Bodily Sites and Acts

The attempt in this chapter is to initiate aesthetic theorizing on the nature of the lived body. Theorizing does not begin with an apriori postulate, rather the idea of lived body is grounded on the maximalist articulation from cultural practices. Ethnographic study serves as the method of enquiry. An elaborate illustration through ethnographic account of various ethnic communities is being made on how different ethnocenes decorate and appreciate their bodies in varied ways. Embellishment and “owning” an elaborated self through attire, ornament, flower, and tattoo have been presented. The attempt is to show embellishment as an extension of body. Even land as extended self has also been explored. In addition to the tangible forms of community embellishment, it further deals with dance as an intangible form of embellishment, which is shaped by sensibility and purposefulness. Overall, the chapter highlights the contours of lived body and its expanse through both the tangible and intangible modes. An aesthetic of the human body has been explored through various forms of extension (including land and dance), where the aesthetic sites of beauty have been mapped.