bodyplasty
bodyplasty features works by Joey Gage that explore the axes of gender and body form. By qualifying the human body through the book, this exhibition measures the body’s limits, physical purposes, and social significance. Six eponymous works including, traditional book binding, audio, Risograph prints, mixed media, and poetry carry the viewer/listener through immersive and interactive experiences that reflect the above topics. Thematically at the center of this thesis is body modification which encompasses and flirts with ideas of gender, sexuality, and transhumanism. The books presented in bodyplasty offer expanded forms for text, data, and imagery to dissolve the boundaries of what is traditionally thought of as a “book.” While body modification drives the way these books physically manifest, additional emphasis is placed on the human experience of these works and how it beckons toward the relationship of two entities that hold information: the human body and the book.
bodyplasty no. 1
bodyplasty no. 1 is a leporello that features a spectrum of self-portraits which, at the two poles, exemplifies the ‘peak masculine’ and ‘peak feminine’ version of my body. Using my body as source material, the self-portraits were edited one by one from the center photograph outwards in each direction. At the poles of this spectrum, physical features reach a maximum augmentation with defined muscles, exaggerated silhouettes, and primal/alien-like attributes. Opposite to the spectrum, this book projects inward thoughts that parallel the visual ideations of the modified body. The text is resting on top of prints of the backdrop used in the self-portrait side. Due to the nature of Risograph printing, each of the backdrop prints is minutely different to the next–mimicking the body spectrum which similarly has such small changes.
bodyplasty no. 2
By taking the form of a gaff, bodyplasty no. 2 posits this nonsurgical body modification in book form. At the core of this installation, a German Case bound book covered in a fleshy skin reveals a delicately tucked vellum phallus that wraps below a translucent acrylic pedestal. The gaff is suspended in air and conceals the book within. The experience of tucking serves to the experience of gender in that it is affirming for some people and a performance for others. Split into three different sections, the text encompasses Gaff, Book, and Extended page. The outermost text references the visual experience of tucking, the book text speaks about the process of tucking, and the extended page speaks from the dysmorphic experience.
bodyplasty no. 3 (with Kristian Dahlbom)
Using spoken text and processed sound recordings, bodyplasty no. 3 imagines the book under the needle through a soundscape documenting its reconstruction in digital sound. A through-composed poem is torn apart and sewn back together by a randomized playback system that rearranges the meter and word logic. Accompanying the speech are book sounds that undergo metallic-like audio processing which invoke images of live surgery. This piece shifts the haptic experience of a book towards the ears and allows for a different sensory experience of textual information and imagery. Individual words from the text are cut from white vinyl and are affixed to a white wall somewhat randomly, similar to how the text manifests via sound. Due to the white-on-white combination, one can only catch a glimpse of each word from specific angles when the reflective vinyl catches the light. Words may be noticed by chance in passing or may be “seen” subliminally when paired with the audio.
bodyplasty no. 4
The separation between the book and the human body dissolves when one considers the fact that a book is a mere vessel for information. Regardless of its form, the book is encoded with narratives, data, and imagery in ways similar to how humans carry them. bodyplasty no. 4 features paper “garments” molded to the human physique and adorned with letterpress text and vellum windows that reveal the continuation of the text on the skin. As documented in the risograph prints, a human wears this paper ensemble and creates an experience of humanity inclusive to the experience of the book. This work aims to not be about paper clothes, but rather aims to emphasize the fact that the experience of a book is activated by human interaction with the book. The form of this book, which envelops the human body, serves to convey that a book is not restricted to the form of codices. Instead, this form serves to provide a more embodied experience between human and book.
bodyplasty no. 5
Stacked on a 3 tier turntable are Risograph print collages of technological body modifications that could prove real in the not so far future. As such, these modifications are posed as products obtained through surgical procedures. While some seem impossible and illogical, they question the functional necessity of the growing catalog of modern bodymod procedures. Viewers are able to handle the large volvelle structure and create an exquisite corpse given the 648 possible combinations of heads, torsos, and legs.
bodyplasty no. 6
Parallel to bodyplasty no. 1, bodyplasty no. 6 places the viewer in the position that the subject is presented in no.1 where they are now confronted with the immediacy of human form and existence. Text is etched on to a three foot-by-three foot mirror and is from the perspective of this object. A red velvet backdrop opposite to the mirror is used to insert the viewer into the body spectrum. Upon experiencing the first five pieces in the bodyplasty series, one is now able to ponder upon their body form while also being posed with the potential issues of vanity.