Arm Extensions 1968

Rebecca Horn made "Arm Extensions", and, gosh, it’s striking! I’m imagining her process here. She’s thinking about form, about the body, but in such a weird, elongated way. The body becomes almost architectural, right? It's like she’s building something, not just representing something. That red fabric wrapped so tight reminds me of the physical constraints we experience as women and as artists. The arm extensions themselves – so useless and exaggerated – are like an absurd, surreal joke. It's a gesture of both limitation and expansion, I wonder what it was like to wear them? She has this great interest in body modification and performance. I'm thinking of other artists, like Hannah Wilke, who use their bodies to explore themes of sexuality, identity, and the social construction of gender. They're all in conversation, across time. "Arm Extensions" isn’t about having one clear message, is it? Rather, it opens up a space for us to think, to feel, and to question.