I was curious as to what you folks think of body-painting… I have a friend that is working towards being a full time pro body painter, but sometimes when I talk about his work with folks, I get the response that they don’t think it’s art.
Some folks seem to think that it’s just a chance to see naked chics, and that he’s just a perv.
What do you think?
Also, anyone think that body paint will someday be a viable alternative to clothes, as in “I will fear no evil…” by Heinlien?
Well I know it’s completely off topic but could we convince him to use edible body paint, well only if he’s cute.
Back to the OP. I do believe it’s art and quite beautiful at that, the human body is a work of art by itself and helping it with body art just seems so much fun.
Well, first thing, I’ve got bias. I did the design on http://www.thepaintedbody.com. Kevin’s old site was a mix of different styles. I poped up what he’s got there in about an hour. We’re working on another, fancier design for later.
I think it’s art. Most people consider photography art, but when you take a picture, you don’t create anything new, you just capture what is there. With bodypainting Kevin creates.
I’ve heard people make dispariging remarks that it’s just a excuse to see girls naked. Kevin is completely profession when doing his painting. He protects the identity of his models. I do his web page, and he won’t even tell me the names of the models.
Most of the people that accuse him of not doing art and just using it as an excuse to see the women naked are the same ones who ask if he needs an assitant and want to be there when he paints. A lot of these girls come to him to be painted, and most come back for repeat sessions.
I also run some adult web sites. I get the same thing. People say I’m doing something wrong, exploiting women, but they are the same ones to my face want to help me so they can be there. My models get paid well. It’s the hypocrits that bother me.
i think the painting is art. how its displayed, however, might not be. i didnt go to the site you identified, so i can’t speak for it in particular, but if a body-paint site is advertised in such a way to attract viewers who want to see art, then it continues to be art. when it becomes about being able to look at painted naked chicks, then the creativity put in by the artist is lost, and the whole thing loses whatever artistic value it might have had. in short, what your friend does is art. what the viewers see…whole different story.
That’s usually what I get to… I’ve gone looking for paining sites, and ended up in porn sites… that’s not necessarily bad, but it’s not what I’m looking for… ah well.
I think that art is whatever the artist may say it is. Now, the artist may be the only person that feels that way about their work, but it can still be art.
So far as body painting goes, it is too ephemeral to be considered “true art.” The photographs of the body painting, perhaps, but the painting itself will be seen as just another way to see naked chicks.
> So far as body painting goes, it is too ephemeral to be considered “true art.” The photographs of the body painting, perhaps, but the painting itself will be seen as just another way to see naked chicks.
I don’t agree. It seems like by your definition a ballet is not art, but if you video tape it it is. Art is more about the feeling it brings out in the artist and the viewers than how long it lasts.
I guess that I was thinking more in the line of painting on canvas, sculpture, etc. These are the types of art that I was considering more permanent.
Music, dance, and theatre are art to be sure, however I place them more in a performing art category. Now, if bodypainting were thought of as performance art, well that is a different subject all together. I guess it depends on how you think about it.
It all goes back to what I said about art being what the artist thinks it is. If the person who creates the dance, play, pile of cereal in a shoe, or whatever thinks that it is art, then it is. Everyone else may not have the same interpretation
my reason for not going to the site wasnt embarrassment - i was just visiting the SDMB on a break from writing a lab report and needed to get back to work
i did go see it later, though, and i stick to what i said originally. this site seems to be intended for the art, so i would call your friends work art. i must say hes pretty good, too…
