Abstract

“Ruptured Envelopes, Double Shells” explores the presence and meaning of skin in art of the early twenty-first-century. Millennial art has engaged skin through an intriguing selection of media, from animal hides to latex and silicon. The installations discussed in this paper experiment with biological and artificial skins, transformed into fetishized shells and brought to bear on contemporary sociocultural anxieties. The paper draws on Didier Anzieu’s Skin-Ego theory as a useful analytical framework, allowing discussion of both psychological and sociocultural aspects of skin. Works by Ana Álvarez-Errecalde, Nandipha Mntambo, Jessica Harrison, Wu Tien-chang, Michel Platnic, Pamela Rosenkranz, and Penny Siopis are discussed under the categories of “double shells,” “skin fetishes,” and “de-structured skins.” Analysis proceeds along two critical paths. Thus, a historically-specific political perspective is coupled with a phenomenological reflection on skin’s appeal to the haptic sensibility of our bodily borders. Investigating the turbulence of global mobility through the trope of skin, the paper reflects on subjects’ sense of “skinlessness” in an age when Otherness is ubiquitous, whether it is political, geographic, ethnic, or racially specific. At the same time, the growing phenomenological discourse on embodied aesthetics invites reflection upon sensory aspects of skin-based art, in relation to the lived experience of bodily envelopes. Assuming a synergy between these complementary critical paths, the paper offers close analysis of seven artists’ skin-related installations and videos, with particular attention to how skin comes to matter in an age of global turbulence.

摘要

“破裂的信封，双壳”探讨了二十一世纪初艺术中皮肤的存在和意义。千禧一代艺术通过一系列有趣的媒介（从动物皮到乳胶和硅）与皮肤接触。本文讨论的装置对生物和人造皮肤进行了实验，将其转化为迷恋的贝壳，并引发了当代社会文化的焦虑。该论文借鉴了 Didier Anzieu 的皮肤自我理论作为有用的分析框架，允许对皮肤的心理和社会文化方面进行讨论。Ana Álvarez-Errecalde、Nandipha Mntambo、Jessica Harrison、Wu Tien-chang、Michel Platnic、Pamela Rosenkranz 和 Penny Siopis 的作品在“双壳”、“皮肤迷恋”和“解构皮肤”等类别下进行讨论。 ” 分析沿着两条关键路径进行。因此，历史特定的政治视角与对皮肤对我们身体边界触觉的吸引力的现象学反思相结合。该论文通过皮肤的比喻来调查全球流动性的动荡，反思了在异类无处不在的时代，无论是政治、地理、民族还是特定种族，受试者的“无皮肤”感觉。与此同时，关于具身美学的现象学论述日益增多，引发人们对基于皮肤的艺术的感官方面的反思，与身体外壳的生活体验相关。假设这些互补的关键路径之间存在协同作用，本文对七位艺术家与皮肤相关的装置和视频进行了仔细分析，特别关注皮肤如何在全球动荡的时代变得重要。历史特定的政治视角与对皮肤对我们身体边界触觉的吸引力的现象学反思相结合。该论文通过皮肤的比喻来调查全球流动性的动荡，反思了在异类无处不在的时代，无论是政治、地理、民族还是特定种族，受试者的“无皮肤”感觉。与此同时，关于具身美学的现象学论述日益增多，引发人们对基于皮肤的艺术的感官方面的反思，与身体外壳的生活体验相关。假设这些互补的关键路径之间存在协同作用，本文对七位艺术家与皮肤相关的装置和视频进行了仔细分析，特别关注皮肤如何在全球动荡的时代变得重要。历史特定的政治视角与对皮肤对我们身体边界触觉的吸引力的现象学反思相结合。该论文通过皮肤的比喻来调查全球流动性的动荡，反思了在异类无处不在的时代，无论是政治、地理、民族还是特定种族，受试者的“无皮肤”感觉。与此同时，关于具身美学的现象学论述日益增多，引发人们对基于皮肤的艺术的感官方面的反思，与身体外壳的生活体验相关。假设这些互补的关键路径之间存在协同作用，本文对七位艺术家与皮肤相关的装置和视频进行了仔细分析，特别关注皮肤如何在全球动荡的时代变得重要。