A new documentary explores how the pioneer of the ‘modern primitive’ subculture used painful BDSM practices to access new spiritual planes – outraging conventional societyIn the opening moments of A Body to Live in, a documentary by American film-maker Angelo Madsen, we are confronted with two black-and-white photographs. Taken in 1944 by the teenage Roland Loomis, they show him stripped to his underwear, his waist heavily restricted by a leather belt, a rope wrapped several times around his neck.Loomis later renamed himself Fakir Musafar and became one of the founders of the modern primitive movement – a subculture that revolves around body modification practices including branding, suspension, contortion and binding. A Body to Live in, which premieres internationally at London’s BFI Flare film festival this week, dissects Musafar’s body of work, which explored the tension between masculinity and femininity, pain and pleasure, spirituality and S&M. Continue reading...
The documentary "A Body to Live In" explores the life and work of Fakir Musafar (born Loomis), a pioneer of the modern primitive movement and body modification. The film, created by Angelo Madsen with access to Musafar's archives, examines his explorations of pain, pleasure, spirituality, gender, and the history of body modification, including the ethical concerns surrounding the practice. Musafar's practices, such as throwing piercing parties and performing acts like lying on a bed of nails, aimed to connect the mind and spirit and were met with both devotion and controversy.
