Abject Grotesque as Body Without Organs: Two Case Studies From Contemporary Sculptural Practices

Abstract This paper argues that the logic of Deleuze and Guattari's concept ‘the body without organs’ (BwO) is embodied in the production of the abject grotesque, or monstrous, transgressive forms in contemporary sculptural practices. By inducing intensive disturbances and interplay among awe, disgust and compassion in various ways, these practices disrupt the ideals of the human body, selfhood, identity, knowledge, societal systems, and binary ways of understanding the world, thus opening up new possibilities for future artmaking. Two works by South Korean artist Mire Lee and Canadian artist David Altmejd are used as case studies to analyse two of the ways the body without organs can be embodied in the abject grotesque.