The artistic decoration of the skin reflects the values, hopes, concerns, and status of the adorned individual and of his or her culture. Polynesian societies tattooed their bodies with a protective second skin, an armor for battle. However, tattoos were not always signs of aggression in Polynesia. They also served as a social skin, a complex system of signs and symbols that communicated power and taboo. In Africa, the body and face was intentionally scarred in order to demonstrate the civilized character of mankind versus wild, untamed nature. In both Melanesian and Native American societies, body paint was a sacred material that announced power, danger and status. Similarly, hair and its styling was at the center of the transmission of cultural values. This course will offer students the opportunity to explore the adornment of the body by various historic and contemporary cultures. At the heart of this class is the relationship between the historical process and the contemporary practice of body adornment, and the reception of these aesthetic practices by western communities.