The Abject Body in Abject Art: Analysis of Untitled (1990) by Kiki Smith and What Else Could We Talk About? Cleaning (2009) by Teresa Margolles

In recent years, the concept of the abject body has become an increasingly important tool in contemporary art for commenting on pressing societal issues, such as bodily autonomy, death, and destruction. Artists subvert idealized representations of human bodies in order to expose their audiences to the reality and truth surrounding one’s existence. The notion of the abject body is present in the works of German American artist Kiki Smith (1954) and Mexican artist Teresa Margolles (1963) who both explore the notion of death in their art. In her sculpture series Untitled (1990), Smith visualizes bodily changes occurring prior to death that are normally hidden from the public, while Margolles’ installation piece What Else Could We Talk About? Cleaning (2009) uses bodily fluids collected from various crime scenes. Both artists exemplify the notion of abject bodies in distinct ways, as Smith’s work confronts the viewer with the presence of unspoken human bodily processes, and Margolles’...Show moreIn recent years, the concept of the abject body has become an increasingly important tool in contemporary art for commenting on pressing societal issues, such as bodily autonomy, death, and destruction. Artists subvert idealized representations of human bodies in order to expose their audiences to the reality and truth surrounding one’s existence. The notion of the abject body is present in the works of German American artist Kiki Smith (1954) and Mexican artist Teresa Margolles (1963) who both explore the notion of death in their art. In her sculpture series Untitled (1990), Smith visualizes bodily changes occurring prior to death that are normally hidden from the public, while Margolles’ installation piece What Else Could We Talk About? Cleaning (2009) uses bodily fluids collected from various crime scenes. Both artists exemplify the notion of abject bodies in distinct ways, as Smith’s work confronts the viewer with the presence of unspoken human bodily processes, and Margolles’ installation piece directly uses appalling materials to comment on the deaths and killings taking place in the north of Mexico. Due to the fact that abjection can also promote positive sensations, this paper addresses the coexistence of conflicting sensations that are not fully discussed in the field. In order to shed light on this phenomena, the paper provides close readings of Smith’s and Margolles’ controversial artworks, focusing on the issues of human death and decay and the sensations these works evoke, such as fear, anxiety, and curiosity. Thus, this paper aims to explore how the concepts of abjection and the abject body expose the balance of conflicting sensations (appeal/disgust, attraction/repulsion) in Kiki Smith’s Untitled (1990) and Teresa Margolles’ What Else Could We Talk About? Cleaning (2009).Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

The Abject Body in Abject Art: Analysis of Untitled (1990) by Kiki Smith and What Else Could We Talk About? Cleaning (2009) by Teresa Margolles