Why has the naked human body remained such a popular subject in art for so long? Of sure, the human body stimulates our mirror neurons and can express all elements of human experience, but it could generally do so just as well in clothes. Naked models are studied by art students so that they may observe the structure and movement of the body without being inhibited, but the nude figure in art definitely has a role beyond learning anatomy. Although the naked flesh is an object of desire, nude art can elicit a far more complicated response than pornographic pictures.
The word “naked” conjures up a plethora of contradicting associations. The naked form has long been associated with innocence, purity, as well as sensuality and sexuality. The artistic nude can be Apollonian, expressing uncontrolled energy or emotion, or Dionysian, displaying the harmonies of holy geometry as embodied in the human body. All of these experiences of being in the flesh, including power and weakness, pride and humiliation, pleasure and pain, can be depicted in the image of the flesh.
Religions based on Abraham
This hate of the flesh is not exclusive to the West or Abrahamic religions. The Yogasutras, the most revered ancient source of Yoga philosophy, clearly state that the goal of Yoga practise is to “transcend the qualities of nature,” to purify ourselves of all physical desires, and to “disentangle ourselves from involvement in even the subtlest manifestations of the phenomena.” Light on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, by K. S. Iyengar.
Despite their opposition to religious notions of the soul or the afterlife, scientific humanists nonetheless wish to transfer the mind onto a computer as a means of escape the flesh’s fallibility and mortality. (However, as computers don’t live even a tenth as long as the human body, this doesn’t appear to be a viable solution!)
The image of the human body, which reminds people of pure animal ecstasy, is a threat to order for fundamentalists in all cultures who fear individual freedom and the open mind. Authoritarians are terrified of the free body. There will be no controlling people if they experience freedom on a physical basis! As a result, “modesty” must be scrupulously adhered to.
The nude, for me, is a symbol of unity, of spirit manifested in matter saturated with vitality. Because a piece of art is an attempt to manifest live energy in a tangible form, the subject matter is ideal for the activity. The naked body hides neither its sexiness nor its mortality, but rather depicts the human as a cell in Earth’s body. The nude is a talisman for healing humanity’s ancient divisions, as well as a declaration of freedom and joy in the face of fundamentalism and fear.
Body of a person
Why has the naked human body remained such a popular subject in art for so long? Of sure, the human body stimulates our mirror neurons and can express all elements of human experience, but it could generally do so just as well in clothes. Naked models are studied by art students so that they may observe the structure and movement of the body without being inhibited, but the nude figure in art definitely has a role beyond learning anatomy. Although the naked flesh is an object of desire, nude art can elicit a far more complicated response than pornographic pictures.
The word “naked” conjures up a plethora of contradicting associations. The naked form has long been associated with innocence, purity, as well as sensuality and sexuality. The artistic nude can be Apollonian, expressing uncontrolled energy or emotion, or Dionysian, displaying the harmonies of holy geometry as embodied in the human body. All of these experiences of being in the flesh, including power and weakness, pride and humiliation, pleasure and pain, can be depicted in the image of the flesh.
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