Secondary Research: Marina Abramovic
From 'Rhythm 0', 1974
Marina Abramovic is a serbian performance artist whose work explores the relationship between the viewer and performer. She is very known for crossing boundaries with the viewers and creating very extreme performances. When thinking about the three words that were assigned to me, I feel like it was quite difficult for me to find artists where masochism is one of the main themes in their work. However, Marina Abramovic seemed an artist that could tick that box.
Ever since I watched a documentary about her work I have been more and more interested in her practice: I think she uses her body to challenge the perception of what performance is and can be but also to teach a certain lesson every time.
One of the performances that I thought was the most interesting is Rhythm 0, where the work involved Abramović standing still while the audience was invited to do to her whatever they wished, using one of the 72 objects she laid on the table. I think that this performance really showed what people are willing and capable of doing if they are given the possibility and freedom.
Photograph from Rhythm 0
I think this performance has to do with masochism because Marina Abramovic somehow finds pleasure when pushing herself both physically and pshycologically, even if this means hurting yourself. I think, as a performance artist, masochism is a key element in her practice because it comes as a result of her curiosity in the relationship between the performer and the visitor/viewer.
When thinking about an outcome I would like to create I think masochism will be the central word I will use because I find it interesting to create something that gives people pleasure whilst at the same time it hurts them. I do not think my outcome will be a performance but perhaps I could incorporate some of the elements from this research (for example some of the elements that Marina Abramovic used in the performance) to create and experiment with my final outcome.
Nobuyoshi Araki
Nobuyoshi Araki is a Japanese photographer mainly known for blending eroticism and bondage in the fine art world. Although I don't really like how the main BDSM/masochism/sex photographers in this research have been men, Araki's work is very controversial which I find interesting.
I feel that in the 1960s in Japan it must have been very controversial to take pictures like the one above, which I think is one of the reasons why Araki's work rose to fame in Japan back then. From what I can see on the internet, his work is continuously blended between pornography and fine art. I think his work is very raw which is why I enjoy it so much: the photographs and the compositions are very simple, it almost looks like he did not plan the photos but that he just happened to carry his camera and took a picture.
Although I really find Araki's work compelling because of how innovative it was at the time, I do not necessarily agree with the ethics and morals behind his pictures. Women's bodies, in my opinion, are clearly objectified which is something that I struggle to look at and admire. As I stated above, it was disappointing but not very surprising to see that most of the photographers / BDSM artists I found whilst doing my research are men. I will try to find other women artists but so far it has been quite difficult.
Because for this project we are asked to create an object or something imaginary that could exist 100 years from now, looking at Araki's pictures makes me think about creating a BDSM object that can be used in sex or in our daily lives to release our emotions onto ourselves. I am not sure if this is enough imaginative or maybe too pretentious, but I have never thought about creating an object which is why I feel like this is very out of my reach. It's a good thing.
Bibliography: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/pamp38/nobuyoshi-arakis-massive-new-retrospective-is-surprisingly-personal
https://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/exhibitions/25/overview/#/artworks_standalone/9503
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuyoshi_Araki
https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/paby3k/araki-enfant-terrible
BDSM and Sadomasochism
As the main focus of my object or outcome will be on the word masochism, I decided to gather some ideas by looking at BDSM (bondage, discipline and sadomasochism) and the psychology behind why some people feel pleasure when getting physically hurt.
BDSM is a variety of practices that involve bondage, discipline and submission. Usually there are two figures: one of dominance and one of submission. The term 'sadomasochism' is derived from sadism and masochism. Sadism describes sexual pleasure derived by inflicting pain whether masochism describes the pleasure in getting hurt. Reading and researching more about what the term means and how people derive pleasure from being -often more physically than emotionally- hurt enables me to get a better understanding on the subject.
I do not think my work is going to focus a lot on sexual pain but I would like to explore the idea of physical pain furthermore. It has been hard for me to find specific artists who explore masochism in their work as the main theme but I think Francis Bacon may be one of them.
Francis Bacon - Self-Portrait, 1969
It is argued that the early beatings Bacon took from his father might have caused an interest in masochism later in life: Bacon and his partners would practice BDSM and the pleasure he got from his personal life would be translated into his very dark paintings. As 'the goading worsened, the imagery intensified'. It almost seems as his masochistic personality and the activities he would undergo with his partners and lovers would encourage him to create more thrilling art. I find this quite interesting because I never really found an artist whose work was driven by masochism. I find his work very visceral; it seems to 'hit' the viewer instantly.
The fact that his paintings reflected his masochistic personality could perhaps mean that, by making art, he was trying to process the trauma of his abusive father. His paintings seem very angry and full of rage towards perhaps his past life.
This makes me think that maybe I could focus on something that happened in my life that made me very angry or upset and create a piece of work based on that. Perhaps I could try drawing a self portrait or try to create an object that will exist in the future that Bacon could have used to express his anger and negative feelings. I would like to try and create an object more than a painting or a drawing as I think the object could reflect more the idea of masochism more than a work of art.
Bibliography: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/nov/22/francis-bacon-legacy-revisited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadomasochism
Irving Klaw: Erotic Photography
Irving Klaw was one of the first photographers to explore erotic photography in the 1950s in America. I mainly wanted to research erotic / BDSM photographers to see the objects that were used in the photographs and draw inspiration from them, but looking at Irving Klaw's photographs as a whole make me think about how different his style is compared to Araki's, the Japanese photographer I looked at previously.
I think Irving Klaw's photographs, unlike Araki's, do not cross between pornography and art, but are very literal and erotic. Having found a 'gap in the market', I think Klaw mainly focused on creating images that would suit and please an audience in America back in the day. Irving Klaw also ended up photographing the main Pin-Up stars of the time which I find very fascinating.
From the images I looked at, I definitely feel the need to point out how these photographs objectify women bodies - when looking at these photographs I could clearly tell that they were taken by a man. The male gaze seems to be the 'status quo', even when the subjects are women. Having these thoughts in mind does not make me very keen on the artist's work, but for the sake of research, I will try to focus on what I am looking for in these images.
As one of my words was rubber, after looking at several BDSM practices portrayed in the images taken by these photographers, I think I am going to try and imagine some kind of object that could be knotted that is made of rubber. My initial thoughts are about creating something that ties people's hands together or that causes pain, whether in a sexual or non-sexual way.
Bibliography: https://www.widewalls.ch/irving-klaw-vintage-erotic-art/
Maxime Ballesteros
I came across Maxime Ballesteros' work when I was reading some articles on the Dazed website. His work stuck with me because it was very sexual and provocative so I thought that it would be good to research more about the meaning behind it and see how I can use the photography as an inspiration for my project.
When looking at the series of pictures on his website, Maxime Ballesteros' work seems to pretty much sum up his whole life and existence. I don't feel like he sets any restrictions for himself as to what his photography can portray which feels very refreshing to me. I can see that he plays a lot with 'sexually-charged symbolism', leather, stocking and heels which is why I thought he might be good for this project.
When thinking about masochism I think most of the time it is interpreted in a sexual way: one of the things I associated masochism with at first was sex. I am not sure whether his images are inherently sexual, but I do think that, because he portrays his daily life, sex is also a part of that. For example, the photograph below to me represents BDSM and masochism within sex. But I don't think his work is exclusively about sex, I think in order to be understood completely we would have to look at his whole body of work and then interpret things from there.
In any case, I do think that looking at Maxime Ballesteros' work I had a clearer idea of what masochism is and how it can be represented through photography. Although I am not sure if photography will be the medium I am going to choose for my outcome, I think researching photographers deepened my understanding of masochism and perhaps it will be something to explore in the next projects.
https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/maxime-ballesteros
http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/17734/1/maxime-ballesteros
https://www.maximeballesteros.com/portfolio-editorial-and-commissioned