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Body Art/Performing the Subject
"With great originality and scholarship, Amelia Jones maps out an extraordinary history of body art over the last three decades and embeds it in the theoretical terrain of postmoderism. The result is a wonderful and permissive space in which the viewer...can wander"...-Moira Roth, Trefethen professor of art history, Mills College.
368 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 1998
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About the author
Amelia Jones
666 books30 followersAmelia Jones is an American art historian, art critic and curator specializing in feminist art, body/ performance art, video art and Dadaism. Her written works and approach to modern and contemporary art history are considered revolutionary in that she breaks down commonly assumed opinions and offers brilliantly conceived critiques of the art historical tradition and individual artist's positions in that often elitist sphere.
Amelia Jones studied art history at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. She received her Phd from UCLA in 1991.
Jones has taught art history at UC Riverside and is currently the Pilkington Chair of the art history department at Manchester University.
Jones received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000.
Amelia Jones is the daughter of Princeton Psychology professor Edward E. Jones.
Amelia Jones studied art history at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. She received her Phd from UCLA in 1991.
Jones has taught art history at UC Riverside and is currently the Pilkington Chair of the art history department at Manchester University.
Jones received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000.
Amelia Jones is the daughter of Princeton Psychology professor Edward E. Jones.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 7, 2021
Love. Love Amelia Jones' writing. Read this back when studying my Bachelor of Visual Arts, Honours. Revisited many times since for Masters thesis and academic journal articles.
May 10, 2011
So far, this book is amazing. I knew I liked Amelia Jones from a few articles of hers I had read on the same topic. She is just incredibly smart and insightful in debunking much theory that has come before her and answering to the predominant writing on body / performance art by Peggy Phelan and others. Plus, she gives Hannah Wilke her due with the cover image and devoting an entire chapter to her work. Her arguments are carefully constructed and precise, and she seems to be as equally frustrated by sortof mindless alignments with sexist Freudian theory and go-to Marxism in academia as I am. (I found Kathy O'Dell's "Contract with the Skin" lacking-uh, pun intended-for that reason). I have a feeling this will become a sort of bible for me.
February 24, 2009
Overall a really enjoyable read. If one takes the perspective that subjects are fluid and the "self" is continually reconstructed, then the "classic" works of body art can seem rather dated. But Jones argues instead that body can and must be looked at "intersubjectively."
I thoroughly enjoyed her various readings of body art works. I'll never think about at Vito Acconci the same way and appreciated learning more about Hannah Wilke and some more contemporary artists I was not familiar with. However, I found some of the use of theory, including the opening chapter, a bit of a let down. The way Jones ultimately links together her reading of Lacanian theory with the history of body art is impressive but all a little too neat and tidy for me. Still I'll probably read her other books.
I thoroughly enjoyed her various readings of body art works. I'll never think about at Vito Acconci the same way and appreciated learning more about Hannah Wilke and some more contemporary artists I was not familiar with. However, I found some of the use of theory, including the opening chapter, a bit of a let down. The way Jones ultimately links together her reading of Lacanian theory with the history of body art is impressive but all a little too neat and tidy for me. Still I'll probably read her other books.
September 11, 2008
read some of this... not all. how many books can i say i'm currently reading? hahaha.
after having studied performance for a few year, this book still opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about it. she is very thorough in her analysis and scholarship. i really enjoy jones' writing and her viewpoint of starting with social/feminist critique. my only nagging feeling about this book is that its possibly a bit dated in how it approaches those issues, so i'm looking fwd to reading self/image.
after having studied performance for a few year, this book still opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about it. she is very thorough in her analysis and scholarship. i really enjoy jones' writing and her viewpoint of starting with social/feminist critique. my only nagging feeling about this book is that its possibly a bit dated in how it approaches those issues, so i'm looking fwd to reading self/image.
November 15, 2007
She was my professor in grad school! I really like what she does with performance art, photography, and poststructuralist theory. Really interesting, not stuff I would have read if I hadn't had to for class, but I'm quite glad I did.
February 21, 2008
Stolen from Diane Gromala I don't know how long ago and read alongside the thesis that never quite got there and then went on unsaved, lonely, on into the next few years where it finally vaporized and left no residue and took no prisoners.
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November 14, 2010how can i gt ths amaizing bok
December 15, 2013
Far from simply being an entry on performance art, this text provides essential material for analysing identity through any visualisation of the body; past, présent, or future.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews