This is going to be the schedule that I will be following this week. 

I think the focus of the project is to get my ideas across and developing them. 

research is going to be a goal for every day because research is very important. 

14/10/19

I think that touch is very important when thinking about gender expression. I’m interested to know why touch can lead to 

Social issues? 

Disability 

Robotic arms 

Mutual contact

“produce feelings of affection, gratitude, or sympathy in”

-Connection between people 

-Personal space 

Political? Social? 

Emotional problem

Private not private 

Nerve

Gloves to stop touch - 

Biology and physiology 

-Violence and sexual abuse/ assault- the laws of that- touch is limited- has a line and can’t be crossed if the relationship between the ppl is _ eg family, friends, strangers, one night stands.

Personal experience 

Childhood development 

Toxic masculinity- expectations of being a male can have a bad effect on things 

Grace m perry- the age of man.

Puberty - hormones - biology- muscles in hands

I then started to look and dance and how people express emotion through dance. I thought it was really interesting how the partners link their bodies/hands when dancing to express different feelings/stories. I think that touch and sexuality are very strongly linked to dancing because they are both about naturally finding your identity through 

The movement and 

"For some artists, the line between dance and visual art is quite blurry. Such is the case for Heather Hansen, who is making some incredible creations utilizing just her body, gessoed canvas (occasionally Korean paper), charcoal, and — sometimes — an audience.

The 47-year-old artist executes fluid-like movements across the blank canvas while holding charcoal in her hand, which creates a series of shapes and patterns before she smears the lines. For the final step, Hansen picks herself up, stands back, and admires the one-of-a-kind work.

“It’s like a photograph in that way because it’s a literal recording of that moment,” Hansen told A Plus. “So it’s scary as hell, but I think that’s what keeps it interesting for me.”

“A few years ago I was playing around and dancing on the beach with my son and noticed the lines left in the sand by my turns,” Hansen said about her aha moment. “It reignited my interest in embodied art and I started to explore these ideas in the studio.”

I tough her idea of combining dance and drawing was really interesting. I myself want to try it out and see how if I try to copy the movements in the pictures below and see how I can develop it further. I think this links so well with gender identity, which probably doesn't make any sense, because gender identity is another form of naturally expressing certain movements that would distinguish a straight man from a gay man and I thought that was really interesting because looking at my friends, the first time I met one of my friends it was really obvious that he was gay because of the way his body would naturally move and when talking he would use his hands a lot, but it was very gentle and feminine gestures that he would use. But at the same time, it is really interesting .....

From touch to gestures 

I was researching artists that have done any work based on body language and I found a photoshoot done by Nick Knight. 
"Recently Knight collaborated with stylist Alister Mackie in this impressive editorial called BODY LANGUAGE for the latest issue of AnOther Man. Some of the images may remind you of  the works by Lucy McRae or even the video for DOUBT by DELPHIC."

"Women whose left index and ring fingers are different lengths are more likely to be lesbians, a study suggests.

Scientists measured the fingers of 18 pairs of female identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay.

On average, the lesbians, but not the straight twins, had different sized index and ring fingers, typically a male trait, but only on the left hand.

This may be the result of exposure to more testosterone in the womb, the University of Essex researchers said.

The scientists also measured the fingers of 14 pairs of male identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay, but found no link.

Both men and women were exposed to the "male" hormone, testosterone, in the womb - but some may be exposed more than others, the scientists said.

Study author Dr Tuesday Watts, from the psychology department at Essex University, said: "Because identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, can differ in their sexual orientations, factors other than genetics must account for the differences.

"Research suggests that our sexuality is determined in the womb and is dependent on the amount of male hormone we are exposed to or the way our individual bodies react to that hormone, with those exposed to higher levels of testosterone being more likely to be bisexual or homosexual.

"Because of the link between hormone levels and difference in finger lengths, looking at someone's hands could provide a clue to their sexuality."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45887691

We are sensual beings, yet we are dangerously deprived of touch. Instead of connecting intimately with other people, we deemed it inappropriate, and locked ourselves in boxes, physically separating ourselves from others.

Touch activates oxytocin, a hormone of bonding. This is what build Mother’s love to her child, and the affection between lovers.
A person who doesn’t get enough touch, doesn’t produce this hormone. It’s been shown in many studies that lack of touch leads to improper development of children, both emotionally and physically. And yet we deprive ourselves of touch.

We don’t touch. We have imposed rules as to what types of touch are acceptable and which ones are not. Men touching each other is inappropriate. A man and a woman cannot touch unless they are a couple. Grown up children don’t touch their parents, cause as adults, it’s not ok anymore.

We have completely lost the understanding of what sensuality is. We put it in one box with sexuality, and as sex is a big modern taboo, anything that can be associated with it is immediately  labeled as wrong.

Yes, sensuality can lead to sexuality, just like a dinner can. But sensuality itself is not about sex. You can be sensual with your friends, your family and absolute stranger, for whom you feel no desire at all.

Sexuality is the energy of your second chakra – the Sacral Chakra. It is linked to water and taste. Kissing, bathing and flowing are all watery in nature. It is about your desires and pleasures. It’s about what you want to feel good.

Sensuality, on the other hand,  comes from your Heart Chakra. It’s about unconditional love, with no object, and about a deep, intimate connection. Though it still gives you a lot of pleasure, it’s the blending into one with another being that gives the most high, not the animalistic desire. Sensuality is about touch and bout opening the heart.

http://bravebelle.com/sexuality-and-sensuality/

In contrast to “every man for himself” interpretations of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychologist and author of “Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life,” and his fellow social scientists are building the case that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits.

Ivan Alifan caught my attention with his sensual artwork. Ivan’s erotic artwork drew me in with his many layers of texture that I actually forget the subject matter at times and i forget about the weird feeling it makes me feel. " Ivan’s work often depicts ambiguous subject matter yet there is always an underlying sexual subtext." He uses cake frosting bags to create such an unusual texture within his paintings and i love it. Its really interesting to see how he took the topic of sexuality and sensuality and used the weird white goo looking texture to show his point of view. I really like the colors and the brush strokes to create a 3d effect.  

"Evan Nesbit is a mixed media artist living and working in Connecticut, creating large-scale woven works that are alive with color and inherently tactile. Created using a mixture of acrylic, wool and masonry foam as well as traditional patchwork techniques Nesbit’s creations cry out to be touched, bursting forth from their wall fixtures out into space; at times taking organic forms that appear richly fertile, evoking both masculine and feminine sexuality despite being composed from materials largely associated with feminine craft."

I love the mixture between acrylic, wool, and foam and how well they work together. They truly make me feel like I need to touch them and the texture of the fabrics is so interesting. Also, the use of color and shape is really interesting because it makes the designs so much more interesting. 

Also, I love the layering and the 3D effects of the textiles.