KEEPING IT CORPOREAL

Three more artists pushing the physical boundaries

FAKIR MUSAFAR

Responding to primal urges, Fakir Musafar and his modern primitive movement connect art with spirituality and sensuality. Inspired by native tribes (he was born on a reservation in South Dakota), the now 87-year-old pioneer of contemporary body modification spent his life exploring the ritualistic aspects of piercing, tattooing and suspension.

STELARC

For more than four decades, testing and overcoming the limits of the human body has been the focus of Cyprus-born performance artist Stelarc. Be it hook suspension, using robotic prosthetics or surgically attaching a third ear to his arm (that will be internet enabled, naturally), he is constantly thriving to turn our imperfect bodies into something bigger.

TAT2NOISACT

The human body as a sketchbook, the skin as a canvas: in an act of pure anarchy and artistic improvisation, the members of Belgian noise band Tat2noisact tattoo themselves while performing. With the sound of their tattoo machines amplified, the sounds mirror the pain and vice versa. After 10 years of shows, they have hundreds of tattoos but show no sign of quitting.