11.11.20 - ADDITIONAL RESEARCH - Body and Identity

 Florian Heinke - Gier ist Macht - Acrylic on untreated Canvas, 2014


Florian Heinke's art explores the slogans and motifs of popular culture, with a strong use of acrylic paint on canvas to create vivid, photographic images. The title of this painting translates to 'Greed is Force', which alone, is a really powerful statement. My interpretation is that our excessive needs as humans are a powerful force in driving destruction across the planet. In particular, I feel that the mega rich have so much power to solve the worlds problems, yet their greed leads them to hoard money rather than use it for good causes like funding healthcare, education, developing ways to cut carbon emissions, etc.. 
I think the title is referred to through the symbolism of the tattoos on the persons body, like illustrations of their identity. The gun is a really clear indicator of power, which is emphasised by the solid black colour against the pale skin and the way it is pointing down at a tattooed hand, implying dominance. I see the gun pointing towards the reaching hand as a reference to Michelangelo's 'The Creation of Adam', but in this context, the hand is not reaching to God, it is yearning towards the gun and I think the dollar sign on the hand represents the greed that is steering them away from Holiness and towards violence, while the bird tattoo above suggests fleeting freedom and peace.


I think the LA logo tattoo conveys the idea that where we live is something we hold very close, and it becomes a part of our identity because we develop certain idiolects, memorise the streets and buildings, recognise local faces and feel a sense of belonging. But I think the choice of LA is very deliberate because it is an iconic location and an epicentre of popular culture, with celebrity mansions, Hollywood movie sets, famous venues and music studios. However under the glamorous surface, Los Angeles still has massive issues such as gun crime, drug addiction, and homelessness. I think this is a really powerful analogy for personal identity because we choose what elements of ourselves to present to the world in order to orchestrate how other people perceive us, like a constructed version of the self.  
This idealised version of LA that we see in popular culture reflects on a larger scale how we use social media to create a certain image of ourselves. However I still think people get tattoos for themselves as a form of expression rather than for other people to view and judge.

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Aline & Jacqueline Tappia - 'Rick Genest' - Photography for GQ Italia, 2011

These portraits explore the body as a canvas, with Canadian model Rick Genest whose skin is about 80% inked. The anatomical designs bring the inside out and directly address the taboo topics of abject horror, death and decay in a really explicit way that might make a lot of people uncomfortable. To me it is important to remember that we are all made of flesh and bones and that our personalities are not physical entities that carry on after death, unlike our bones. I think our skeletons are a big part of our identities because scientists can study even the most ancient bones and discover things about the persons life, such as changes in diet or traumatic injuries. The exposed brain may reference a gruesome scene from Hannibal (2001) where Dr Lecter surgically removes the top of a mans skull while he is conscious and feeds him his own brain while Clarice looks on in horror. I think it is really interesting how we are drawn to horror even though it disgusts us - for me the thrill comes from the mind being shocked and stimulated as a result, but it also makes me grateful for the normality and privilege I have in my life.

I found the side profile with the butterflies on the model a really striking photograph because there is such a rift between the morbid imagery of the tattoos and the sense of life embodied by the butterflies all over him. It's quite ironic that we associate butterflies with beauty and elegance but they are also known to feed on sweat, blood, faeces and dead bodies to survive - so perhaps that was the idea behind this photograph. Since my comfort zone project has explored insects, this photograph has opened my mind to the idea of using them to communicate more taboo ideas like death and decomposition in a way that is still beautiful and graceful. 




Below are some jarring images of butterflies feeding on dead animals, as well as the gory scene from Hannibal that I was referring to.















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