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Nudity Across America
2001-04-03 06:54:53


The Nekkid Truth
 
I always use the Ed Asner test for my personal beliefs. That is, if I accidentally agree with Ed Asner, I go back and check my math.
-- S. Dallas, Esq.

 

A hundred naked bodies, lying flat, fill the first picture. Drag your mouse across it, and you'll see the names of 14 states, each with a link to a new picture. And each picture contains a hidden link documenting the photograph's production.

Shaky handheld footage captures the squeals, the disrobing, and the voice of the photographer cajoling his subjects into poses. In New York, there's police officers, bringing tense talk about lawyers, permits, and the possibility of arrest. As the photographer levels his camera, the police intercept him. He's handcuffed, and led to the back of a police car.

Orchestrating public nudity suddenly seems oddly heroic, appropriating civic structures for a purely artistic endeavor. Many naked people. A few naked people. A naked pregnant woman staring into a homeless man's cart. In New York, photographer Spencer Tunick even filmed dozens of nude models laying down in Times Square. It's all part of an even grander project involving every state, and soon foreign countries.

Inevitably someone created a documentary -- but it's the body of work that tells the story best. Browse through the online exhibit at Nerve.com, and you'll see Americans committing art. Daring to be naked, and daring to be photographed.

hapsburg@pigdog.org