A művész és a közönség testének találkozása a művészet boncasztalán
The Chance Encounter of the Artists’ and the Audience’s Bodies on the Operating Table of Art

Summary/Abstract: According to the traditional view, art is a matter of the spirit, and the body only appears as representation in the fine arts. As in many other cases, the borders were crossed in this respect as well during the 20th century. The bodies of the artists and of their audiences made their appearance in contemporary art. Artists do not strive anymore to remove the traces of their handiwork. In abstract expressionism, the image is no longer mere representation, but an imprint of the artist’s bodily movement. The second half of the 20th century brings the proliferation of the artistic forms in which the artist’s body is an essential ingredient. While in the classical conception the body of the recipient was sublimated, happenings and relational art build upon the entire bodily presence of the receiver. Until art was a matter of the spirit, works of art were created for the sake of contemplation, and there was an obvious difference between art and non-art. Does the intrusion of the artist’s and the recipient’s body in the space of art not threaten us with the artist’s body being actually put on the operating table? In my opinion, art does not cancel itself, but provides time and space for both artists and recipients for not using their bodies as mere instruments but experience them freely and reflect on them as possibilities.

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