Art and Reality. The Body as Territory for Mimesis in Contemporary Art

Abstract

The subject of this study is a reflection on the new role acquired by the idea of mimesis (as an approximation to reality) in contemporary art from the point of view of the body. The study deals with the revival of bodily narratives experienced by art in recent years, narratives directed toward various different purposes, but with a common denominator, their high degree of truthfulness. on the basis of this new consideration of the physical body, the hypothesis is that the forceful invasion of hyperreality in contemporary art is due not only to new materials and technology being incorporated into art, but also to a revision of the traditional idea of mimesis or new mimetic strategies such as “reality of synthesis” or “synthetic reality”. The study tackles the origin, development and evolution of the process, paying attention to issues such as the social need for reality, realism compared to synthetic reality, and the importance of the materials of synthesis (FX materials) in this process.