Pollock's painting and even more so the photos of him working changed the direction of art forever...

    Shiraga Kazuo, Challenging Mud, (1955)

     The 1st Gutai Art Exhibition broke new ground by staging actions that used the body as a medium. (Years before the body based performance art that became common in the 1960’s and 1970’s). One of the most interesting works in this vein was Shiraga  Kazuo’s Challenging Mud. During this performance, he made use of his entire body in all dimensions to “unconsciously express his existence in matter”. His own body replaced the traditional paintbrush and so the artist literally entered and turned into his work. The relics of this performance – a pile of mud, was left on view for the remainder of the exhibition as an artwork in it’s own right, expanding (perhaps for the first time) what could constitute a painting.