From Traditional Art To Media Art "body"

The relationship between body and art dates back to the beginning of art history. "Body" as a subject matter of aesthetic representation, carries the perception of "race" and "ego" of human being. "Body" was the embodiment of beauty and universal law right from the beginning of ancient Greek times, and it had in itself moral judgment and praise of Nature and humanity even in the lengthy Middle Ages.Two directions emerged in the Modern times, one being materialistic and fetish expression and analyse of the "body" , the other one being the self consciousness of body by female artists and use it against enslavement of masculinity under the enlightenment of feminism. Female artists strengthen body as an aesthetic language, delivers gender and life experience, therefore showing an intense female ideology. Both ways updated the concept of body in traditional art, and has lasting influence in the contemporary times. Many of the contemporary art works show continuity of the consciousness of body since Modern times, in which that of the female artists becomes a more social and cultural expression.This essay will briefly review the general character of "body" in traditional and modern art, and focus on the new change of "body" as a subject matter in the light of media art. "Body" shifts from subject to media under technology and interaction of media art, which constitutes a new start of relationship between body and art, as well as new function and meaning of art in the media art age. This essay also take my graduate work into account, and discusses the possibility and importance of combination of "body" as a media and other medias such as light, fog and water to form expression, to show that body as media represents a double discovery of "body" .