Modern Angels: Exploring Transdermal Body Art and Body Modification as Transformative Practice and Political Resistance

In 2000, I produced a short documentary work called Modern Angels which explored the “body art” scene in Belgium at that period.

Body art is an ancient practice. Some 5300 years ago, in the Late Neolithic period, the "Iceman" (as he is called) was tattooed with stripes, lines, and cross shapes on his back, knees, feet, and hands. For the limited period humans have inhabited the earth, body art has been widespread and normative. So how can it be that body art was until recently commonly regarded with disdain in Western cultures and what relationship did body art play in the art movements of the late eighteenth and early nineteen centuries through to present day? More importantly, what is at the core of body art as a transformative practice, what significance do these practices play in both individual and collective forms of esoteric knowledge/power and how might answering these questions help inform current scholarly debates around such issues?