Body response: AMY SPAUGHTON

The format and arrangement of the pieces made me consider the effect of our management of the visuals of our bodies. Seeing the images of bodies, how they are presented, how they inhabit the space they are in, being shifted and shaped by an unseen manipulator made me consider the relationship between how we inhabit our bodies, how we see them and how they are seen by others. The images themselves sparked questions of the multiplicity of interpretations of the body and made me think about how my interpretation may be different from others and why. The wide variety of subjects and emotions and mediums related to the body helped me hone in on my own feelings and clarify them into words.

Coleslaw

Our flesh,

It is so mystified to us,

So appropriated.

For us it is to be,

To be broken,

To be presented,

To be reduced,

Packaged,

Mortified,

Toned,

To be used.

In reality,

It is to be in.

To hold our form,

To be us,

In the three-dimensional space,

We invade,

It is our costume,

Loyal puppet of our every dance,

Our middle-man meat-suit,

In the translation of connection.

It is not us,

But randomly assigned to us,

And yet,

We owe it everything,

And it owes us nothing.

Please,

Cut me up like coleslaw,

Dissect me,

And moisten my clipped nails,

Like paper mache porridge,

Serve me up like deli meat,

Fix me,

I’ll squeeze in so you can squeeze me out,

Mould me,

Perfect me in the roughest way you know how,

And then tell me,

I’m worthless to try,

To want to be.

Eat me,

Devour me,

Bite every inch,

As long as,

You are looking my way,

When I slice you back,

With my knowing wink,

And say:

“Jog on, loser.”

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We'd like to thank Amy for her thoughtful and artistic response.

View the full BODY exhibition here. View more of Amy's writing on her blog.