The Aesthetics of The Abject

Aesthetics and Theory

Abject art rejects conventional art aesthetics, and challenges what “should” be admired, replicated, presented, and upheld as art. The word “Abjection” in itself means without pride or dignity.  It is the concept of leaning into the despicable, vile, and all together reprehensible. Negative associations with different visuals, sounds, colors, and textures are combined to trigger feelings of discomfort, unease, dread, and nausea. It often relates to the body and bodily functions such as defecation/urination, vomit, pregnancy, bleeding/scabs, and so on. It aims to get a reaction out of the viewer by tossing aside the conventional and the pristine.

Julia Kristeva, a philosopher and literature critic, is known for her feminist theory and writing about the abject in art. Her work focuses on the connection between the mind and body, and how an object can become a subject in art.

Kristeva's Powers of Horror delves into the concept of the abject, and how “[...]the human reaction (horror, vomit) to a threatened breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the distinction between subject and object or between self and other” is the heart of what makes the abject so effective. In film, the abject is used to lean into and embrace facets of abjection to elicit a visceral reaction from the audience. Human empathy falls prey to the abject, and the pain on screen translates to the viewers as if it's their own.

Examples of Abject In Film

Horror, physiological, thriller, and drama films tend to use the abject more than other genres, but it doesn't exclusively exist within those bounds.

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Un Chien Andalou , by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, is an example of a film using abject themes in tandem with surrealist art to create visceral discomfort. The deconstructed, dreamlike style that the film opens the gateway for the object and the subject to become one. The film also captures post-war trauma, and how experiences like war impact the psyche. Metaphors for mortality, pain, death, and trauma are abundant throughout Un Chien Andalou, and the utilization of the abject furthers the impact of the film on viewers.

Scenes containing uncanny visuals like slicing a woman's eye open with a razor (shown on screen with the woman's eye being replaced with a goat's), ants crawling out of a hole in a hand sculpture, and a woman poking at a severed hand in the street break the boundaries of what is "real" and "rational". It warps the viewer's perception of reality and leaves them vulnerable to the process of an object becoming the subject and vice versa.

Abject aesthetics benefit from break the separation between object and subject. When implementing the abject in film, it is important to create a space within the film that allows space for the viewer to become absorbed in the grotesque. Otherwise, the purpose falls flat and loses its meaning.

Body Horror and Pregnancy

Body horror is one of the better known forms of abject in film. Kristeva writes that abjection is frequently tethered to maternity and pregnancy, and in it's own way pregnancy is a form of body horror . Tokophobia, or the fear of pregnancy, is something that is often be used in the realm of body horror. Pregnancy in and of itself alters the human body drastically, and can often lead to physical and psychological trauma. People who can get pregnant have always been subject to the reality of losing bodily autonomy once pregnant, and even those who may want a child are faced with the onslaught of real life horror stories about pregnancy.

Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón translates the abject of body horror and pregnancy through the loss of control and ability to have agency over one's body. A large part of the story centers around a young, refugee mother and her pregnancy. She has to give birth on a dirty, disgusting mattress without proper medical care or any way to keep a sterile and sanitized environment. There are constant parallels consistently drawn between the characters and christianity (specifically Mother Mary the birth of Christ). The film also heavily references the real life experiences of refugees being forced into unfit living situations, abuse, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and violence against civilians.

Children of Men's usage of abject aesthetics is heightened by being paired with long, handheld takes. It aids in immersing the viewer into the story. Gentle, easily digestible scenes are snuggled in between graphic violence and depictions of filth. Affect, another emotion based aesthetic, serves as a comforter and a way to "soften up" the viewers for the next onslaught of discomfort.

The Senses

Film is a visual medium, so senses play a vital role in conveying abject aesthetics on screen. Visuals and sound are combined to heighten feelings and encourage strong reactions from the audience. When conveying the abject, visuals and sound are combined to enhance a texture or sensation that's especially grotesque. It’s especially effective if the audience can equate what’s being shown on screen to a familiar experience. The sensations on the screen become ingrained in the viewer's mind, and their discomfort forces them to reflect on their abjection to the contents of the film.

Below are a few examples of the abject in relation to different senses. These are by no means an exhaustive list, and many of the examples below can overlap into different senses. A fun exercise is to make your own abject sensory list either based on films you've viewed or common discomforts you've encountered in your day to day life.

Visual

blood	dandruff	degloving
dirty dissection table	flies	maggots
needles/injection/shots	needles stabbing an eye	pus
rotting/rotten food	snot	spiders/spider eggs
the soft spot on a baby's head	urine	vomit

Auditory

beeping/low battery fire alarm	buzzing of insects	crackling
crunching	dentistry tools on teeth	electrical whine
gagging	nails on chalkboard	popping
sharpening of knives	silverware scraping against dishes	snapping
splattering	squelching	tv static

Touch and Texture

dry microfiber cloth against cracked skin	dry pills stuck to the back of your throat	fecal matter
gritty soups	picking at scabs	sandpaper on skin
sewage water	sharp object stuck under fingernail(s)	sharp rocks in your shoes
slug/snail slime	squishy old fruit	stagnant water
swallowing teeth/beads/marbles	torn off fingernail(s)	wet food in the sink

Pain and Nausea

bites	broken bones	bullet wounds
childbirth	crushed limbs	cuts from rusty metal
dislocated joints	glass in skin	infected skin
popping pimples	rashes	rope burn
second-degree burns	stings	surgery