The body as cultural artifact: Performing the body in bodybuilding culture

The institution of bodybuilding organizes the body around a system of sculptural aesthetics. This aesthetic system includes artistic creation, performance, appreciation, interpretation, criticism, evaluation, and the varying roles the bodybuilding act plays in participants' lives and society as well. The approach I take for this dissertation draws upon performance theory and recognizes a fundamental, communicative difference between the body as a work of art and the aesthetically regarded performer of the work on display. My purpose is to explain and analyze critically bodybuilding practice, while addressing broader issues in the study of bodylore and body art. This project reflects my understanding of the body as it performs in situated, artistically communicative ways. Bodybuilding as an organized social activity uses specialized techniques and technology to shape the body according to explicit criteria and specific ends, whether it is for work, for sport, for art. For most bodybuilders, bodybuilding represents the expression of the aesthetic factors central to their everyday lives. Bodybuilders train with weights for the purpose of building and displaying the skeletal muscles of the body, testing and pushing the limits of the human form. Unlike the sculpting of stone or wood, the building of one's flesh involves a construction that is never stable because gains and losses of muscle mass and body fat are always ephemeral. Subtle changes in diet and rest, for example, will have adverse effects on the body's shape and ability to perform. Artifacting the body is a commitment that a bodybuilder makes when s/he shifts the body from its utilitarian purpose to one of a high-value realm of art. The health and fitness enthusiast's body satisfies common achievements of health and beauty, while the bodybuilder aspires to communicate aesthetic excellence. One body is limited while the other is limitless in its quest for creating art.