Cosinus Alpha 7 1964

Otto Muehl captured this image, Cosinus Alpha 7, presumably with a camera! It's black and white, which gives it an edgy documentary feel, but also hints at something staged. I can imagine Muehl in his studio, or maybe a rented space, orchestrating this scene. There is a figure on the ground, covered in something white—powder or paint—maybe wrestling with the ground and each other. The image is all about texture and mess; you can almost feel the grit of whatever medium they're using. I think the artist might have been thinking about the human form, but also about the act of defacing or transforming it. The white medium, in combination with what seems to be performance, is like a skin. It's giving me the idea that the bodies themselves become a canvas. It reminds me a bit of Yves Klein’s experiments with the body as a tool. All artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring each other to push the boundaries of what art can be. The artist's expression embraces ambiguity, which allows for multiple interpretations.