Spencer Tunick: Naked People Can Be Art too
Mexico City
Last night I went to the opening reception of Performing for the Camera at the Arizona State Art Museum. It showcases a collection of photographs from my friend Stephane’s collection. The photos focus on using the body in performance for photography, certainly a subject of interest to me.
I’m always amazed by Stephane’s collection, so it was nice to see so many photos on exhibit. Last night’s event featured a talk by Spencer Tunick. Spencer does large format landscape photos using nude bodies as a medium. He has assembled hundreds to thousands of people around the world to create a new kind of landscape photography in which nude bodies are merged into a kind of mass medium that blends landscape and bodies. The photographs simultaneously have a kind of processed anonymity due to the large number of bodies, but also an underlying sense of utopian vision.
A few things of note that Spencer mentioned last night. He said that in a way his work is an answer to people’s misconception of the 60s as a time when “naked people were everywhere.” People, for the most part, have remained safely clothed since, well, clothing was invented.
Spencer also noted that the more politically oppressive an environment is, the more people come out to participate in his photography installations. When he shot in Mexico City, 18,000 people were photographed. The Mexico City Zocalo Square installation has always been my favorite, until I saw hid Dead Sea photos last night which are now also my favorites.
Here is one from the dead sea which is on exhibit at ASU:
Dead Sea
Spencer talked about the difficulties of filming in Israel. He was photographing under very strict time constraints. He showed a slide show of photos one person took of the installation process. One thing was clear from the photos - the people participating were indeed experiencing a kind of utopian moment, where everyone was “stripped bare” and came together for this singular art project. I’ve never been a big fan of 60s idealism and pretty much think of it as a crock of shit, but certainly there are moments of a utopian ideal for the participants in Spencer’s photography projects. Old, young, fat, thin, white (mostly) and brown come together to merge into one piece of art. And, they are having fun!
I was introduced to Spencer’s work through Stephane a few years ago. He sent me a video of Spencer filming at Blarney Castle in Ireland, and it was so cool that I shared it with Bean. She was probably about 8 years old at the time. I didn’t even hesitate to show her the film. Bean’s always been very interested in and astute about art. I thought she would really appreciate how he uses human bodies as a medium especially in such a beautiful setting and with the use of roses. Indeed, Bean really liked it. She wasn’t upset by the nudity at all. What she saw was someone making art using the human body as part of the medium and creating really spectacular pieces with bodies and landscape. In other words, she liked it.
Ireland
I was really surprised to hear Spencer talk about how many problems he has because he photographs nude people. First of all, there is nothing even remotely sexual about his work. As he said last night, “In Mexico City there were 18,000 naked people and not one erection.” The nude has been part of art forever, and the nudes in Spencer’s work are so anonymous that they are barely nude. They’re forms on a landscape. Not to mention, we are all born naked. At the end of the day, all of us are naked underneath the clothes we wear. So what is the big deal?
Indeed, if you visit sites that have Spencer’s work or even at the current museum exhibit, you are likely to come across signs like: “warning: adult content” or “caution: nudity.” Why do we need to be cautious because there is nudity? Maybe I should put signs on my bathroom mirror. You want to talk about a repressive state? How about our own?
Speaking of which, Spencer is thinking about doing an installation in Arizona. That would be awesome. I wouldn’t mind being one of the anonymous naked people. However, given the “Right” leanings of this state, he says that it poses difficulty in getting permits to assemble large groups of naked people. For fucksakes.
Kind of makes me want to spend a day naked just as an act of rebellion. “Oh shit! Arrest her! It’s a NAKED BODY!” Gasp.
It’s funny how much our culture invests in keeping us at a distance from what we naturally are. It’s better for capitalism that way. But I can’t even begin to go into that . . . I’m sure you understand.
Oh my favorite Spencer Tunick piece in the exhibit is one from Nevada:
Nevada
Back to work. Ciao.