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Univ.-Prof. Dr. Aglaja Przyborski
Titel | Verkörperte Optimierung - Spuren des Modifizierten Selbst |
Typ | FWF PEEK Projekt |
Texte | Embodied Optimization - Traces of the Altered Self by Fabian Weiß
Wider arts-based research context / theoretical framework
Bodily (inter-)actions play a crucial role in the construction of social reality and the visual expression of an optimized body has, throughout history, been of interest to human societies. Today, bodies are rendered as carefully cultivated images, drawn into conversational practice and discursive interaction. On a daily basis, public images operate to communicate that people live longer, minds become smarter, bodies become stronger. In this project, we aim to question what is unseen in this process and why optimizations of the body are needed.
Hypotheses / research questions / objectives
With the means of artistic research, this project will refocus the discourse of embodied optimization by looking to what remains indiscernible, outside of the picture when bodies are being altered — for personal, social, political, or other reasons. With recourse to visual representations of what is marginalized from the mainstream debate — in the present and historically — the project aims to answer the research question: What are the motifs of bodily optimization and what is left behind in the process? Addressing this through the framework developed in discourses of biopolitics, we will ask who is optimized and who isn’t? The outcome is set to challenge the current visual landscape and create a public dialogue that seeks to answer the 'why' rather than the 'what’s next'.
Approach / methods
'Embodied Optimization' will create and curate an archive of visual material focussing on aspects of body optimization that remain out of view. This can be as direct as showing scars, or the tools used for transformation, and it will also include more subtle traces. With the means of artistic research, the project will analyze the ever-present field of body optimization which is now at a crucial point in history, relating it to past representations through art history and media psychology.
Level of originality / innovation
By shifting the focus away from what is already visually recognizable, this project can demonstrate new knowledge that questions the need or desire for longevity, youthful looks, implants, or other bodily changes that are usually overshadowed. By juxtaposing past developments with present the project will also be able to render visible and legible the historic scope of body optimization.
Primary staff involved in the project
Fabian Weiss has a strong track record in photography and will be working on the project as project leader and principal investigator. Prof. Aglaja Przyborski will feed into the project with her knowledge in the fields of media psychology and image interpretation. Prof. Margarete Jahrmann will oversee the field of interaction design for the exhibition and Dr. Rose-Anne Gush will contribute in art history with her knowledge in body representation and reproduction in the arts. Internationale Kooperation USA Status: abgelehnt |
Projektleitung | Weiß, Fabian |
Projektpartner*innen | Przyborski Aglaja Jahrmann, Margarete Gush, Rose-Anne |
Förderung | FWF, Der Wirtschaftsfonds |
Förderkategorie | FWF Research Group |
Beteiligung | Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien: Leitung Bertha von Suttner Privatuniversität St. Pölten: Kooperation |
Datum | Datum: 2020-08-29 - |
Status | abgelehnt |