Naked Art and Body Painting
by Val Serrie, Date: 12/12/2005, Article # 039
Naked Bodies as Art
Most guys are hard-pressed to find a way to get a woman naked. Let alone getting two women naked. Let alone getting them naked outdoors!
Well, here is a man who has found a way to get THOUSANDS of people naked and outdoors and posing for pictures. Most are average-looking people, some are attractive, some overweight, some too skinny, some old, lots are young, but it’s quite a mix.
Meet Spencer Tunick. A 36 year old artist from New York City who has made a name for himself by creating temporary art by having thousands of naked people lie on top of each other on the ground outdoors in familiar public places in various cities around the world.
Imagine the sales job he must do to get people to take their clothes off and bare all in public, in the cold. And they receive no money. They only receive a copy of the picture. This is worth understanding the motivations for. These people cannot be recognized really, because mostly only the ones right up front can actually be seen anyway. So why do they do this? Is it for the sake of the art?
In his art, the human form, taken in aggregate, is used to create a substance,
a surface material which is laid down upon famous outdoor locations to
create an effect. It is not about sex. The figures are not posed in sexual
positions or sexual acts. This is genuinely about art. The advantage of
having nude bodies is that it is about humanity rather than clothes, and
also, they are all more or less the same color – which means more
attention is given to texture and detail rather than color.
Still, I wonder. Where does he find these people? Or where do they find
him? Is it that as an artist, you struggle to find enough to make one
art portrait. Then after that people see you are a serious artist and
they suddenly start lining up to take off their clothes for you? Also,
I am curious about erections. How do the men avoid that embarrassment?
Given that it’s probably unavoidable in the proximity of lots of
naked women (some of whom may be touching you or lying on you even…)
That would be a problem for me, frankly. I could not control that, and
I couldn’t hide it either!
Here's a question that occurs to me: What do they all do with their clothes
while they pose? If four people take off their clothes and go for a skinny
dip together, finding their clothes later is no problem. But what about
when it's 5,000 people?
Body Painting
And then there are other types of art using the body. Body painting seems
to have taken on a real popularity in recent years. Here are just a few
samples of this art form. Consider that these people often walk around
in public places totally nude, but painted this way, among other normally
dressed people. They become a work of art themselves. This is common in
New Orleans, especially during Mardi Gras.
There is an interesting psychology around this. What does this tell us about our concepts of privacy? Or public morals? Is ‘art’ merely an excuse to get naked and maybe get laid? No. I don’t think so. The art aspect of this seems to be taken too seriously for that. Besides, there is porno all over the web. It is the largest business on the web now. If people want sex, the opportunities for nudity and sex, etc. are plentiful there. No – this seems to genuinely be about art.
How interesting. I guess I approve of it and accept it as art. ….as
long as MY daughter is not part of it that is!!!!
