1,200 Brazilians bare it all in the name of art

May 2, 2002 10:55 AM

1,200 Brazilians bare it all in the name of art This is part of a series of public photo sessions photographer Spencer Tunick has been doing around the world on the same theme - masses of naked bodies on open, public spaces representing, in the author's view, "a celebration of life", though some say it is more fitting of the concentration camp shoots of WWII. What's more amazing is the sheer amount of volunteers willing to be photographed, and the fact that almost all of these are men. There must be some interesting sociological observations in here...
posted by betobeto (15 comments total)

Well, it's Brazil. They're about 2 incles away from total nudity a lot of the time down there anyway.
Still pretty cool, though. I'd volunteer for a similar one here I guess.
posted by jonmc at 11:12 AM on May 2, 2002

jonmc, I hope I don't have to see it. Mass nudity is degrading. Nudists, whom, I believe, have some kind of neurological disorder which makes it psychologically uncomfortable for them to wear clothes, try to convince us that clothes are unnatural, when, in fact, clothing is the most natural thing in the world. There is no culture on earth that does not wear a body covering of some king, and all stigmatize nudity Even those for whom "clothing" consists of nothing more than face paint, a string around the waist, or a penis sheath (for them to be without these things is to be "naked). So get your clothes on guys, you're disgusting.
posted by Faze at 11:33 AM on May 2, 2002

Actually, more on point I think the reason that the volunteers are mostly men is that while being publicly naked makes both genders feel like their being sized up like hunks of meat, men actually enjoy it. I think this has to do with males in general being more insecure about their attractiveness, perhaps.
posted by jonmc at 11:34 AM on May 2, 2002

On preview..not necessarily Faze if the exposed thread at fray is any indication, plenty of people of both genders find occasion social nudity fun and liberating.
posted by jonmc at 11:38 AM on May 2, 2002

For context only: Brazilians - specially "cariocas" - are not sexually inhibited, to say the least. As the Chico Buarque song says "There's no such thing as sin on the Southern half of the Equator". Being naked would be, to stretch a point, the equivalent of a Wall Street broker taking his tie off of a Tuesday mid-afternoon.

That said, unlike in sexy Portugal, there's no topless, much less bottomless bathing in Rio de Janeiro. So it's not nothing.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:54 AM on May 2, 2002

This is the guy who got 1,200 hippies naked at Phish's Great Went festival, as documented in Bittersweet Motel. There's an interview with him here.
posted by muckster at 12:04 PM on May 2, 2002

and the fact that almost all of these are men

Is that true? Most of his photos seem to have plenty of women.
posted by HTuttle at 12:06 PM on May 2, 2002

Gosh Faze I hope you're joking.

I've been to events where most or all people are nude, although I would not call myself a nudist. People have reported that they did not feel degraded but in fact felt better about themselves. Of course everyone is different.

I've only been to nude events a few times and I can say that I have overcome a great many of my body image problems. I was horribly uncomfortable, even clothed. Now I feel down right attractive and have quit beating myself up about all my perceived body imperfections. Every body has funny bits and dimpled thingies. I don't want to see eveyone naked or see them all the time, but in the right environment its appropriate.

Check out < a href="http://www.spencertunick.com/">Spencer Tunick's website to see a photo in NYC and to sign up if you want to be photographed in the future.

posted by Red58 at 12:27 PM on May 2, 2002

This is the guy who got 1,200 hippies naked [...]

From Geocities (where the link above is from):

"The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer. Access to this site will be restored within an hour. Please try again later"

Damn free web hosts. Talk about attack of the MeFi monster!
posted by betobeto at 2:01 PM on May 2, 2002

Faze, you appear to have some SERIOUS issues....
posted by rushmc at 3:34 PM on May 2, 2002

I first found out about Tunick because he's a regular on Nerve. You can see some of his work there now.
posted by vacapinta at 3:36 PM on May 2, 2002

umm, how does one avoid being turned on ???
posted by adnanbwp at 4:55 PM on May 2, 2002

adnanbwp - as an ex of mine said while she was licking whipped cream off her hot cocoa, "Just think of nuns and dead puppies."
posted by jonmc at 5:00 PM on May 2, 2002

umm, how does one avoid being turned on ???

Its not really as much of an issue as you might think. I was just taken to a hot springs last weekend by a few women in which we spent the entire day nude.

It really felt more like a social situation and its amazing how quickly nudity comes to feel like the norm. I remember seeing a woman take her bra off and, instinctively, turning my head away, even though there were several completely nude women around me. Its odd but somehow, seeing people partially clothed felt more initimate than complete nudity.
posted by vacapinta at 5:15 PM on May 2, 2002

unique idea for the artist. this is the kind of work that will go in art history books in the future. man, those people in the early 21st century were a bunch of...
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 6:36 PM on May 2, 2002