Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese Actionism
In this article I examine the motif of male reproduction in Viennese Actionism and its discursive links with esotericism. The Actionists were a collective of artists best known for their radical performance art. They appropriated various esoteric traditions for their subversive tactics, including fo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Aren Roukema
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Correspondences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://correspondencesjournal.com/ojs/ojs/index.php/home/article/download/146/137 |
| _version_ | 1811177871709831168 |
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| author | Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir |
| author_facet | Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir |
| author_sort | Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article I examine the motif of male reproduction in Viennese Actionism and its discursive links with esotericism. The Actionists were a collective of artists best known for their radical performance art. They appropriated various esoteric traditions for their subversive tactics, including for destabilizing gender norms and attacking bourgeois morals. They utilize gendered imagery from alchemy and vitalism in their works, adopting an image of virile masculinity that hails phallic creative powers. The analysis foregrounds the presentation of male reproduction in Günter Brus’ action, Der Helle Wahnsinn – Die Architektur des hellen Wahnsinns (1968), as I investigate the ideas of masculinity attached to the motif and the gendered expressions in the performance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:08:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-657ebca804274d4f80b665c92aeeb2a3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-7158 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:08:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Aren Roukema |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Correspondences |
| spelling | doaj.art-657ebca804274d4f80b665c92aeeb2a32022-12-22T04:41:24ZengAren RoukemaCorrespondences2053-71582022-12-01101199234124Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese ActionismSólveig GuðmundsdóttirIn this article I examine the motif of male reproduction in Viennese Actionism and its discursive links with esotericism. The Actionists were a collective of artists best known for their radical performance art. They appropriated various esoteric traditions for their subversive tactics, including for destabilizing gender norms and attacking bourgeois morals. They utilize gendered imagery from alchemy and vitalism in their works, adopting an image of virile masculinity that hails phallic creative powers. The analysis foregrounds the presentation of male reproduction in Günter Brus’ action, Der Helle Wahnsinn – Die Architektur des hellen Wahnsinns (1968), as I investigate the ideas of masculinity attached to the motif and the gendered expressions in the performance.http://correspondencesjournal.com/ojs/ojs/index.php/home/article/download/146/137viennese actionismmasculinitymale reproductionperformance artneo-avant- gardealchemyvitalism |
| spellingShingle | Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese Actionism Correspondences viennese actionism masculinity male reproduction performance art neo-avant- garde alchemy vitalism |
| title | Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese Actionism |
| title_full | Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese Actionism |
| title_fullStr | Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese Actionism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese Actionism |
| title_short | Gestating Bodies: Performing Masculinity in Viennese Actionism |
| title_sort | gestating bodies performing masculinity in viennese actionism |
| topic | viennese actionism masculinity male reproduction performance art neo-avant- garde alchemy vitalism |
| url | http://correspondencesjournal.com/ojs/ojs/index.php/home/article/download/146/137 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT solveigguðmundsdottir gestatingbodiesperformingmasculinityinvienneseactionism |