Body of Pieces

Body of Pieces is an abstract fiction by Joanne Masding, presented as an artwork, a set of sculptures, a book.

It follows two female characters, The Surgeon and The Dancer, as they attempt to interact with a series of hard to grasp and vaguely defined objects, and one another, within the bowels of a fictional archive.

From behind screens, inside bellies and out of mouths, the text follows the exploratory limbs of its characters as they sense their way through the landscape of things. From up close with fingers and at a remove stuck behind a laptop, The Surgeon and The Dancer test out ways of interacting with the physical world in front of them, and of dealing with their own shifting and malleable bodies. Meeting objects staged across a series of murky rooms, they make attempts to know the physical realm, and to find alternative ways of articulating their experiences.

Continuing explorations from the studio that are central to Joanne’s sculptural practice, Body of Pieces thinks through ideas of embodied knowledge and how the material world can be understood and translated. Begun while caring for her first child and working at home, and spanning the pregnancy and birth of her second, the text was made over multiple years to consider what it is to create and add to the world; both as a maker and as a mother. In the lawless space of a museum built out of written fiction, precious artefacts are eaten and melded with, body parts are carved up and ballooned outwards, and objects, artworks and children, are birthed, created and made real.

‘Body of Pieces’ is published by Bobo Books and distributed by Antenne.

Supported by Arts Council England, An Endless Supply and backers on Kickstarter.