The Beauty of Nakedness and the Naked Beautiful Essay Example

(Museum Kunst Palast):

Spencer Tunick's fascination with human nudity is consistent with the newly awakened interest in the body, which no longer attempts to explore limits, as does performance art, but rather gives first priority to the multifarious aspects of bare naked beauty. He is the first artist to bring together elements from the domains of sculpture, photography and performance in his work. What is more, his projects represent an attempt at raising or defining social, political and legal questions related to the topic of ‘art in public spaces’. ” Tunick has done more than just raise questions; he has managed to raise eyebrows as well.

Visser issued this comment in reference to Tunick’s installation he did at the Museum Kunst Palast. Tunick did several installations in Dusseldorf, and this paper will focus on Dusseldorf 4. In Dusseldorf 4, Tunick had men, women and a baby pose in front of Peter Paul Rubens’ work "Venus and Adonis" (Figure 1). All live, human beings were naked, as were the figures in the painting. Tunick used Rubens’ masterpiece both as a backdrop and as a centerpiece for his installation, using every human figure he had to sort of simulate and pay tribute to this work of art.

The naked bodies were arranged in such a way that they formed a sort of tableau that interprets Rubens’ painting but in Tunick’s own language and style. As seen in Tunick’s captured image, all of the participants were in intimate (and not necessarily in a sexual or romantic way) contact with at least one other naked person. This could be construed as Tunick’s attempt of evoking an

atmosphere of love and intimacy, which is the central theme of Venus and Adonis’ story.

It is also interesting to note that Tunick had the two persons in the center of the image reenact Adonis and Venus, and even included an infant to represent the child in the painting, Cupid. Dusseldorf 4 was executed in the museum’s Rubens room. It was during ArtCity Dusseldorf's Quadriennale ‘06, and 840 naked people came from different cities and countries around the world to be part of Tunick’s art installation. All of Tunick’s installations in Dusseldorf were commissioned by the Museum Kunst Palast and were later on exhibit.

All of the participants were volunteers who pre-registered weeks before, later on receiving nothing from Tunick and his production crew but a signed 8 ½ x 10” photograph of the installation they participated in. Most of the participants reportedly described the entire “Tunick experience” as “liberating,” “exhilarating” and “unforgettable”. One even likened it to having a “fear factor element” (Miami SunPost), referring to the popular American TV show were participants are dared and challenged to do stunts that push their limits and test their boundaries.

Tunick’s challenge for participants to go nude in public (in pain of being judged for whatever state and shape their body may be) certainly would evoke fear in some; and some actually swallow up that fear and choose to show what they’ve got (both literally and figuratively). Tunick’s bold installations evoke shock and sometimes mortification from some uber-moralists in society, but for this particular project there was no known public dissent or violent reaction. One could look at Dusseldorf 4 and see that

Tunick wanted to take the viewer outside of the painting’s frame, quite literally.

Just as Tunick likes to take his critics and the casual observer (and even his participants) outside their own borders and limits, Tunick invites the viewer to do the same with this installation. As when a simple photographic composition would have a main subject that is made to stand out from the background and other elements in the picture, Tunick uses every single part of every single body to bring the whole picture together. Some may find it somewhat blasphemous to an extent, that Tunick would actually treat the human body as a mere object or element of a scene, much like he would with a stone or piece of furniture.

But more than “degrading” the human body, Tunick actually attempts to make the viewer rethink and redefine his own perception about the human body and what the body can represent and contribute to a bigger whole, surpassing the fear of being judged as an individual. This can also be taken as Tunick’s way of waking up individuals to go beyond their own walls and boundaries, and start living their lives as a part of a bigger whole (society), contributing to the beauty of the bigger picture.