The Canvas, the Body, and Art

Abstract

This paper focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of art and what helps it blend. Art, as observed, is not singular. Any art form is backed up by elements of other forms. The most overlapping among all the art forms seem to be the visual and performing arts. Whenever a body is performing, the aspects of the same become dominant, yet they cannot exist without the visual stimulation of the audience. Or, if we change places, isn’t any visual art a performance itself? This paper explores how the visual arts blend with the body of performance, leading to a creative space and its relevance and contribution to the development and expansion of the spectrum of arts. The inquiry navigates this confluence, reflecting on how one medium feeds into another, how paint finds motion in the body, and how the body, in turn, becomes a canvas. The lines between performer and artist, between object and subject, between ephemeral and permanent begin to blur, allowing for a space that is expressive, inclusive, and reflective of deeper aesthetic and psychological states. The purpose of this paper is to propose an interdisciplinary approach towards designing a pedagogy to train artists that is inclusive of certain human limitations. How can artists with visual and physical limitations be cultivated? This pedagogy aims to reach every human being who wishes to be an artist or is passionate about it. Through practice-based observations and conceptual analysis, this paper asks: What is the role of gaze in this interplay? Can performance exist without the visual? Can a painting be experienced kinesthetically? If a body holds a visual memory, is it art when recalled in movement? These questions drive the exploration, inviting further dialogue between movement, the body, and art. Ultimately, the paper hopes to provoke thought around the integrated nature of the arts and the necessity of transcending disciplinary boundaries in both art-making, witnessing, and training.