The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Touching the body: the living and the dead in osteoarchaeology and the performance art of Marina Abramovic

Touching the body: the living and the dead in osteoarchaeology and the performance art of Marina Abramovic
Touching the body: the living and the dead in osteoarchaeology and the performance art of Marina Abramovic
Osteoarchaeology and arts practice are two disciplines that work with the human skeleton. In both cases, this interest arises from curiosity regarding the materiality of the body. In the process of coming to understand that materiality, both disciplines create relationships between living and dead bodies through touch. This paper examines the interaction between different kinds of bodies – the living and the dead, the fleshed and the skeletal – in osteoarchaeology and in the performance art of pioneering artist Marina Abramovic. The ways that osteoarchaeologists and performance artist engage and enrol the physicality of skeletal bodies present different kinds of possibilities and potentials for intercorporeal relationships than those arising between living bodies. Although osteoarchaeology is frequently understood as a branch of science, the intercorporeality created by touching the body in osteoarchaeological practice does not sit easily within conventional descriptions of scientific method. The performance art of Marina Abramovic offers a provocative challenge to conventional ways of thinking about the nature of osteoarchaeological practice by explicitly valuing the importance of touch as a way of understanding the human
body.
osteoarchaeology, performance art, human body, touch
0029-3652
135-150
Sofaer, Joanna
038f9eb2-5863-46ef-8eaf-fb2513b75ee2
Sofaer, Joanna
038f9eb2-5863-46ef-8eaf-fb2513b75ee2

Sofaer, Joanna (2012) Touching the body: the living and the dead in osteoarchaeology and the performance art of Marina Abramovic. Norwegian Archaeological Review, 45 (2), 135-150. (doi:10.1080/00293652.2012.703686).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Osteoarchaeology and arts practice are two disciplines that work with the human skeleton. In both cases, this interest arises from curiosity regarding the materiality of the body. In the process of coming to understand that materiality, both disciplines create relationships between living and dead bodies through touch. This paper examines the interaction between different kinds of bodies – the living and the dead, the fleshed and the skeletal – in osteoarchaeology and in the performance art of pioneering artist Marina Abramovic. The ways that osteoarchaeologists and performance artist engage and enrol the physicality of skeletal bodies present different kinds of possibilities and potentials for intercorporeal relationships than those arising between living bodies. Although osteoarchaeology is frequently understood as a branch of science, the intercorporeality created by touching the body in osteoarchaeological practice does not sit easily within conventional descriptions of scientific method. The performance art of Marina Abramovic offers a provocative challenge to conventional ways of thinking about the nature of osteoarchaeological practice by explicitly valuing the importance of touch as a way of understanding the human
body.

Text
Touching_the_Body.pdf - Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Published date: 8 August 2012
Keywords: osteoarchaeology, performance art, human body, touch
Organisations: Archaeology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 185409
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/185409
ISSN: 0029-3652
PURE UUID: 3f7b794d-ac4c-491c-9335-e3428e142921
ORCID for Joanna Sofaer: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6328-8636

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 10 May 2011 13:31
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:52

Export record

Altmetrics

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×