Description
Book SynopsisBody art, especially tattoos and piercings, has enjoyed an explosion of interest in recent years. However, the response of many health professionals and researchers to this phenomenon is often negative, as body art continues to be associated with issues ranging from ill mental health to offending behaviors.
Arguing for a reappraisal of the diverse range of practices that fall under this heading, Brian Brown and Virginia Kuulei Berndt reconsider body art as an underappreciated yet accessible source for mental and physical wellbeing. How, they ask, does body art open up new sources of community, sociality, and aesthetics? How is it used for the reclamation of one’s body, as a marker of success or accomplishment, or for building friendships? How does participation in these practices impact the health and wellbeing of body artists themselves?
Providing a radical rethink that integrates tattoos and other body modifications within health, wellbeing, and positive psychology, Body Art disrupts the narrative of stigmatisation that so often surrounds these practices to welcome a broader discussion of the benefits they can offer.
Table of ContentsChapter 1. Defining the field: The multiple arts of the body
Chapter 2. Body art and society
Chapter 3. Body art, aesthetic communities, culture and power
Chapter 4. The pleasures of decoration
Chapter 5. How Can I Engage with Body Art?
Chapter 6. From margin to centre: Shifting boundaries in body art
Chapter 7. The health (and bodies) of body artists
Chapter 8. Towards achieving the benefits of body art
Chapter 9. Conclusion: The multiple arts of the body revisited
