Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Exquisite Corpse


Details from Dolce & Gabbana's Fall 2010 Ready-To-Wear Collection






Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

In the Forest





Images by Lissy Elle, see her photostream here.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Privates




Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum by Terri Kapsalis

In Public Privates, a book about looking and being looked at, about speculums, spectacles, and spectators, about display, illumination, and reflection, Terri Kapsalis makes visible the practices and representations of gynecology. The quintessential examination of women, gynecology is not simply the study of women’s bodies, but also serves to define and constitute them. Any critical analysis of gynecology is therefore, as Kapsalis affirms, an investigation of what it means to be female. In this respect she considers the public exposure of female "privates" in the performance of the pelvic exam.

From J. Marion Sims’s surgical experiments on unanesthetized slave women in the mid-nineteenth century, to the use of cadavers and prostitutes to teach medical students gynecological techniques, Kapsalis focuses on the ways in which women and their bodies have been treated by the medical establishment. Removing gynecology from its private cover within clinic walls and medical textbook pages, she decodes the gynecological exam, seizing on its performative dimension. She considers traditional medical practices and the dynamics of "proper" patient performance; non-traditional practices such as cervical self-exam; and incarnations of the pelvic examination outside the bounds of medicine, including its appearance in David Cronenberg’s film Dead Ringers and Annie Sprinkle’s performance piece "Public Cervix Announcement."

Confounding the boundaries that separate medicine, art, and pornography, revealing the potent cultural attitudes and anxieties about women, female bodies, and female sexuality that permeate the practice of gynecology, Public Privates concludes by locating a venue from which challenging, alternative performances may be staged.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Tumors




Images by Frank H Netter, M.D. from A Compilation of Paintings on the Normal and Pathological Anatomy of the Reproductive System, CIBA, 1965.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Little Girl





Images by Amber Rose, see her photostream here.

Balkan Erotic






Stills from Marina Abramovic's 2005 multi-channel video installation Balkan Erotic.

The work explores Balkan pagan traditions and culture through sexuality and the human body. Abramovic researched Serbian folklore and discovered many historic instances of the employment of eroticism and sexuality to address everyday issues. For example, if it rained too much the women of the village would run into the fields and lift their skirts in an attempt to scare the gods and end the rain. Along with amateur actors, Abramovic dressed in traditional folk costumes and reenacted ancient rituals. The videos examine Balkan folklore and culture, the power of sexuality and tradition.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Grass





Images by Darling Child, see her photostream here.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Daily Exercises





From Modern Beauty Culture by Maria Verney, 1933.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Artificial





Sculptures by Cristina Lei Rodriguez, read an interview with the artist here.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Ruff

From Wunderkind's Fall 2010 Ready-To-Wear Collection





Friday, March 19, 2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Alarm Call



Bjork's Alarm Call video directed by Alexander McQueen

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Transmission





Images by neil △ krug, see his photostream here.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Book






From calypsospots' flikr set Book Art.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Inflamed





Images from Diseases of the Skin, Eigth Edition, 1918 by Henry W. Stelwagon, M.D., Ph.D.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Blue Spots





Images by iliveinoctober, see her photostream here.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Fur





Images by Oh My Cavalier! (Julianna Swaney) see her wares here.