THE CORPOREAL IN THE VIDEO INSTALLATIONS OF IRANIAN-AMERICAN ARTIST AND FILMMAKER SHIRIN NESHAT

Abstract

The article studies the art of the famous Iran-American artist and director Shirin Neshat. The recognition of Neshat’s talent around the world and the demand for her works show to the relevance of the issues spotlighted in her works. Shirin Neshat’s video installations have become classics of modern art and the subject of scientific study for art historians, orientalists, cultural scientists, philosophers and a wide range of researchers. The artwork by Neshat is wildly known as the symbol of modern Iranian art. It reflects all the painful political events of the modern Iran history. The article focuses on corporeal practices considered on the example of key works of the artist. The video installations “Turbulent” (1998), “Rapture” (1999), “Soliloquy” (1999), “Fervor” (2000), “Passage” (2001). The article provides a consistent and detailed analysis of corporeal practices (facial expressions, gestures, body plasticity, voice vibrations, etc.) and the body itself as a tool through which the author constructs the space of an artistic statement. The article presents the new classification of the corporeal through the concepts of “political body”, “poetical body” and “autobiographical body” in the art of Shirin Neshat