To heal the contemporary pains, traumas, and anxieties that overwhelm and destroy the joy of life, Alexander Lowen, an American physician and psychotherapist, advised to include the work on the body. “Be your body in its movements, actions, and expressions”, he said in his prescription in the 1977 “The Way to Vibrant Health: A Manual of Bioenergetic Exercises”. The list of artists independently endorsing such an approach, too, would be long and ongoing.
The pioneers of abstract expressionists in the US, Japanese Gutai movement members, early performance artists, feminist body art creators, Brazilian Neo-Concrete artists employing abject to trigger bodily sensations. Many more have activated the body to intentionally channel, process, or discharge emotions, tensions, and frustrations related to the modern way of life. As Lowen, they have explored the way the body moves and accumulates past experiences to then study the body and its sensations and spontaneous reactions. Then – used them to create art meant to be perceived, digested by the whole body, instead of merely the eyes and mind. Such an integration of the body and mind is a given in their practice and how their art is experienced. It is not only a way of feeling alive or being in the presence but also of capturing the emotions and releasing them, rather than intellectually seizing or freezing without processing them. Through actions, gestures, and extensions with the use of props, the body is enabled to be fully free to feel joy and pain, pleasure and aggression – all inherent to life.
Let’s take a look at the revelatory paths that some artists took to conceptualise and operationalise the connection between body and mind in the context of dealing with social pressures, trauma, and individual psychological histories. It applies the theoretical perspective of bioenergetic analysis as developed by Lowen in the 1950s. However, by the interpretation of their artistic practices through these lenses, innovative and complex theory of body and mind integration is revealed, informed by creative experiments rather than clinical research.
All sensing starts with the sensing of the self, that is, of the one’s own body
The father of bioenergetic analysis, Alexander Lowen (1910-2008) devoted his practice to the promotion of a holistic approach to therapy that tarnishes the modern division and separation of the mind and the body. Advocating for emotional work combined with physical exercises that increase mental, emotional, and body motility, as, according to him, emotional health can be gained only through self-awareness and self-acceptance. They can be recovered, both through introspection and inspection of the sensations in the different body parts. The structure of the body stores our experiences, channels and keeps the difficult feelings, rejection, anger, aggression, disappointment, sadness, and so on.
For Lowen, it was certain that “we can be fulfilled as human beings only when our lives are rooted in our bodies, our animal nature and the earth. Unfortunately, our technological culture cuts us off more and more from these fundamental connections” (“The Voice of the Body: The Role of the Body in Psychotherapy”, 2005). By only focusing on mental processes, on the head – the brain, we exclude from the perception vital elements of our existence. Therefore, the therapy should embrace the analysis of the body’s motility, structure and properties, to comprehensively decipher the somatic vision of our disorders.
“Our bodies are moulded by the social forces in the family that shape our character and determine our fate (…), which is that we must try to please to gain approval and love”.
— Alexander Lowen
The process of the discovery of the embodied self aims to reveal and take away masks, facades, and roles imprinted in the body by the process of socialisation through which the natural, genuine self has been rejected as aggressive, selfish, and undesirable by parents and social groups. Lowen maintains that “our bodies are moulded by the social forces in the family that shape our character and determine our fate (…), which is that we must try to please to gain approval and love” (“Fear of Life”, 1980).
To get back our lives, Lowen asserted we need to get back our bodies. This is why the road to vibrant health leads through reconnection with physical parts of our existence. “Self-perception or self-awareness is the consciousness of the body in its alive or spontaneously responsive state. The self is the body, including the brain. It is the body reacting independently of the ego or the I (…). The concept of the self is sophisticated. It develops when the ego has reached the stage where it can observe what is happening in the body and reflect upon it”, he further states in “Fear of Life”.
Stretch, expand, live
Bioenergetic analysis and exercises are to be combined with other conventional psychotherapy models. They cannot be practised as independent and exclusive methods. This comes from its main assumption that there is “one fundamental energy in the human body, whether it manifests itself in psychic phenomena or somatic motion. This energy we call simply ‘bioenergy’”, Lowen says in “The Language of the Body” (1958). “Psychic processes as well as somatic processes are determined by the operation of this bioenergy. All living processes can be reduced to manifestations of this bioenergy”.
When the mind is disconnected from the body, the human being does not perceive, nor feel it, and as a result is unable to consciously control some parts. As much as a given physical part is sensed and mapped out by a person, then the more it can be flexibly moved and the bigger is the integration between the body and mind. This implies that exercises, but not mechanically, rather knowingly performed, are a part of bioenergetic therapy. Conscious breathing, grounding exercises, bending, stretching, heel bouncing, jumping – are all designed to connect individuals with their bodies, the earth, and the present moment, addressing both the physical and emotional dimensions of human experience.
Thanks to the mindful approach to the exercises, the patient’s awareness of the body and emotions is acquired and increased. Tensions built up and stored in certain areas of the body are released, as well as frustrations; difficult emotions are evoked, relieved and constructively attended. The inclusion of bioenergetic exercises brings benefits like emotional release, trauma healing, stress reduction, improved relationships, and enhanced overall well-being. They allow people to let go of the experiences and emotions that do not serve them any more. Thanks to exercises, one is to learn how they are unconsciously controlling their body. The path to being alive and feeling alive leads through letting go of these controls and allowing the body to live on its own.
Bioenergy of the body as an art tool
Artists started to perceive fully, problematise, and employ the body to create art in different contexts and with different assumptions in the mid-20th century. It resulted, for instance, in objects that can be construed as expressionist discharges or emotional releases powered by entire body movements, that might be gentle or aggressive, dynamic, swift or liquid, spontaneous or choreographed. Here, the body is conceptualised and used as an organic semiconductor that controls and manages the flow of emotional energy current and passes it into the support.
“The abstract expressionist didn’t have an intention of therapeutic gestures or art therapy, however, it seems that they were aware of the bioenergy and power of the embodied movement”.
Think about “Jackson Pollock 51” by Hans Namuth. Pollock is well-supported in his legs, the canvas is spread on the floor – everything is well-grounded. His movement seems like an internal, repetitive rhythm. With an extremely focused expression, rarely lingering over any particular section, at times, Pollock kneels, leaning on one knee. He bends over, straightens back up, rising and crouching at regular intervals and uses his whole body with large, swift, and determined motions, like a choreographed plan. Within this extensive movement, he produces delicate, intricate motions from his wrists. Pollock’s hand movements are enabled by the strong, steady, and flexible positioning of his legs. The movement of his hands and wrists is well-rounded and skilful. He seems to know exactly what kind of mark each movement will produce and doesn’t hesitate to get covered in paint or to step in it. A similar approach is shared by Helen Frankenthaler, Shiraga Kazuo, and Saburō Murakami.
Lowen designed exercises to release emotional blockages, to heal traumas that are hidden in the body and not available to the consciousness. By dynamic grounded slow or expressive movements of legs, hands, and hips, energy is being activated or channelled. The abstract expressionist didn’t have an intention of therapeutic gestures or art therapy, however, it seems that they were aware of the bioenergy and power of the embodied movement. Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) knew that the action of painting “progresses through mind and body”. They connected the emotions to the body expressions and documented them on the canvas. Frankenthaler once said about Pollock’s technique that “it captured my eye and my whole psychic metabolism at a crucial moment in my life”. These practices required “integration of body and mind”, a fundamental condition of fulfilled life and authentic creativity. Lowen believed that creativity arises when the body is free of tension and energy flows naturally. Releasing chronic muscular tension allows individuals to access their full energetic potential, which fuels creativity.
The greater introspection of self
In performances, installations, or interactive objects, the body is explored and tested, exposed and inspected to get into the sense of self. The essence of this aesthetics is the discovery of the body, thanks to it and through it. The assumption here is, by attention to the body functions or dysfunctions, constraints of the motility, abilities, or characteristics of the body parts. There is a greater introspection of self, of identity vis-à-vis social roles, externally and internally imposed masks that hide deeper emotional and energetic processes. Think about Lygia Clark’s Straightjacket (1967) and Máscara Abismo (1968), Rebecca Horn’s Finger Gloves (1972) or White body fan (1972), Sylvia Palacios Whitman’s Slingshot (1975) and Passing Through “Green Hands” (1977), Teresa Tyszkiewicz’s Cotton wool (1981) and Grain (1980).
“My body is a medium, a source, and a creation of a problem. It is indispensable. It’s a base, a ‘home’, which shelters my personality. Furthermore, it plays the part of a ‘link’ between reality and imagination. In my movies, I can’t really find any other tool than my physical self, because I always want to outline the idea with myself”, Teresa Tyszkiewicz (1950-2020) once said. In her practices, she exposed the body to different sensations but touching it with grain, sand, and wool. She could feel it and be more aware of it, in consequence, she strengthened the relationship with her personality, with her raw self, not mediated or moulded by the society and culture.
On the other hand, with Rebecca Horn’s (1944-2024) early works, it’s easy to suggest that they are one of two things – cumbersome (restricting movement, cutting the wearer off from others) or freeing (extending the body’s capabilities, opening new lines of communication). She came up with the idea of quite surrealist props made of simple materials attached to her body. When Horn was bedridden, she was confined to a sanatorium for over a year, without contact with others. It heavily impacted her movement and behaviour. The mandatory bed rest reduced the scale of her world to the corners of a room. There she sketched and sewed a series of body sculptures responding to her loneliness and longing, imagining strange additions and enhancements to her limbs so that they might reach further, weigh heavier, find new functions and feel the strain of their own limitations.
With small, not that energetic movements of the body, these sculptures were made “alive”. For example, Finger gloves were designed to be worn on the hand of a performer, attached to the wrists with black straps. “The finger gloves are made from such a light material, that I can move my fingers without effort. I feel, touch, grasp them, yet keep a certain distance from the objects that I touch”, Horn explained. “The lever action of the lengthened fingers intensifies the sense of touch in the hand. I feel myself touching, see myself grasping, and control the distance between myself and the objects”. The visual effect was exaggerated. The relatively tiny body expanded beyond its perimeter with the help and at the same time received information from skin and muscle receptors that increased the awareness of its wholeness. As Lynette Roth described, Horn’s “performances are meditations on the body in space (moving, touching, groping), on space itself (verticality and horizontality, interior and exterior), and on the relationship between the two”.
To meet the world
The experiences of healing or therapy, where the body of an artist or performance participant is a transmitter that enables mental change. Transformatory activities where art objects serve as therapy props were designed, for example, by Lygia Clark and Marina Abramović. Their intention was indeed to leverage art to induce healing or to provoke awareness of feelings that are hidden and condition human behaviour against their full potential.
In 1968, Lygia Clark (1920-1988) created The House is the Body: Penetration, ovulation, germination, and expulsion for the 34th Venice Biennale. The viewer was meant to enter the installation and undergo a specific process and series of physical experiences and then come out the other end expelled from the body of the sculpture or, in some ways, from the body itself. At the same time, it was a structure of resistance and, considering the times it was made, a structure where the body undergoes oppressive situations out of which it emerges. The House is the Body invited participants to physically navigate or interact with the space, heightening awareness of their own bodies and their relationship to the environment. The whole experience could have also symbolised entering one’s own mind or body, to freely and bodily explore themes of intimacy, vulnerability, or identity. What was recreated or triggered is a path or ceremonial passage to true self – where social roles and culturally imposed masks are dropped. Clark informs us that the body is necessary for our liberation and reconstitution according to our needs, wants, and potentials. Brazilian artists made various relational objects out of everyday elements.
In the Structuration of the Self video, Clark presents the “relational objects” she used in the healing processes of patients with psychological problems. “The process becomes therapeutic through the regularity of the sessions, which allows the progressive elaboration of the phantasmic provoked by the potentialities of the ‘relational objects’”, she noted. The objects of different weights and densities, aromas and textures, pressing them upon or laying them on a patient’s body – heavy cushions, foam rubber, plastic bags filled with air or water, a mesh bag with stones inside, a cloth pouch filled with seeds, seashells to place over the ears, marbles, rabbit’s tails, nylon stockings filled with Ping-Pong balls. When the session ends, the man shown in the video says “It was as if I was all surface, the place where we meet the world”.
A somehow similar therapeutic intention can be found in Marina Abramović’s (b. 1946) practice by creating a series of installations made of different materials inviting the audience to engage with them – sit, lay, touch. She calls them transitory objects and all of them have one thing in common – they do not exist on their own. The public must interact with them. “They do not have symbolic meanings: their function and use are very precise and simple. They are made of a combination of different materials such as quartz, amethyst, tourmaline, copper, iron and wood, which have very specific effects on the user. These objects only make sense when they are invested with a certain power when people wear them”, Abramović says. “I believe these materials contain certain energies. I do not consider these works as sculptures, but as transitory objects to trigger physical or mental experiences among the public through direct interaction. When the experience is achieved, the objects can be removed.”
Both artists have been able to identify and capture the potential of the human body to heal itself holistically. They point out that the body channels the vital energy that makes us alive and connected to the environment and others, when it is fully sensed, mapped by the mind and liberated from the tensions induced by stress and traumas, reorganises our mental and emotional structures.
“I believe these materials contain certain energies. I do not consider these works as sculptures, but as transitory objects to trigger physical or mental experiences among the public through direct interaction. When the experience is achieved, the objects can be removed.”
— Marina Abramović
Temporary suspension
As Alexander Lowen suggested, the body allows us to feel the glee or bliss of the moment. It is a medium through which we are able to enjoy ourselves. This intuition has been explored in many installations where the body is triggered or activated to experience joy, pleasure, or carelessness, while the mind is temporarily switched off, and does not lead nor control the experiences. Look back into the Parangolés by Hélio Oiticica or artistic playgrounds by Ernesto Neto, like Gaia Mother Tree at the Zürich train station, or Carsten Höller’s Giant Psycho Tank. What connects these artists is “deintellectualisation” – or temporary suspension of purely visual, verbal, culturally structured experience of art. They use the bodies of the observers and turn them into participants. They aim to create playful or game-like activities.
Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980) came up with the idea of Parangolés after his experience of living in the favelas of Rio and participation in samba classes in his late twenties. He learned to samba and even became a passista (a highly skilled dancer who performs in the Brazilian Carnival). He said that dancing freed him from art’s “excessive intellectualisation”. Oiticica described Parangolés – capes, or cloak-like layers of different materials, that were intended to be worn by moving and dancing participants – as a manifestation of colour in the surrounding space. Made of coloured and painted fabrics, as well as nylon, burlap, and gauze. Some contained political or poetic texts, photographs, or painted images, along with bags of pebbles, sand, straw, or shells. “The viewer ‘wears’ the cape, which is formed by layers of coloured fabric revealed as he moves, runs, or dances”, he explained once. “The work demands the body’s direct involvement; the cape not only clothes the body but also urges it to move, to dance”.
In 1964, Oiticica asked his friends from the Mangueira favela to wear these and come to the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro. The dancers were refused entry into the building, revealing the institutionalised racism and classism pervading the city at the time. Even the word “parangolé” (a sudden agitation, an unexpected situation, or a dance party) was rooted in marginalisation. Oiticica adopted the term when he saw a piece of cloth with the word on it hung by a beggar on the street. Oiticica’s experience of the marginality of Rio de Janeiro’s most impoverished inhabitants awakened him to the social and ethical implications of art. But apart from the political or social dimension of the work, it also points out the embodied dimension of joy and merges it with radical, revolutionary, or at least the liberated dimension of a human being that refuses to be constrained by racism, discrimination and looks for the remedy in dance, which is purely a movement of the body.
A couple of decades later, another Brazilian artist, Ernesto Neto (b. 1964), proclaimed wanting the “visitors to feel the poetry of being alive”. He makes large-scale installations – multisensory, experienced by touch, sight, and/or smell.
Gaia Mother Tree, Neto’s 2018 commission for Foundation Beyler, was made of woven cotton fabric, incorporated over four hundred kilograms of spices and plant seeds and occupied an area of almost 40x40m square. Put at a train station, the installation invited the passers to inhabit it for even just a moment – explore it or simply spend a moment there to detach from the noise and overstimulation of contemporary life. In his works, the spectator is invited to enter the spaces, tunnels, and crevices of his art. “Culture separates, bodies unify”, he states. The body serves viewers as vessels, as tools of entertainment or satisfaction.
Belgian artist Carsten Höller (b. 1961) also specialises in experimental, huge installations that aim to engage people and their bodies in playful experiences. Giant Psycho Tank (1999) provides the visitor with a private bath in a saline pool billed as a “sensory deprivation tank”. The floating space is opaque, but the adjacent showering and changing areas are partially exposed, allowing other visitors to catch a glimpse. As the participant floats, water fills the ears and they are unable to hear the world outside – the tank becomes a world unto itself. Höller originally intended for up to six visitors to float in the pool at once, but after the press preview of the exhibition, the New York Department of Public Health ruled that only one visitor at a time may engage in the work. This ruling significantly impacted the experience by reducing an aspect of relational aesthetics, where people were able to interact with fellow floaters and increase the focus on their own bodies.
Test site (2006) at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall seems to have been based on similar assumptions about the intersection of the body and play. The exhibit consisted of five metal slides. What interested Höller was both the visual spectacle of watching people sliding and the “inner spectacle” experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety as you descend. The installation title suggested each of the five slides needed to be tried out. “To see how they [the visitors] are affected by them, to test what it really means to slide”, Höller explained. He even suggested going down his slides could be a life-changing experience. “The state of mind that you enter when sliding, of simultaneous delight, madness and ‘voluptuous panic’ can’t simply disappear without trace afterwards”. The body takes control, we are the body that is meant to play and experience joy. The participant’s surroundings shrank, experiencing the moment predominantly by untamed body movement. It becomes the medium that allows us to escape the mind and feel more reality that is no longer limited and translated by the psyche.
“The body takes control, we are the body that is meant to play and experience joy.”
Get your body back and find joy
To sum up, by taking as guidance the principles of bioenergetic analysis, we can look for inspiration and take care of the body we are – dichotomy and disconnection of the body and mind are erroneous. We have to integrate them to better function and be fully alive. Greater body awareness fosters and heightens the healing of traumas, pains, dysfunctions and psychological, and behavioural disorders. Emotional energy can be trapped in the body and impact the somatic structure as well as our health. Grounding and breathing can be considered fundamental practices that get us connected with the body, while by body movement, we can better channel the energy and unblock the tensions that have a psychological nature.
Or we can also reach out to artistic practices that explore our relationship with the body and self – look to their practice as an inspiration on how to treat it, and what to expose it to experience enhanced sensations or more authentic selves.
