CHARMS — re-imagining the body in motion: the embodied armoured flesh and the biomechanics research lab

MARIANA Barrote

About this exposition

In this study I elaborate on how Charms unfolds as a plastic experimentation rooted in an initial vision of the body. It is grounded in a reimagined body image, constructed from other imagined bodies, such as the anatomical flayed figure and protective devices. This study explores the notion of the body turned upside down —both literally and conceptually — reconfigured through an armor-like structure in which flesh paradoxically assumes the role of an external layer. The resulting image is of a body that is both armored and exposed, charged with contradictions that disrupt binary oppositions such as inside/outside, alive/dead, human/animal, and powerful/fragile. This hyperbolic Charms, constructed from two distinct costumes, is offered for visual contemplation, recurring within contemporary visual culture as a manifestation of the scientific body still subjected by imagination and visceral sensation. The work, a multichannel video installation, also investigates the body’s capacity to generate imaginaries through movement, employing measurement tools from the biomechanics research laboratory to visualize this dynamic relationship.

type	research exposition
keywords	body image, armor, artistic processes, Subversion, costume design, imagination, memory, biomechanics, anatomical flayed figure, anachronism
date	29/05/2025
published	11/12/2025
last modified	11/12/2025
status	published
affiliation	I2ADS
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2425578/3723269
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/ruu.2425578
published in	RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
portal issue	23. Re-Imagining

name	escorchado_A_andar
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-ND
usages	picture

name	animação_caminhada
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture, picture

name	walk_13
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	charms_fire2
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	Berengario_p09r
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	armadura_couraça
copyright	National Library of medicine
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	couraça grega MET
copyright	Met Museum
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Andrea Vesalius
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	couraça
copyright	The Metropolitan Museum
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	charms_crawl
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	charms_falena
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	re5m
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	GYU SKIN
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	gyu_para research
copyright	Mariana Ribeiro Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	charms8
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	mary_reid_kelley
copyright	Mary Reid Kelley
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	olhos
copyright	Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the University of Chicago
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	luva_branca
copyright	Julien's Auctions
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	mickey2
copyright	Walt Disney
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	luvas
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	charms_dance
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	WOLF_lights_joanjonas_2004-2005
copyright	Joan Jonas
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	ALESSANDRO_VERONESE
copyright	Levetto Family colletion
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	George_Stubbs_-_A_Comparative_Anatomical_Exposition_of_the_Structure_of_the_Human_Body_with_that_of_a_Tiger_and_a_Co..._-_Google_Art_Project_(2351546)
copyright	Yale Centre for British Art
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Eiko Ishioki (figurino armadura drácula)
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Jana-Sterbak-Vanitas-Flesh-Dress-for-an-Albino-Anorexic-1987
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	AMQ_AW23_LOOK_39
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	my_new_york
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	CLICK_TO_PLAY
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture, picture, picture, picture

name	seta
copyright	Mariana Ribeiro Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture, picture, picture, picture

name	Charms_fight_with_hair
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	research_catalogue
copyright	Mariana Ribeiro Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	charms_fire
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	escorchado_parado
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture, picture

name	conjurar_videos
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	preto e vermelho
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	garras
copyright	Mariana Ribeiro Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	Captura de ecrã 2024-06-04, às 15.50.42
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	labiomep_re-imagine
copyright	mariana Barrote
license	CC BY-NC-ND
usages	picture

name	conjurar1
copyright	Mariana Barrote
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

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CHARMS — re-imagining the body in motion: the embodied armoured flesh and the biomechanics research lab (2025)

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