Building a Body
It was brought to my attention when I posted my first entry that Eleanor Antin did this project called "Carving - A Traditional Sculpture."
She is carving away, I am adding material in my process. Both are sculpting in one way or another, just a different process.
We are always encouraged to lose weight, gain confidence and lets not forget societal influences that show us boobs jobs and liposuction, botox and nose jobs as a give and take tat somehow we must perform to reach whatever concept of beauty seems to be trending in this decade. These are all sculpting in a sense as well. Where does one draw the line? There are "healthy" ways of doing things i suppose. Things that involve the natural ebb and flow of our bodies as they respond to exercise and diet.
But, here's an interesting idea. Follow me here. Aren't we always sculpting ourselves? Everything we take into our bodies has a physiological effect. Too many donuts = that weird pudge you get around your middle and under your butt cheeks. Lots of greens and veggies = lower body fat and leaner muscles. Lots of activity = burning fat. Sedentary lifestyle = building fat. We are all sculptors of ourselves in a sense with everything we do. Perhaps it isn't a question of adding and subtracting, but somehow achieving our own Pygmalion ideal of our own form, of our own figure. Yes, there are societal pressures to be one way or another, but when you get rid of all of the weeds around a rose bush, the bush can finally flourish and flower. How to get rid of the weeds is the question. Can we ever? Perhaps not. But it seems best to keep them at bay.
An ideal then, once we separate it out from the mental and psychic pressures and structures that the world around us tells us is so, could potentially be very simply the physical presence of our corporeal form that best suits us in health, fitness, grace and balance, being completely unique to each individual.