Looking at her books upside down, she exercised both her mind and her body 1978

This black and white photograph by Marcia Resnick captures an intimate moment of inversion, a kind of topsy-turvy world-view. I can imagine her setting up the shot, maybe a few test runs to get the balance just right. The texture of the floorboards and the plain wall create a stark, simple setting, a blank canvas for this act of playful defiance. I sympathize with Resnick’s impulse here. What was she thinking? Is she literally trying to see things from a different perspective? I love how the softness of the pillow contrasts with the rigid lines of the books. There’s a physical comedy here, a sense of the artist pushing boundaries, both physical and intellectual. This reminds me of other artists who use their bodies as a medium, like Hannah Wilke, whose work is also deeply personal and explores the intersection of mind and body. Artists are always in conversation, looking at each other’s work upside down, trying new things!