Yes, Your Corpus is Exquisite

At museums, we are used to only involving our eyes and our feet. We walk from painting to photograph, passively keeping art at a distance; we keep our arms folded, casually lingering at each work long enough to seem like we really see it. In this way, our bodies are safe from the art: we see photographs, figures and realizations of others, while we remain voyeurs only. Exquisite Corpus: Interacting with the Fragmented Body, however, an exhibition by the History Art Majors’ Society (HAMS) which opened at the Johnson on Saturday, tries to explore definitions of the body beyond the breadth of other collections. In its exploration of the body through art, Exquisite Corpus seeks to pull us, the visitors, from our bleary non-involvement — that usual mindless walk.