Orlans Vision of Carnal Art - Essay Example

According to Orlan, what one would refer to as body art, means carnal art to her. Orlan notes that the body has been manipulated to represent something different from what it originally was meant to represent. “The body has become a “modified ready-made”, she notes. She stands out from another artist by presenting her definition of the carnal art together with body art. One is able to understand the shift from originally the body part which was a matter of public debate to what is now the underlying factor.

People do not care what actually is entailed in the process of modifying their bodies through plastic surgery; rather, they are more interested in the result. According to Orlan, the process rather than the result is the most important part of carnal art. The questions she asks are: what are the ideals foregone by trying to embrace the result of modifying the body; and what are the ultimate consequence of the neglect of such ideals? At this point, one would easily tell the direction to what Orlan wants the viewers to focus their attention at, and the role played by the carnal art.

It would be easy to say that carnal art is abstract and is a concept that can be put on debate and get politicized depending on the direction the view wants to take it. The question that Orlan puts across is what challenges the norm and the status quo. This can also be vividly seen when she attempts to question the oddity of identity as it has been presented to individuals through parents and the law. Throughout the life of Orlan, one can notice a series of peculiar events unfold from her childhood to adulthood.

She believes that this is a choice she is entitled to and as such, the State has an obligation of granting such right. She says, “when the operations are finished, I will solicit an advertising agency to come up with a name, a first name and an artist name; next, I will contact a lawyer to petition the Republic to accept my new identity with my new face.” Through the quest Orlan is attempting to present, by making her new name legal, the aspect of reality in what Orlan is presenting is brought forth.

The reaction of Orlan towards the pain that is experienced through surgery makes one feel that what the third person feels is what they want to believe in, and therefore they attempt to force such feeling on the artist who has an independent mind and is not influenced by such feelings of the third party. This makes one to quickly assume that Orlan believes that she can be whatever she wants without caring of what others think about her actions.