Body's of Resistance

           

 Bodies of Resistance – A body’s project By – Michael Crandall

For this project, I was most inspired by the work done by Carrie Mae Weems. Up until that point, I was trying to figure out where I would get a willing naked body to allow me to take pictures. After viewing, her spread in class and watching her speak on her work. I realized that the body could be used to make a political or humanitarian statement. This realization in conjunction with my concern for the future made this the perfect project for me. I chose to match each of the images with an article from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights because they apply very directly to the matter at hand.

Master / Slave – 

Article 4.No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

The first picture is master/slave it can be argued that huge corporations participate in several forms of servitude. I feel that it is also, important to note that all of the ‘slaves’ regardless of color, gender, or age are all in the same uniform. There is no sense of individuality. They are the same seven faceless workers in every fast food joint in America.

Right / Wrong

Article 9.No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

The second image right/wrong is an image I feel very strongly about. On both sides of the image u have people of all races, sexes, and religious belief all united or divided by class struggle. I chose the image on the left in part because of the quote, but more because she is the embodiment of a generation lost in space. She is the 99% she is young, beautiful, educated, American, and afraid of what a future with no change holds.  On the right is what she fears being brought to bear.

Us / Them

Article 20. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Again, I chose the image on the left because it showed the diversity of the bodies involved in this movement. People from all walks of life united under the tyranny of corporate greed. They are not armed nor do they seek violence as a solution. The image on the right is eerie, violent, and faceless. The only appropriate corporately funded response to peaceful assembly.

Hope / Fear

Article 23.

·         (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

·         (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

·         (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

·         (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

This image speaks for itself in my opinion.

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/