“Sometimes I feel like I am an explorer,
sometimes I feel like I am a criminal,
sometimes I feel like I am an artist.
My models are urban adventurers.
I assist them in seeing the world in a different way.
I create dreams and I create memories
that they will hold with them forever.”
Spencer Tunick
what is it that makes people pose
in the buff
600 men and women shed
their clothes and inhibitions
to perform for art’s sake
life imitating art
art bigger than life
imagine there was such a response
to american installation stroke
performance artist Tunick’s
“Be Consumed" show at Selfridges
that he had to turn away nude
volunteers who had begun
to queue up since 6 am
i look at the pictures
men and women young and old
of all shapes and sizes
pretty and not-so-pretty
stunning and ordinary
with dimpled bottoms
and unpretentious pubes
with hairy chests
and sculpted breasts
united in their quest
to be a part of the art
shot in various poses
on escalators and in cosmetics
lingerie and accessories
departments protesting
against the layers
of stifling social mores
challenging notions
of nudity and privacy
capturing the anonymity
of public and private spaces
in a single frame
body against booty
curves against commerce
and a livewire tension
metamorphosing them
into a new shape
where bodies become
a part
of the landscape
and sexuality
an abstraction
( 30 April 2003 )
