This paper investigates the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin as a means of critically examining the practices of contemporary visual artists. Directly building upon and critiquing Deborah J. Haynes’ 1995 study Bakhtin and the Visual Arts, Jordan and Haladyn argue for the importance of using the dialogic and carnivalesque in an examination of contemporary art, specifically works that use the body of the artist and/or the body of the spectator as key elements within the work. Artists discussed include: James Luna, Rebecca Belmore, Andrea Fraser, Jannis Kounellis, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Ron Benner
