| Abstract | In this paper, I analyze how Paul McCarthy participated in the subversion of the optimistic "sunshine sensibility" of the California art community's reputation through his excessively vulgar performance Sailor's Meat, Sailor's Delight from 1975. Through his rejection of decorum, modesty, and social codes, he metaphorically allowed the inside of the body to leak out and overrun society's rules of civilized behavior. Sailor's Meat, Sailor's Delight was a live performance that was recorded on video. Located in a corridor in an adjacent room, an audience watched McCarthy's performance on a television monitor set on a chair. The video and the television monitor not only document the performance, but also provide evidence of an evolving consumer culture. I analyze McCarthy's performance of Sailor's Meat, Sailor's Delight in terms of noir, a dark literature and film-based artistic sensibility that evolved in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s and affected the city's art world. Also influenced by Allan Kaprow's happenings, McCarthy developed a genre of performance incorporating a critique of gender roles, video documentation, and a manipulation of the audience. I also analyze his references to popular American food products, which simulate bodily fluids and flesh; the growing sexualization of food advertisements; and the Bow Bride film still from Russ Meyer's movie Europe in the Raw from 1963. I propose that the dark side of McCarthy's work parallels that of Viennese actionism. Finally, McCarthy's performances are typical of a noir sensibility that can also be seen in the work of Chris Burden |
