Long used as an object of artistic representation and celebration, since the mid-20th century the human body has become the main focus of contemporary practices in the plastic arts. Whether representing Viennese actionism, corporal art and its variations – (body art, carnal art, hybridations, etc.) – or diverse carnal or virtual performances, the artist's own body serves as artwork, sculpture, material, and the strategic site for novel and unusual aesthetic encounters and experimentations.