Carnal Art: Orlan’s Refacing

by C. Jill O’Bryan
University of Minnesota Press, Minnesota, MN, 2005
216 pp, illus. 29 b/w, 25 col. Trade, $74.95; paper, $24.95
ISBN: 0-8166-4322-9; ISBN: 0-8166-4323-7.

Reviewed by Rob Harle (Australia)

harle@dodo.com.au

This is a very important book. Although the subject is the controversial, and in some peoples’ eyes, shocking art of French feminist artist [Saint] Orlan, it is much, much more. The book is paradoxically enjoyable and infuriating at the same time. It is hard to imagine a more sensitive or empathetic exploration of Orlan’s work. In other words, O’Bryan’s analysis resonates harmoniously with her subject, neither denigrating nor eulogising her.

Carnal Art: Orlan’s Refacing is meticulously researched and extremely well written–considering the epistemological difficulty of some sections of the discourse, it is an easy and pleasurable read. The text is accompanied with both black & white and colour photographs, some of which are not for the faint hearted. Even if you have no trouble viewing normal medical procedures, some of the images will probably disturb you, partly because of the context and partly because of the subject matter.

Orlan’s art is somewhat hard to define precisely. She is, "...a multimedia performance artist who places her body into the center of beauty technology in order to expose and question those techniques of gender that simultaneously construct and discipline ‘beauty-conscious’ female identity" (p. 20). Most of her performances occur in a hospital operating theatre, involving deconstruction and reconstruction of her face, and essentially require equipment such as video cameras and film crews. All performances are transmitted to the public and are strictly controlled by Orlan, who is conscious during the procedures having only local anaesthetic. Having had facial surgery in an operating theatre with only local anaesthetic myself, I can assure the reader it is not something one would do for fun.

Orlan must be very serious and dedicated to her art or be very seriously mad to undergo these procedures. "Consciousness [in the operating theatre] is her [Orlan’s] ultimate weapon against psychoanalysis. It allows her to preclude a diagnosis of psychological illness" (p. 104). The charge of madness has been raised by some of Orlan’s more severe critics. I believe this is an important and valid question to ask. O’Bryan discusses this at various times throughout the book, and it appears that Orlan is very much in control of her life and her art. I do not think, from O’Bryan’s discussion at least, that the charge of madness is valid. Not only for the abovementioned psychoanalytical reason (after all many insane people inflict severe pain upon themselves while consciously doing so), but specifically because Orlan’s work, like many other artists, has evolved over a long period of time, involves steady considered planning and complex logistical organization.

There are one or two parts in this book that are infuriating and tend to mar an otherwise excellent scholarly work. These are when O’Bryan seeks the support of other feminist writers and quotes them at length. Specifically, (briefly) quoting Straayer, "I suggest that most if not all women do want to be men..." (p. 101)–a totally unsupported, unscholarly feminist, stereotypical speculation. Further, Doane, "Most specifically, it is the possession of the male gaze" (p. 104). This discussion concerning Orlan temporarily obliterating any reference to her gender when the skin of her face is removed by the surgeon (and shown at extreme close-up), does not only prevent possession by a male gaze but prevention of any gaze, including for example, her mothers’ or a female best friend. A little further on O’Bryan recognises this herself, "What is represented [by the face] is the fragility of identity" (p.106).

The book has an Introduction (Shape-Shifting), seven chapters as follows: 1–Orlan’s body of Work; 2–Looking Inside the Human Body; 3–Between Self and Other; 4–Interior/Exterior; 5–Beauty/The Monstrous Feminine; 6–Penetrating Layers of Flesh: Carving in/out the Body of Orlan; 7–A Few Comments on Self-hybridations . Finally–EXTRActions, a Performative Dialogue "with" Orlan. This section while rather short is a pithy discussion between O’Bryan and Orlan.

This is a provocative book, raising important questions and challenging status quo prejudices on many fronts. Some of these include–the validity of the feminist psychoanalytical critique; the validity of many aspects of feminism itself; the authenticity of privileged bourgeois artists (such as Orlan) taunting the very bourgeois society that enables her to create her art; the efficacy (as art) of extreme (unnecessary?) bodily modification when in many countries essential life saving surgery is unavailable. These above questions, some raised unintentionally throughout Carnal Art, are what makes the book so interesting and important in addition to the exposition of Saint Orlan and her art.