Seven Castles

Body Painting

                                      

November 6, 2007

 

Body painting is the oldest art form that is growing in popularity today. Taking the human body as the canvas, artists express their artistic talent with dots, swirls and lines of paint. They create images drawn from tribal art, the natural world, or their imagination.

 

While other types of body art like tattoos are meant to last a lifetime, body painting is a temporary art form, which usually lasts just for a few hours. If henna is used, it can last for a couple of weeks.

 

Humans, in fact, have been painting their bodies with natural dyes, paints, pigments, tattoos, ash and clay since prehistoric times. These markings made on their bodies were thought to have magical powers with which they could ward off evil spirits or tribal enemies. They also used it to celebrate auspicious occasions. This practice can still be seen in the indigenous populations of New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific islands, and certain parts of Africa.

 

Clowns and actors all over the world have been painting their faces, and sometimes even their bodies, for many centuries, which continues even today. It is speculated that the cosmetics in use today has evolved from more subdued forms of face painting.

 

With the liberalization of thought and wider acceptance of public expression of cultural freedom, especially regarding nudity, in the 1960s, body painting as an art form has witnessed a revival in the West. However, there is still debate today about whether body painting is truly an art form, although its practitioners and followers have no doubt about it being so. This is quite apparent not only in the proliferation of body painting parlors and body painting artists, but also the body painting festivals held regularly in the United States and Europe.

 

In body painting, a wide range of ideas are taken from various sources like alternative art, fine arts, rune, mythologies and even current affairs. They can be related to occasions or events like political protest movements or sports events like soccer. In the post 1960s era, several experimental methods were tried out, such as a model being covered with paint and rolled on a canvas so that the paint was transferred there. Depending on the paints used, whether multi-hued or in monotones, the images created could be very interesting. Usually, however, the paints are applied using paintbrushes, airbrushes, natural sea sponges or just by the fingers and hands. These days the paints used are non-allergenic, non-toxic, and are easily washable.

 

Artists usually use delicate designs on women and masculine and bold imagery on men, although this is not a hard and fast rule. Once the model is covered in paint, he or she becomes an expression of the art itself to communicate feelings and ideas about the human body. Such ideas may sometimes be of a sexual nature, but that is only a small part of the possible range of thoughts that can be expressed in this way.

 

Today body painting is huge in both amateur and professional arenas. Body painting festivals happen annually across the world bringing together professional body painters as well as keen amateurs. Body paintings can also typically be seen at football matches, rave parties and certain festivals. 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2007年11月6日 星期二 05:24】【注册】【打印】