Art and Physicality: On the body in the age of hyperindustrialism

Abstract

This research argues that there is a divide between mind and body, which is heightened in what French philosopher Bernard Stiegler terms our hyperindustrial epoch. This is approached through four lines of inquiry. To begin, the research considers the impact of technological advances and digital media upon the body. The second line of inquiry examines the impact of capitalism on the body. To follow, it considers work ethic and the idea of the ‘refusal of work’. Its final line of inquiry explores the idea of ‘tuning’ a body, looking at cultures of rock climbing, the gym and artistic practice. Through each line of inquiry this research contemplates how we might adjust our systems to reconsider the body, and re-incorporate aesthetic, sensory investigation into daily rhythms. It finds the body to be in a state of aesthetic disengagement, in which the physical rhythms of the body are struggling to keep up with an overactive mind. This research questions how we might reinvigorate feeling and its importance in the way we interact with the world and each other, drawing upon political and feminist theorist Kathi Weeks’ analysis of the ‘refusal of work,’ rock climbing, and the art practices of Martin Kersels, Alicia Frankovich and Franz West.