Taylor Cozart

TW:// light mentioning of sexual harassment

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In these performative images I explore the world of intimate objects in the presence of flesh and the multiple meanings of a cold, lifeless, and careless hand. For my final project I wanted to photograph a performance and create unsettling images. Initially I was just looking for a reason to use my Sears mannequin hand but then I realized this performance took on a life of its own. Hands are such an interesting part of our body and allow us to feel pleasure and pain. Too often are women being guided by the force of the patriarchy in the sense of self agency which I feel can be portrayed in these images. This concept of not asking to be touched or (but being touched on the bus) not asking for someone to cat call you  (but strangers call at you while you are on the light rail) can be  viewed as this idea of unwanted attention or “affection.” Another interesting and introspective lens is my own personal struggles with the idea and sensation of touch. For as long as I can recall I have flinched at a hand on the head, a tap on the shoulder and so much more. The thought of unwanted touch or even touch in general makes my skin crawl and is physically painful which can make meaningful relationships difficult. I grew up in a loving and caring environment (which I am privileged to say as many do not) and thus this frustration with touch comes from my own sensory issues most likely stemming from my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Furthermore I have found myself struggling more with touch as I grow older and see (mostly) men fawning over women, like myself and many others, and I become fearful of their intent. Touch controls so many aspects of our lives whether we are aware of it or not. These photos show a tragic, lamentable, uncomfortable, and yearning sensation of touch and my wish to either deflect or receive it. 

Milena Naef mixes the texture of flesh and marble in their work, Fleeting Parts (2018). These interesting illusions and colliding substances make for eye catching works of art while simultaneously acting as performances of body and marble objects.  

Personal Biosphere is just one of many art installations that Vaughn Bell has created that is an immersive and performance driven work that requires participation from the audience. Bell describes these personal pods as a way to escape the city life and become a part of nature for a small amount of time.

In Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen’s Being Human Being, they focus on evolution and our beginning as humans. Cuenca Rasmussen does multiple performances that include mud which resembles the earth and where we initially all came from. 

For me, I am very drawn to simplistic forms of relaxing and art making. I enjoy allowing myself to wonder aimlessly as I talk, watch, listen and more on a piece of paper and see what comes to life afterwards. For participation, I enlisted the help of my partner, who finds himself sometimes getting agitated at the fact that he is not “good” at art. With that in mind, I made sure to explain that the watercolors that we were doing were just for fun. We enjoyed ourselves as we soaked up the sun, laughed, listened to music, and talked about the latest family drama. He, and myself were lost in the moment and in pure enjoyment of each others company while playing out narratives or meaningless shapes on a canvas. It was fun to watch the person that I love come to life as he created a story of “Zeus smiting people” as he put it... The act of participation no matter how big or how small can make a lasting and enjoyable impact on the ones that we love the most. It was an experience that we both enjoyed as we could be in the moment and create silly art that had no rhyme or reason other than for the pure intentions of it being fun and wholesome. 

This video shows how our toxic history and culture has primitivised and exoticised people that were/are not white and displayed them as animals or objects to be viewed. It was Interesting to see how people interact with those that they think are “exotic” or not in the modern age and how people are so interested treating humans like animals and not even realizing that this is unfortunately a part of our past. Im uncomfortable with how normal everyone was acting and willing to take photos and commodify these supposed foreigners... it was actually quite sickening and saddening to say the least. This is very telling of our culture and general population. And it is interesting how people will be treated like animals and dismissed as such when placed in a cage. However, it was interesting to also hear from people who were ultimately disgusted with the museum for allowing such malpractice (or what people thought was malpractice). This goes to show that we always know what is right and wrong and that we cannot just fall into the crowd and allow such atrocities to happen. People still hold white identity to a higher standing than any other culture or race and it is so evident that it's still a horrendous problem that has yet to be fixed. 

After watching this video I am shocked and mortified at how this performance was not that long ago yet people can still find the audacity to treat humans as just a sideshow performance and nothing more. 

Stills from: 

The Couple In the Cage: A Guatinaui Odyssey

By: Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gómez- Peña

Ben Zank is a photographer who creates surreal-esque images that typically involve nature, maybe some photoshop, and retouching. These photographs and how they are created are a great example of performance art through photography. His interesting photographs provide the viewer with images that are thought provoking, strange and beg the audience to take a closer look. I can almost image these models contorting their bodies and partaking in strange performances to get these wonderful images. 

@benzank on Tumblr and Instagram

TW// GRAPHIC IMAGE -SOME MAY FIND DISTURBING

Though we may not think of this photographer as a performance artist I believe that their unsightly scenes and abject contributions make for images that perform in their own respect. 

Joel-Peter Witkin’s macabre images are frightening and enticing and the process of how he obtains these objects and human parts in some photos could be seen as a performance as well....