Francesca Alfano Miglietti Boeken

This thought-provoking volume presents an original, theoretical reflection on the use of the body in art. It analyses the ways in which the body has always been from its relationship with cultural, religious and political institutions to current trends of self-decoration mutation.The first section focuses on images of the body as it has endured extreme hardship, a kind of iconography of pain. The second section looks at how bodies have been altered as they have been controlled, from prisoners' scars to the effects of electroshock therapy, and even the subtle, psychological effects of the continuous surveillance and data gathering of today. The book concludes with an analysis of some of the major practices of body alteration, bordering on self-mutation (and mutilation), via plastic surgery, transplants and implants to the point that there is a generation today incapable of distinguishing between real forms and a manipulated reality.

In this book Francesca Alfano Miglietti offers a collection of everything that has created scandal, enthusiasm, excitement and a sense of participation in fashion, and examines the construction and de-construction of our bodies and our identities, beginning with what we wear and the relationship our clothes have with all that is contemporary. In 44 interviews, previously published in the Italian art magazine Virus , designers and photographers define their concept of fashion. The simple yet extravagant style of Ann Demeulemeester, the multiethnic contaminations of Romeo Gigli, the nihilist and aggressive look of Alexander McQueen, the erotic and ironic play of Anna Molinari, the irreverence and unpredictability of Jean-Paul Gaultier, the audacity of the queen of fashion Vivienne Westwood, and more are discussed and illustrated in this highly-readable and visually delightful book.