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Grasping the Body Expression

Title
Grasping the Body Expression
Other Titles
몸짓을 이해하고 잡기
Authors
SANTOS MACEDO, ANA BÁRBARA
Issue Date
2018
Department/Major
대학원 조형예술학부
Publisher
이화여자대학교 대학원
Degree
Master
Advisors
이기영
Abstract
사람들은 누군가를 접할 때 실제를 보지 않는다. 대부분의 사람들은 인간의 표정을 알고 있다. 대부분의 사람들은 micro expressions(미세한 표정)에 대해 들어본 적도 있다. 표정은 물론 얼굴로부터 나타나는 것을 알고 있지만, 대부분 사람은 신체의 표정을 생각하지 않는다. 사람들이 신체로 하는 표정은 얼굴이 표현하지 못하는 표정을 보여준다. 사람들은 그 표정을 숨기지 않고 원래 그 표정을 하고 있다는 것을 인식하지 못한다. 신체 표정은 얼굴보다 무엇이든 더 크게 표현할 수 있다. 의도적인 행동이 아니더라도 몸짓을 통해 딱 그 순간에 사람들의 “닫힌 모습”이나 편안한 모습을 볼 수 있다. 나는 내가 아는 사람 옆에 있으면 그 사람이 나 때문에 “닫힌” 것을 알고 있었다. 그 사람의 편안함을 저지할 줄 알았다. 나의 그림에 낯선 사람을 모르는 것은 그 사람의 표현을 실제로 보는 것이 더 쉬운 줄 알았다. 우리가 모르는 사람들은 관측되고 있다는 것을 깨닫기 전에 더 쉽게 자기들의 실제를 표현할 수 있다고 생각했다. 낯선 사람은 나를 모르기 때문에 더 쉽게 자기 감정을 놓아주는 줄 알았다. 그러나 낯선 사람을 그 순간에 그리면서 아는 사람들도 자기도 모르게 몸을 통해서 개인 감정을 놓아주는 것도 봤고 이를 그리게 되었다. 누구나 신체 언어가 말이나 표정보다 크게 말하는 순간을 가지고 있다. 말이나 얼굴 표정보다 몸짓은 더 크게 말하는 순간들이 많다. 아는 사람이나 모르는 사람과 마찬가지 그러한 순간이 많다. 서로를 아는 사람들 사이의 표정을 읽은 순간은 더 소중하다고 생각한다. 이 것은 내가 그 사람의 마음을 실제로 아는 것처럼 느꼈다. 그리고 모든 사람들의 신체 표정(몸짓)을 알아보기 시작했을 때부터 멈추기가 어려웠다. 나는 예전에 그렸던 그림을 봤을 때도 알지 못했던 몸짓까지 알아채기 시작했다. 신체가 표정하는 순간을 오래 동안 볼 수 없기 때문에 사라지기 전에 잡아야 한다. 그리고 그 순간은 유일한 순간이기 때문에 그 순간을 알아 차리지 못했던 사람들이 그 순간을 볼 수 있게 잡아야 한다. 다른 사람들도 그 순간을 볼 수 있도록 그림 그리고 싶었다. 몸짓을 폭로하고 싶었다. 이러한 짧게 감시할 수 있는 순간은 똑같이 짧은 시간 안에 포착되어야 한다. 그 순간을 방복적으로 포현하면 그 순간의 무상함을 잡을 수 없다. 그 소중한 순간은 같은 순간적인 표현을 받을 가치가 있다. 전통적인 동양화에서 꼭 유지해야 할 것이 하나 있다면 검은 먹으로 표현하는 것들은 어느 생명력이 있다는 것이다. 먹은 그림의 대상의 생명력을 지속적으로 지키는 특징이 있다. 먹은 한지를 접할 때 그 순간 부터 지울 수 없다. 그 한지는 화선지라면 먹으로 하는 붓질은 화선지를 접할 때 부터 변경할 수 없다. 맞는 한지(화선지)는 1초에 먹을 흡수되고 화선지 특징인 붓질 몇개 겹쳐도 벌써 했던 붓질 안지우고 각각 붓질을 볼 수 있다. 정보의 겹침은 레이어링 (layering)이라고 불리우며, 어느 연구에 인간의 두뇌와 연결된 효과가 있다. 이미지를 겹쳐서 (그리고 정보를 쌓아 올리면) 겹치는 방법에 따라 상상력 (뇌가 스스로 무언가를 완성하거나 완성 못 하는 능력)을 방해할 수도 있고 지킬 수도 있다. 먹, 화선지와 레이어링 기법을 사용하여 내가 보았던 순간에 대한 그림을 보는 사람에게 그 순간을 보기 위해 충분한 정보를 주고 가짜(내가 안봤던 또는 기억 잘 못하는) 정보를주지 않고 불가결하지 않은 정보는 가볍게 표현하는 뿐이다.;So many times, we look at someone and we do not really see them. Most people are aware of the facial expression. Some have also heard of micro expressions. We all know that expression lies in the face, but what some people seem to forget, even though most have heard of it, is the unconscious expressions of the body language. What each person does with their bodies shows some expression the face does not. They tend not to hide it and they usually are not aware they are making it. In a way, the body language has more expression than the face. In what one unconsciously does we can see how tight one is, or that maybe one does not care because he or she feels completely comfortable in that moment. I thought the people we do not know can let go of their constraints easier, before they realize they are being observed. I thought not knowing the individuals in my paintings made it easier to really see them when I look at them. But as I painted those individuals in those moments I noticed the moments when people who know each other, even the ones I had been talking to after I started learning about body language, let the barriers down and without knowing show those peculiar expressions, and I started painting them instead. Everyone has those moments on which body language speaks louder than words or their facial expressions. The people one knows as much as the people one does not know. Reading the information between people who know each other makes it even more precious. As if now I really knew what was going through their minds. And when I started noticing those body expressions everyone has, it was hard to stop. I even started noticing the ones in my old sketches and paintings – which I was not aware of before. The body expression is a moment of weakness, it is a moment when the walls are down. But those moments are sparse, so they must be grabbed before they are gone. And that moment that is unique needs to be captured so that the people who did not notice it before can start noticing it now, the way I had noticed it. I want to paint it so that everyone else can also see that moment. I want to expose the body language. A moment that is so limited in time and occurrence must be captured in the same way. If I were to represent that moment in a repetitive manner, with infinite strokes, painting the same piece of information repeatedly then it would be a practical invasion of that moment. If seeing the mind undress in front of us is an invasion of privacy, then saturating it with my brush would be a violation of the moment. It deserves the same momentary representation as momentary as their exposure was. If there is one thing to be retained from traditional Oriental painting for the representation of this topic it must be the way black ink can capture the essence of an object or a being. That it has vitality and perpetuates the moment trying to be registered. Once the ink touches the paper it cannot be erased. And if that paper is thin mulberry han ji (hwa seon ji) the ink cannot be altered. The right paper can retain it in a second and allows space for brushstrokes to overlap without erasing or destroying the previous strokes’ information. The overlapping of information is called layering and has been demonstrated in a study to play with the mind. Layering images (and thus layering information) can either block imagination (the ability for the brain to complete something by itself and see the information that is not there) or help the brain’s imagination by not giving too much information. Using ink cake, hwa seon ji and a layering technique I aim to give enough information for the viewer to see the moment as I saw it, without giving fake information – things that I did not see or am not sure were there at all are not represented, and that which is not essential is only suggested. I came to Korea and, as an outsider, I started noticing these odd postures and actions people do while they are alone. I became intrigued and started observing these incidents more carefully. What are these motions? What are these people doing? I wanted to know what they were, these postures. I came and saw all these things as an outsider, but as I investigated it I came to know me being an outsider was unrelated to what they were. Everyone has those moments when their actions are “odd”. As I studied I came to know about body language and then those odd postures became clearer. The “oddness” of it was nothing but the brain unconsciously expressing words and feelings, the so-called body language. The expressions of body language all have meaning. But they are also very ephemeral moments. These body expressions I did not see before and investigated through psychology made some details in my paintings much clearer. I decided, once I realized this, that I wanted to imprint these body expressions out of my memory and into a place all eyes can see. In a way one could say I want to turn the moments in my memories into a public moment. These moments when I saw the body language became truly important to me and became the object of my paintings. The more those moments were painted the more I realized two important points. One, that body language is important to understand fellow humans and animals. We may not consciously know what they are feeling, but with the experience we unconsciously have of showing it with our own body, and the ability to feel empathy we end up knowing, even if unconsciously, how other living beings are feeling. The other point worth noting is how important body language is in art. A single art piece can be successful or unsuccessful depending on how well expressed the body language is. Of course, it does not apply to all art pieces, only to the ones that rely strongly on body language. Like, for example, Amore e Psiche (Antonio Canova, 1787-1793), one of the main Neoclassical art representative pieces. Imagine if Canova had not been able to grasp all the emotions of that moment. The faces are not the main part of the piece as they don’t have a strong facial expression, so one must rely on body language to learn what the characters are feeling – even without noticing, when we look at the piece our eyes read the tilted head of Psiche, the hands without strength trying to grasp Amore, and his body trying to stay close to hers. When feelings come into play, one cannot rely solely on the facial expression – in most instances the facial expression is not even needed to read our peers. Through my research for this thesis I began to recognize and to learn how to capture the small moment of body language. Doing this, the awareness on body language regarding previous paintings – both mine and others’– was made clearer to me, and it may help those who read this thesis better understand body expression in art and living beings alike. In shorter words, the research for this thesis was made in order to clarify body language, so that it can be better used, understood, and recognized both in art and in real life. The understanding one can gain from studying body language can be beneficial in terms of practical encounters between peers, as well as to better absorb all a piece of art (or other medium of visual information) and their creator aim to transmit. I feel an understanding of body language is even essential in order to reach any representational goal when it comes to the body. Body language, both in life and in art, becomes a visual foundation of communication: between individuals, as well as between the artist and the viewer.
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