The Medium of Human Skin in Contemporary Body Art

Polazište diplomskog rada Medij ljudske kože u suvremenoj umjetnosti body arta je percepcija navedenog medija tijekom povijesti, njegove uloge i namjene u kontekstu ljudske kulture i povijesti umjetnosti. Rad je fokusiran na percepciju ljudske kože u sklopu današnje kulturne paradigme te na performans i body art, specifično na modificiranje tijela u sklopu tetoviranja. Koža je jedan od najstarijih i najkompleksnijih vizualnih i psiholoških medija korištenih tijekom ljudske civilizacije i povijesti umjetnosti. Njezina uloga i značaj su se tijekom umjetničkih razdoblja mijenjali; tek je u suvremenoj umjetnosti ljudska koža dobila ulogu medija kojim se cijeli koncept umjetnika predstavio publici. Upravo se 60-ih godina 20. stoljeća putem performansa utjelovljuje takav koncept, a ljudsko tijelo postaje sastavna komponenta prilikom kreacije umjetničkog djela. Ono postaje subjekt s kojim se prenosi određena poruka i ideja. Danas, razvojem iz body arta, tattoo postaje specifičan medij koji se procesom trajnog označavanja kože ljudskog tijela modificira iz rituala, pa preko zanata sve do oblika umjetničkog izražavanja.The starting point of the thesis The medium of human skin in contemporary body art is the perception of this medium throughout history, its role and purpose in the context of human culture and art history. The thesis focuses on the perception of human skin within today's cultural paradigm and performance and body art, specifically for body modification within tattooing. Leather is one of the oldest and most complex visual and psychological media used throughout human civilization and art history. Her role and significance changed during artistic periods; it was only in contemporary art that human skin was given the role of a medium by which the whole concept of the artist was presented to the audience. It was in the 1960s that such a concept was embodied through performance, the human body becoming an integral component in the creation of a work of art. It becomes the subject with whom a particular message and idea is conveyed. Today, developing from body art; tattoo becomes a specific medium that, in the process of permanently marking the skin of the human body, is modified from rituals, through crafts to forms of artistic expression