Power and body as a political object in art practices

This research, presented as a Master's Thesis Report, examines the effects of power on the body,based on Michel Foucault's models of sovereign, discipline and bio-power. At the same time, this study, which is carried out with the method of historical research, analyzes the relationship between the body and power from the prehistoric period to the first quarter of the 21st century and discusses it with examples from the history of art. As a result of the spread of man to the world with the Neolithic period, the will to power against nature emerges. Humanity, in general, differs from each other in many issues and desires to gain power, and thus the foundation of the concept of power is laid. Within the scope of the concept of power, the transition from the matriarchal system to the patriarchal system is mentioned and the basis for Michel Foucault's power models is formed. In the sovereign power model, the connection with the body is established through the right to life and death. With the Panopticon principle developed in the disciplinary power model, the aim of this power model is; It can be defined as separating the individual as body and subject, accessing the behaviors and thoughts of the individual by dominating the body with control and surveillance mechanisms. At the same time, the subjectivation practices that stand out in this power model are also discussed. In the bio-power model, life becomes an object of power. In this model of power, which operates on life and body, power takes place in a materialist position. Thus it ceases to be legal and focuses on real objects such as the body and life. At the same time, the bio-power model does not impose prohibitions, it governs the individual by representing freedom. Under the title of "Biopolitics in Art Practices" shaped by this process, the concepts of body, privacy, life and death, which form the basis of power mechanisms, are examined chronologically in the history of art. In this context, the relationship between Foucault's models of power is established with the examples in the history of art, which are examined from the prehistoric period to the post-modern. With these studies, the effect on the body by transforming the world into a discipline mechanism is discussed. At the same time, the personal artworks included in the report represent a resistance indicator against models of power and the domination of the body by the power. In this direction, the materials that make up the forms are shaped by using ceramic clay, gum, wax and foam silicone; In addition, he demonstrates an interdisciplinary attitude open to video, photography and interaction.