The Exposed Body

The body has never felt the need to show itself as much as in the last century. During this period, it revealed itself as a story, a sign to be articulated, one that is able to speak, a tool for renewing inter- personal ethics. At times it has assumed the status of artwork and at others, whether joyful or dramatic, demure or pitiless, it has become an expression of its potential as well as its limits. This book is about naked bodies, bodies clothed in tattoos, bodies soiled with blood, bodies dancing; it expresses a desire to unveil the real and end the social conventions that have led to the covering of both its physical and emotional aspects. On the threshold of technological changes that will not leave it unaffected, the body exposes itself and speaks of fears, aspirations, and innovative attitudes in surprising and often moving ways. The present volume is the result of a series of meetings with artists, philosophers, and historians at the Doctoral School in Arts at the Iuav University of Venice, the first in Italy to adopt a practice-based approach aimed at visual artists, performers, and fashion creatives. The book aims to inaugurate a series that intends to reflect on the theory, processes and means used in contemporary artistic practices.