Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
4-2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Intercollegiate Media Studies
Reader 1
James Morrison
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Lauren P Spencer
Abstract
Beginning with Adolf Loos’s famous “Ornament and Crime” essay, I examine the progression, reception and impact of performances of the body using Amelia Jones’ framework for distinguishing body art from performance art. As Primitivist Modernism became popular in the West, racialized bodies garnered new attention as subjects of both inspiration and criticism. Through a critical exploration of Black artists, I determine that the use of bodily performances aided in the subversion of the gender, sexual, and racial discrimination perpetuated by Primitivist Modernism and continued into the 21st century. Starting with French icon Josephine Baker and concluding with American legend Janet Jackson, it is made apparent that we have simultaneously progressed and regressed in our perception of Black liberation, Black sexuality and the bodily autonomy of Black women.
Recommended Citation
Spencer, Lauren, "Can You See Me Now?: A Critical Examination of the Progression, Reception, and Impact of Performances of the Body as a Mechanism for Critiquing & Transcending Social Constructs in the West" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3296.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3296
