Body Art Essay Example

Body Art Essay Example Body Art Paper Body Art Paper Body art is a practice whereby people use forms of artistic expression to decorate their bodies in order to indicate their status, religious devotion, desired protection against the evil and diseases. People express themselves for many different reasons for getting various forms of body art. Some could mean personal expression, cultural expression while other continues to decorate their bodies as means of remembering some important time or event in their lives. In different cultures, various parts of the body are painted and the pattern of painting may reflect age, gender or social status. In the United States women decorate their faces with cosmetics after they reach puberty while in some societies; men mark their adult status by painting designs on their babies. Babies and children may also be adorned by painting designs on their bodies or faces. There are different styles of body art and these include; a) Scarification- is the process of decorating the body by inflicting wounds and allowing wounds to heal. It is performed by people trained in the art. The marks can be of different shapes and form a decorative pattern. This is common among the Samoans b) Tattooing- is widely practiced worldwide and is a procedure of permanently marking the skin with ink or dye. The process is painful and extensive tattoos are a mark of stoicism. Various parts of the body may also be pierced or otherwise surgically altered. c) Piercing- is a procedure in which a sharp instrument is passed through a fold skin or part of the body. The process is very painful and it takes time for a person to decide to go for it. d) Body paint- is a temporary form of body art which includes Mehndi. Mehndi is the Indian tradition of decorating a womans hands and feet with henna dye, originally done to celebrate her wedding. The patterns are very intricate and usually take several hours to complete. e) Permanent Makeup- is a form of tattooing. This makeup is most commonly applied to eyebrows, upper and lower eyelids and lips. It can last anywhere from four to six years. f) Body Play or Shaping- is the most severe form of body art. It includes body suspension, waist/corset training, implanting foreign objects under the skin, e. g. , inserting metal spikes into the skull or inserting marbles under the skin Body art practice in some societies is highly regarded. In most societies body art is/ was done with a reason and it depended with the occasion, the status of a person in the society. In some communities body art showed some form of bravely because the experience is very painful. When members of one culture consumes the visual arts of another, the social and the cultural context shifts and in the process the tastes and expectations of the outside consumers may reshape and redefine the artistic or culture that produced the art objects. Body art has created jobs for those who are practicing it. Many people are being trained to do body art. At the same time some forms of body art are being related to crime as some body marks depict crime or any other social vice. However body art if not done properly on the body can be a health risk as it involves body piercing which can lead to bacterial or viral infection and other complications which may be harmful to the body. References Mari Womack (2000) Being Human, 2nd Edition Lahn D. (1999); Body Piercing; St. Martins Griffin