Abjection-extremely bad, unpleasant, and degrading

-completely without pride or dignity-uses the ‘power of horror’ in art forms

I decided to look at the theme of abjection in more detail, the use of extreme imagery, which is not normally seen in a socially normal context, I find striking, and a powerful emotive and thought provoking tool.

• More intense/powerful causing strong emotional reaction.

• Where does the limit lie?

By using graphic scenes, it can evoke an intense response from the viewer, however, what are the limits to this, and can it ever go too far?

Martin Creed - Sick Film, 2006

Martin Creed showed a performance titled ‘sick film’ in 2006. The first scene showed a woman, putting her fingers down her throat to activate her gag reflex, forcing herself to be sick. This creates a strong response, imagery like this is not seen in normal life, and has strong associations with medical eating disorders, and acts which are only done privately and never shown. It makes the viewer feel sick in themselves, this could be showing that by using abjection in performance, it hits the audience harder making them feel the emotion which is being shown so strongly, this is also to do with it is not an interpretation/metaphor of being sick, it is a performance of the true act, so the raw emotion strikes stronger.

Franko B - Oh Lover Boy, 2001

Franko B also uses extreme imagery in his works. In the piece oh lover boy, he lays on a slanted wall, on a plinth, with cuts across his elbows, this lets the blood flow down the canvas, this performance then creates a fixed art piece.For my self initiated project, I am also using blood in my piece for a stronger effect. If Franko B has performed this piece using red paint for blood, it would not have the same intensity as created by using real blood. This use of his own blood in this piece was necessary in showing the intensity of his pain and I think it was a very successful performance in connoting his message, which for me he is literally bleeding with pain over his lover, showing it ended badly and affected him greatly.

Ron Athey - St. Sebastian,

1999

Ron Athey, like Franko B, uses self mutilation in his work. However, unlike Franko B, only making cuts for blood, Ron Athey goes further, damaging and degrading his own body. Here, Athey us mimicking the traditional renaissance paintings of St Sebastian. St Sebastian was a martyr, so in a sense, this is shown as a good deed, but Franko B twists this meaning of pleasure, and shows it in a more S&M way, with darker undertones. Is this still an artistic performance, using abjection for meaning, or is it too far and just considered grotesque, a performer taking sexual gratification from mutilation and exhibitionism?

Fred Herko - Suicide, 1964

Fred Herko’s last performance was his suicide. He invited a group of people to his flat to watch a performance. While they were there, he went to take a bath, after emerging, he danced around the room naked in front of the guests to a music piece by Mozart called Coronation Mass. In the dance, he kept making moves back and forth to the window, and as the music climaxed, he hurled himself out of his 5th floor window. This was his suicide performance, which he had hinted to friends in the months prior it was something he wanted to do as a final piece. Later it was discovered on the floor of the room there was an open book by Mary Renault, which wrote about where a king leaps into the sea, and that this was a ritual to renew the world.

• Is there a flexible limit to what is, or is not classed as ‘performance’?