Naked World: America Undercover

Naked World is a documentary about a documentarian, Spencer Tunick, who sets up crowds of naked men and women, and photographs them (most often) lying on the cold, wet, rocky ground in well-know locations.

His images are almost anti-erotic, and sometimes clumsy looking. They appear mostly to be noteworthy moments during an event, which is focused on public nudity.

I love nudity, however, the real highlights of this movie were the interviews of those who were photographed.

In particular, I was moved by the HIV+ lady who consoled a sobbing gal who had found being photographed to be a healing experience. I also greatly appreciated the Africa poet, as well as others who addressed racism.

Demian, Sweet Corn Productions

I guess Tunick's work as a photographer will always be controversial. Is it pornography or is it art? May be neither. He does insist though that he does not want to replicate the work of others. He has gone out of his way to create something new...nudes en masse in public places. To use naked human beings thus is certainly original. He crowds thousands of them into his foreground...lying on their backs on cold damp pavements or kneeling with rear ends up. He is evidently trying to invent a new texture. It could be done with a thousand sheep (though difficult to control) but using humans in a public place is daring and adds a touch of eroticism.

Is it a coincidence that in nearly every shot we see in the background an erect structure...a mast, a tower, a steeple or spire?

Some of his experimental photos are better than others. One needs a lot of imagination to accept the prone figures lying haphazardly on the wharf below the "Cutty Sark" as a part of the ocean.. I ask you does it really look like a seascape of rippled water or rocky shore?

The most interesting part of the film is his interviews with people of different cultures and different attitudes inviting them to divest themselves of their clothes for the sake of "art". In his world tour he found the people of Montreal cooperative but not so in France or Japan. Amazingly 4000 turned up in Melbourne (Australia) to bare their bodies in rather bleak weather. Is it something to do with mass hysteria? As for Antarctica the few nudes in that icy region did not look at all relaxed and the penguins were rather perplexed too. It was contrived and senseless. A bare backside perched on an icy ledge has no meaning and verges on the ridiculous.

One soon gets used to the nudity which pervades this film. A number of people are asked why they agreed to be naked in front of the lens. The response in most cases was the same....it gave them a feeling of new found freedom.

Note that in one scene there is a risk of danger in baring one's bottom in a public square. A man hurriedly dons his pants when an unexpected dog appears barking madly!

There is one detail which puzzles me. It's this....how do 4000 people find their clothes again after discarding them in some back alley?

What will Spencer Tunick think of next and how long will this novelty last?

The subject of this wonderful documentary, Spencer Tunick, was a surprise when it was shown on cable recently. The controversial artist is seen in an uncanny account of the way he works by the director of the film, Arleene Donnelly Nelson.

We watch as the photographer travels to different countries in order to capture in film humans that pose against impressive backgrounds naked. Mr. Tunick speaks candidly about his ideas and how he goes about it. In interviews we see some of his subjects discussing before hand their ideas and reservations.

It's surprising that Mr. Tunick is able to get the hundreds of people to pose for him "en masse" without so much of a problem. His shoot in front of the Cutty Sark, a London landmark, is one of the best pictures we see in the film. At the same time, it surprises how the Parisian guards of the Louvre come after him when he tried to photograph a naked man in the museum's courtyard with the I.M. Pei pyramid in the background. We are shocked, in a way, because if anyone, in our minds, should be more understanding, would be the French!

The pictures are not pornographic at all! We see ordinary people posing nude, but there is no desire whatsoever to project anything sexual to the would be viewer, in any way. The people posing for Mr. Tunick do so out of their own free will, as no one is pressured to do otherwise.

After watching the film, we get an understanding of the artist and his vision.

The New York based artist Spencer Tunick takes pictures of nudes in public places – contrasting the naked bodies with the harsh architecture of the cities etc. Fed up of being arrested in New York for public indecency he decides to set out to go across the globe taking nude shots as well as doing group shots of nudes. With each country he gets different problems and benefits – the French are the most reserved, the Japanese afraid of losing jobs for being naked and the Australians barely need to be asked twice.

I generally seem to have a problem with modern art because some of it deliberately tries to be controversial and actually have very little merit other than shock value. The argument that this type of art is good because 'it gets people talking and brings people to all art' is nonsense and never washes with me. However, I generally try to reserve judgement on things until I actually see it – hence me watching this film. I have already seen some of Tunick's work and was quite unimpressed by it, I didn't get the point and just saw it doing stuff that gets headlines. Watching this film I got an impression of the logistics of organising the shoots as well as the motivation of the people who had agreed to get naked. Other that this the film manages to deliver very little other than the interest/curiosity factor of watching lots of people pose nude in public places.

What I wanted was insight: basically Tunick is given lots of chances to really talk about his work and his aims but he doesn't take any of them, only giving vague comments about his intentions – in fact he contradicts himself when he agrees with a South African's concept of his work (in order to get him to pose). As well as missing this chance to help us philistines understand his work, Tunick also comes over as selfish, rude, pushy and full of his own sense of self-importance. He insults people on the street and calls them 'rude' for walking past him as he hands out fliers (we all walk past these people everyday), he gets angry for the police for arresting him (accusing them of basically being idiots). When he is asked what makes his picture special, he replies 'because I took it'. The film only allows about three critically voices in the whole film – and all three of them are Australians who are given seconds to say a quick soundbite or two each. Contrast this with the huge amount of adoring voices surrounding him – only the head of the Russian Museum dares to question him, but even then she concedes to him. All those around him seem to hang on his every word and treat him as if he is doing the most important thing in the world. Even more insulting is how people who 'don't get it' are viewed – they are seen as idiots, the Japanese are openly attacked as being corporate drones.

Those looking for critical insight will also be disappointed because nobody dares ask anything challenging of Tunick. Where does his money come from is what I was interested to know – he flies all over the world but then ends the film complaining about not selling enough pictures. He loves the media and he acts up for the camera, seemingly overjoyed at the chance to talk one to one to the camera. This greatly weakens the film's value – if you love his work and see him as an important artist doing important things then it is likely you will enjoy this. However if you dislike him or are unsure of your stance, then this will do nothing for you – Tunick shows himself to be lacking ideas and comes across as arrogant and self-important, completely wasting the chance to just honestly and without pretension say what his work is about.

Overall this is an interesting film in terms of logistics and the chance to see unusual sight of lots of people getting naked in unusual places. However I came to it willing to be won over to Tunick's vision but only found a rather empty film that lost ant potential I thought it had. Novelty interest - yes; but artistic value or creative insight? No. (And, as an aside, what was with all the use of subtitles? The film uses subtitles for people speaking English! Understandable with one or two very thick accents but it also subtitles people in Australia and London! Did HBO an American audience would struggle with anyone not speaking with a raised inflection?!)

I've seen many documentaries and I'd rate this among the best I've seen. Perhaps it does not cover new ground as far as a documentary style, but the pace, photography, and music are excellent. Some people dismiss this piece because of the artist and his work. My vote is for the documentary and is not intended to be a vote regarding his art.