Notes Introduction 1. In many respects, Blaine’s London feat is part of that shift. Whereas his entombment in ice in New York in 2000 prompted a media focus on his pun- ishing preparations (see Anonymous 2000, 17; Gordon 2000a, 11 and 2000b, 17), his time in the box brought much ridicule and various attempts to make the experience more intense, for instance a man beating a drum to deprive Blaine of sleep and a ‘flash mob’ tormenting him with hamburgers. 2. For some artists, pain is fundamental to the performance, but Franko B uses local anaesthetic, as he considers the end effect more important than the pain. 3. BDSM is regarded by many as less pejorative than sadomasochism; others choose S&M, S/M and SM. Throughout the book I retain each author’s appel- lation but see them fitting into the overarching concept of BDSM. 4. Within the BDSM scene there are specific distinctions and pairings of tops/ bottoms, Doms/subs and Masters/slaves, with increasing levels of control of the latter in each pairing by the former; for instance, a bottom will be the ‘receiver’ or takes the ‘passive’ part in a scene, whilst a sub will surrender control of part of their life to their Dominant. For the purposes of this book, I use the terms top and bottom (except when citing opinions of others) to suggest the respec- tive positions as I am mostly referring to broader notions of control. 5. Stressing its performative qualities, the term ‘scene’ is frequently used for the engagement in actual BDSM acts; others choose the term ‘play’, which as well as stressing its separation from the real has the advantage of indicating it is governed by predetermined rules. 6. The exception is Tattoo (1981). 1 Situating the Controlled Body 1. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality underwent changes in a succession of editions during the next twenty years. 2. See Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1955) and Jacques Lacan, Écrits: A Selection (1977). 3. Brown (2002) has made a similar case for Mel Gibson. 4. The increased interest in anatomy fused with art is demonstrated by such television documentaries as Raiders of the Human Body (1998), Anatomy of Disgust – part three (2000) and The Anatomists (2002). 2 Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sadomasochism (BDSM) at the Movies 1. Hereafter, I shall refer to the film as Sick. 2. The Kinkies are deemed to begin with White Slaves of Chinatown (1964). 199 200 Notes 3. The German film Verfolgt/Hounded (2006) offers a version of this with a mid- dle-aged female probation officer and her young male charge. 4. Snuff films are defined as depicting the actual killing of a human, and in com- mon parlance, usually refer to films explicitly made to show that killing, espe- cially those that appear to begin as a standard porn film, but then the person having sex (usually a woman) is suddenly killed. 5. 8mm even reworks a line from Hardcore into its tagline ‘Some doors should never be opened.’ 6. It was finally passed with no cuts in 2009. 7. Bob had previously used the wordplay for his show Bob Flanagan’s Sick (1991). 8. If indicated in the film, I have provided dates for the individual works of art shown in Sick. 9. Bob’s interest in the ‘saintliness’ of suffering is evident in his published com- ments too: ‘I think I related my suffering and illness to the suffering of Jesus on the cross – the idea that suffering in some way was kind of holy’ (Flanagan in Juno and Vale 1993, 13). 3 Body Modification: Beauty and the Pleasures of the Modifiable Flesh 1. Later in the film a character describes Karl’s work as ‘a little bit of needle, a little bit of dick’. 2. Mascia-Lees and Sharpe offer a different reading of Tanizaki’s story: ‘To the male artist her tattoo is not a mutilation, but a concretization of the hidden message of her body: for him it reveals her true nature as evil and destructive to men. But the woman experiences herself as horribly transfigured’ (1992b, 148). Such a divergent reading I find difficult to achieve when Tanizaki states: ‘A song of triumph was ringing in her ears’ (1963, 169). 3. In contrast, it is stressed that Karl must paint not tattoo the fashion models. The erotic appeal of the refigurement is still present, with Maddy’s boyfriend suggesting she does not wash afterwards, but should ‘save it for tonight’. 4. The relationship of body modification to self-image is vital, thus Memento, The Illustrated Man and Tattoo feature the protagonist in front of a mirror, thereby enabling the spectator to see the change, and the subject reacting to the change. 5. For example, Signatures of the Soul (1984), Fakir Musafar’s Sun Dance ritual in Dances Sacred and Profane (1985) and Charles Gatewood’s Tattoo, San Francisco (1988). Richard Harris had also earlier provided a simulated and inaccurate form of Sun Dance in A Man Called Horse (1970). 6. In Tattoo, Karl’s minor tick is that he will only hold a public telephone with a cloth. 7. Although blatantly resembling the Grecian art object, it is noteworthy that it has its lower legs missing, thus creating a greater similarity to the boxed Helena. 8. A Zed and Two Noughts (1985) previously made the link with characters refer- ring to a woman with no legs as Venus de Milo. However, Moju/Blind Beast (1969) is closer to the essence of Boxing Helena, with an artist eventually sev- ering both arms and both legs of a captive woman, his action prompting the reciprocal destruction of the statue he had made of her. Notes 201 9. This state is perhaps best described as what is termed grace in women, or the effortlessness of a ballerina, but I find no comparable category in art, although there remains a clear distinction between the artist (effort) and the created work (beauty). 10. The animation was modelled on a web-based story called ‘The Adventures of Beverlee’, which was created by Kim Barreda, a double amputee. She origi- nally used Barbie dolls, a decision prompted by Mattel releasing in 1997 a disabled figure called ‘Share a Smile Becky’ whose wheelchair was too big to fit into Barbie’s car and her house: a telling oversight. 11. For a summary of the problems Crash faced in the United Kingdom see Kermode and Petley (1997) and Petley (2011, 115–28). 12. Fashion model Padma Lakshmi experienced similar sentiments in respect of her car crash injuries. She proclaims ‘I … knew my scar was a symbol of my survival’ (Lakshmi 2001, 55), but underwent painful chemical dermabrasion to reduce the dark pigment of her scar tissue, to which photographer Helmut Newton shrieked, ‘You’ve ruined the beauty of it’ (in Lakshmi 2001, 57). 13. The bullet wound is the exception; these recent breaks in the skin have been fetishized, especially through women tending the injury, but the eroticism is discreet. 14. David Cronenberg acknowledges this scene refers to contemporary debates regarding body piercing and self-mutilation (in Rodley 1997, 200). 15. Traditionally the top or Dom was not marked, but this is not always the case. 16. Forensic psychologist Dr Paul Britton later claimed the BBFC misrepresented him (see Kermode and Petley 1997, 18), but my point remains, as the state- ment was issued with the intention of justifying the release of Crash. 4 Aestheticized Pain and the Artistic Serial Killer 1. Douglas has been seen as the inspiration for Jack Crawford in Harris’s books. 2. The term ‘serial murderer’ is said to have first appeared in print in 1966 in John Brophy’s The Meaning of Murder (Newton 2000, 205). 3. The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971), which features deaths in the manner of the ten deadly plagues, has also been compared with Se7en (see Kalat 1999). 4. Souvenirs refer to objects used to supplement the killer’s fantasies, as opposed to trophies, which commemorate the kill. 5. For more information on the artwork of serial killers see Schechter and Everitt (1996, 14–17 and 46–7), Newton (2000, 5–7), and Taubin (1991, 16). 6. For more details, see Imogen O’Rorke (2001, 5) and the television programme ‘A Modern Frankenstein’, part 3 of the series The Anatomists (2002). 7. Gunther von Hagens’s plastinated figures are not dated and this may be to confer on them a status that falls between art and education. 8. A similar scenario operates in Se7en. 9. Lecktor is the spelling used for Lecter in Manhunter. 10. That ‘Air on a G String’ is the more familiar title for the Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, indicates it is popular classical music, where the notoriety enforces the classical properties. It functions as the classical music does in Boxing Helena (see Chapter 3). 202 Notes 11. Misteria also features the creation of a body, but from transplanted body parts from one person. Mil gritos tiene la noche/Pieces (1982) is closer to Resurrection, featuring body parts from different bodies being collected and assembled into one figure. 5 Playing with Control 1. Free running involves participants moving through a (usually urban) space via structures to display acrobatic movements such as vaults, flips and rolls; BASE is an acronym for Building, Antennae, Span (bridge), Earth (cliffs), and BASE jumping is an extreme form of skydiving from these fixed objects. 2. Action games usually involve moving a character through a game world by a combination of running, jumping and climbing, with an objective of finding a way through to the next level of the game.