--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whenever we think of the body as a vessel…" description: "\"Whenever we think of the body as a vessel for artistic ideas, we somehow always focus on the surface of the body. But the truth is that there is no sur..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/valie-export-59518_anatomy_whenever-we-think-of-the-body-as-a-vesse_2811431.jpg" --- # Whenever we think of the body as a vessel for artistic… ![“Whenever we think of the body as a vessel for artistic ideas, we somehow always focus on the surface of the body. But the truth is that there is no surface of the body independent of its interior. It's obvious that the outside of the body is always connected to the inside, to thought processes and…” quote by Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/valie-export-59518_anatomy_whenever-we-think-of-the-body-as-a-vesse_2811431.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/valie-export-59518_anatomy_whenever-we-think-of-the-body-as-a-vesse_2811431.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/valie-export-59518_anatomy_whenever-we-think-of-the-body-as-a-vesse_2811431.jpg) > “Whenever we think of the body as a vessel for artistic ideas, we somehow always focus on the surface of the body. But the truth is that there is no surface of the body independent of its interior. It's obvious that the outside of the body is always connected to the inside, to thought processes and to an internal anatomy.” [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The body’s interior and exterior are inseparable; artistic expression must consider both inner and outer dimensions. **In simple terms:** Body’s inside and outside are linked in art. Key Takeaway Integrate internal processes with external form. Themes art body interior exterior identity Mood introspective creative Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - visual arts - performance - therapy Key Concepts phenomenology embodiment Questions to Reflect On - How does your inner state shape your outward expression? - In what ways can art reveal hidden interiors? A Different Perspective Focusing only on surface can miss deeper meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anatomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anatomy/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Every organ in your body is connected to the one under your hat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-j-palmer/every-organ-in-your-body-is-connected-to-the-one-under-your-hat/) [B. J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-j-palmer/) > [“My body felt like tangled rubber bands and dried-out pens and sticky paper clips, like the contents of a drawer where you put the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/my-body-felt-like-tangled-rubber-bands-and-dried-out-pens-and-sticky/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“My body is but a vessel for my most potent treasure … my mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/my-body-is-but-a-vessel-for-my-most-potent-treasure-my-mind/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [“As for the body, it is solid and strong and curious and full of detail: it wants to polish itself; it wants to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/as-for-the-body-it-is-solid-and-strong-and-curious-and-full-of-detail/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [I like the idea that the body is a vessel, that it's not necessarily representative of the real you that's inside of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-jane-grace/i-like-the-idea-that-the-body-is-a-vessel-that-it-s-not-necessarily/) [Laura Jane Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-jane-grace/) > [“It is a mistake to think of the body as a vessel. It is as active as any mind, as any soul. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/it-is-a-mistake-to-think-of-the-body-as-a-vessel-it-is-as-active-as/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Your body is a vessel for your experience, and you will be trapped until you realize that what the vessel looks like is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-wiest/your-body-is-a-vessel-for-your-experience-and-you-will-be-trapped/) [Brianna Wiest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-wiest/) > [A child is your heart walking around outside your body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-force/a-child-is-your-heart-walking-around-outside-your-body/) [Marie Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-force/) > [“When you’re a parent it’s like you wear your heart on the outside of your body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-cohen/when-you-re-a-parent-it-s-like-you-wear-your-heart-on-the-outside-of/) [Tammy Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-cohen/) > [“The soul dwells outside the body, in some special place. 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Reiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-reiss/) > [Nature is something outside our body, but the mind is within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhumibol-adulyadej/nature-is-something-outside-our-body-but-the-mind-is-within-us/) [Bhumibol Adulyadej](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhumibol-adulyadej/) > [Yes, but if we hurt the Abadonna in the process, we’re going to find out what it feels like to be turned inside out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/yes-but-if-we-hurt-the-abadonna-in-the-process-we-re-going-to-find/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [To have a child is to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/to-have-a-child-is-to-forever-have-your-heart-go-walking-around/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [The soul is neither inside nor outside the body; neither proximate to nor separate from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-iqbal/the-soul-is-neither-inside-nor-outside-the-body-neither-proximate-to/) [Muhammad Iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-iqbal/) ## More by Valie Export > [Much of the art of the 1960s, from body art to video and direct performance, was concerned with similar issues. And then there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/much-of-the-art-of-the-1960s-from-body-art-to-video-and-direct/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [I was trying to develop a completely new, nonvoyeuristic approach to the female body as something other than a visual object. I wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/i-was-trying-to-develop-a-completely-new-nonvoyeuristic-approach-to/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [The female body has always been a construction. Even feminist art of the 1970s fashioned a body in accordance with its own ideas, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/the-female-body-has-always-been-a-construction-even-feminist-art-of/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [My interest in time emerged out of an engagement with the media that I was working with. Film and performance are temporal media. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/my-interest-in-time-emerged-out-of-an-engagement-with-the-media-that/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) [Explore all 5 Valie Export quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) ## More Anatomy quotes > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Descriptive anatomy is to physiology what geography is to history, and just as it is not enough to know the typography of a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/descriptive-anatomy-is-to-physiology-what-geography-is-to-history-and/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. 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