The human body, especially the body of a female, has been a point of contention within society since the beginning of time. The body of a woman has rarely been hers. It has been property to man, covered up, shamed, and made to be something immoral. It has become criminal to expose one’s body in a manner considered to be “indecent” by societal standards, however there is something to be said about the ways that the body is artful, and can be regarded creatively.
Milo Moire, a Swiss artists and psychologist is renowned in Europe for her nude performances which stir quite a bit of controversy, due to their unconventional nature. Inspired by art created in the 1960’s, she put a mirrored box around both her breasts and vagina, and had people come up to her and touch them while simultaneously looking into her eyes. Both men and women of various ages approached her and touched her in her most private hidden areas in a very public setting, and this was all done in the name of artistic expression.
Exposing oneself in public is established as against the law, and one can be held accountable through official means like being arrested and put in jail. However, it cannot be denied that there is unmistakable beauty to the human body in its purest form; its curves and slopes, its lines and ridges, and simple existence is something to revel in. Our society teaches us that our bodies in their untouched, unaltered form is something criminal and should be dealt with as such when in actuality quite the opposite is true. Through this project, Milo wanted to bring awareness to the notion that women are victims when it comes it matters dealing with sexual assault, and bring strength and choice, and respect to matters dealing with women. In choosing who she allowed to touch her, for how long, and adding certain guidelines, SHE controlled the experience, and SHE was in charge, a fact that is very often not the case. She brought a new dimension to a topic that is largely overlooked or only spoken when something negative occurs. She made something that is criminalized, creative, and expressive, and everything that art is supposed to be: evoking an emotion.
Related posts:
Mona Lisa
Is the Nude Human Body a Crime?
Disrobing De Robertis
Performance Artist Arrested For Public Indecency
Woman Artist arrested for letting strangers touching her breast and genitals in public
Feminism Meets the Absurd
The Naked, The Nude, and the Mirrored Box
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I really had to think about this art piece to get past the initial shock of Milo Miore letting strangers engage with her sexually in such a public setting. At first, I wondered how this commented on women’s sexual freedom, but in reading her framing of the piece in the YouTube video description, I realized that the shock of these interactions being public forced onlookers to witness consensual intimacy. The added element of the mirror box was what drove this piece home for me because it not only represented how women’s sexualities are often perceived as a reflection of male desire but forced people to look at themselves rather than witnessing intimacy on full display. I imagine this encouraged people to reflect on their own perceptions of women’s sexuality, and I hope seeing Milo’s control over the situation changed some people’s opinions about consent. Yes, this is a shocking thing to see, but Milo’s point with this piece is that (a) it’s more shocking to see the ways women are denied their sexuality and abused by male desire, and (b) seeing a woman in charge of a sexual encounter should not be shocking.
I think this piece of artwork is such a great way of bringing to light the sexwork industry and how the men and women who choose to reclaim their bodies just like Milo did are in their own ways being artistic. When first reading this post, I thought this seemed a little extreme because she was exposing herself in public and letting strangers touch her but after watching the video I saw how her vision came to life. She explained that she was choosing when to let others touch her in order to fight against the history of men claiming women’s bodies as their own. I just hope that her artwork reached the right audiences and I am glad she didn’t put herself in any danger. To continiue, I think this shows how people who choose to be sexworkers are also artists in their own way. From choosing what to wear and how to dance, strippers and sex workers are artistically expressing themselves. Also, these men and women also get to control who gets to be with them just like Milo did.
My UCSD Students love this