Body fluids in art#Body fluids in art

File:Piero Manzoni - Merda D'artista (1961) - panoramio.jpg]]

Occasional use of body fluids such as blood, urine, feces, etc. in works of art is most common in shock art or transgressive art.{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Jones (journalist) |date=2014-05-14 |title=Blood, semen and tears: why artists are obsessed with using their bodily fluids |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/may/14/lood-semen-tears-artists-bodily-fluids-rose-lynn-fisher |access-date=2022-07-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en}}

Examples

= Blood =

New York artist Vincent Castiglia uses his own blood to make paintings,{{Cite news |date=2012-10-05 |title=Using his own blood, New York artist paints "Resurrection" exhibit |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-art-bloodart-exhibit-idUSBRE8931HG20121005 |access-date=2022-07-13}} and used it to make the artwork on the guitar of thrash metal musician Gary Holt.{{Cite web |last=Wise |first=Lauren |date=2016-01-27 |title=Axe Painted Blood: An Interview with the Artist Who Drew Lucifer in Blood on Gary Holt's Guitar |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/vincent-castiglia-blood-painting/ |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Vice |language=en}}
The Anguished Man, an allegedly haunted painting by an unknown artist, contains the artist's blood in its paint, according to its owner.{{Cite web |last=Rigney |first=Todd |date=2015-09-07 |title=The Anguished Man, the World's Most Haunted Painting, Is Not for Sale |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/124421/the-anguished-man-the-worlds-most-haunted-painting-is-not-for-sale/ |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Dread Central |language=en-US}}
The Flaming Lips released a limited run of vinyl records of the 2012 album Heady Fwends containing the blood of the musicians involved, sold for $2,500 each.{{Cite web |last=Pelly |first=Jenn |date=2012-05-04 |title=Flaming Lips Blood Vinyl: 10 Copies, $2500, Features Ke$ha, Erykah Badu, Nick Cave, Chris Martin Blood |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/46404-flaming-lips-blood-vinyl-10-copies-2500-features-keha-erykah-badu-nick-cave-chris-martin-blood/ |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Breiham |first=Tom |date=2012-05-04 |title=Flaming Lips Bloody Vinyl Costs $2,500 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1022742/flaming-lips-bloody-vinyl-costs-2500/photo/ |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}
{{nihongo|An Illustration of Emperor Jinmu's Campaign to Conquer the East|神武天皇御東征の図|Jinmu Tennō go-Tōsei no zu}}, painted by Japanese illustrator Itō Hikozō entirely with his own blood in 1932.{{cite book |title=伊藤彦造画集 Itō Hikozō gashū |date=1974 |publisher=講談社 Kōdansha |location=Japan |edition=1st}}

= Urine =

Piss Christ, a controversial 1987 photograph by American photographer Andres Serrano, depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a small glass tank full of the artist's urine.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Jones (journalist) |date=2011-04-18 |title=Andres Serrano's Piss Christ is the original shock art |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/apr/18/andres-serrano-piss-christ-shock |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2011-04-18 |title=Controversial artwork Piss Christ vandalised in France |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13124769 |access-date=2022-07-13}}
PISSED, a glass tube containing 200 gallons of the urine of Canadian transgender artist Cassils, was made in 2017 as a protest against a decision by the Trump administration to revoke an Obama administration executive order which guaranteed that transgender students could use restrooms that corresponded with their gender identity. It is currently on exhibition at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art.{{Cite web |last=Michelson |first=Noah |date=2017-09-16 |title=The Powerful Reason Why This Artist Has Been Saving His Urine For The Last 200 Days |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cassils-monumental-pissed-urine_n_59bbeacee4b0edff971b88f4 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2017-09-29 |title=What Is the Most Iconic Artwork of the 21st Century? 14 Art Experts Weigh In |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/iconic-artworks-21st-century-1092800 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}

= Feces =

Artist's Shit, a 1961 artwork by Italian artist Piero Manzoni, consists of 90 tin cans reportedly filled with {{convert|30|g|oz|abbr=off}} of his feces.{{Cite web |last= |title='Artist's Shit', Piero Manzoni, 1961 |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/manzoni-artists-shit-t07667 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Tate |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Embuscado |first=Rain |date=2016-05-02 |title=Survey a Century of Human Waste in Art |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/human-waste-art-duchamp-cattelan-484562 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}

= Breast milk =

In the work All You Can Feel, the artist Sarah Ancelle Schönfeld sprinkles exposed photo negatives with hormones or endogenous substances such as breast milk and pharmacological substances such as the contraceptive pill.{{Cite web |title=Sarah Ancelle Schönfeld – Schering Stiftung |url=https://scheringstiftung.de/de/projektraum/sarah-ancelle-schoenfeld/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |language=de-DE}}{{Cite web |date=2015-10-08 |title=NATURAL BORN: SARAH SCHOENFELD |url=https://tissuemagazine.com/story/natural-born-sarah-schoenfeld/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=TISSUE Magazine |language=en-US}}

= Human Fat =

Wenming zhu (Civilization Pillar) by artist duo Sun Yuan & Peng Yu. The work resembles a classical stone column, but it is in fact entirely composed of layers of congealed, gleaming human fat that was collected from plastic surgery clinics. {{Cite web |title=Sun Yuan and Peng Yu |url=https://theallureofmatter.org/artists/sun-yuan-and-peng-yu/ |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=The Allure of Matter |language=en}}

Criticism and difficulties

Depicting objects of popular respect (religious subjects, flags, etc.) in art which includes body fluids can trigger public protests due to such material's historic association with dirtiness. The outcry about the Piss Christ photo is an example.{{Cite web |url=http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2002/09/shooting_the_kl.php |work=Community Arts Network |title=Shooting the Klan: An Interview with Andres Serrano |last=Fusco |first=Coco |date=Fall 1991 |publisher=CommunityArtsNetwork |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419190933/http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2002/09/shooting_the_kl.php |archive-date=2011-04-19 }}

In addition to the obvious difficulties of preserving perishable material, there can be regulations complicating transport by rail, truck, or aircraft of liquid body fluids due to the fluids' possible classification as dangerous goods.{{cite web|title=International Air Transit Association page on DGR (Dangerous Goods Regulations)|url=http://www.iata.org/ps/publications/dgr/Pages/manuals.aspx|access-date=2011-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805095113/http://www.iata.org/ps/publications/dgr/Pages/manuals.aspx|archive-date=2011-08-05|url-status=dead}}

The sale of blood art via eBay is prohibited as eBay prohibits the sale of body parts, and classifies blood art as falling under this heading.{{cite web|title=Blood Art|url=http://www.artnewsblog.com/2005/03/blood-art.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224104631/http://www.artnewsblog.com/2005/03/blood-art.htm|archive-date=2008-02-24}}

References

Category:Visual arts materials