tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73657256175956908252024-03-14T04:28:53.502-07:00Stage NudityCelebrating artistic stage nudity in theatre, ballet and performing arts.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-70467166742375982822011-01-28T09:50:00.000-08:002011-01-28T09:50:10.938-08:00Greek Steaming, Russian SpaI can't comment on these productions myself, but a Greek production of the well-known play 'Steaming' and a Russian theatre piece about a middle aged man spending a sybaritic night at a spa confirm that the nude is in rude health in many different countries.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimAMeYl1zFf9RsUkBtT2ICvx4lRMnhw4qN7en0p2GHi7aT7iS3anDW-Wb5a9nuQ_7BuqDGtfTCKIdntGl5eOn5wR-fQQIFQOsGI-E4bACvy-E9pD6JzQFm71qD3PrAtu9wpAPX9fqvhY/s1600/steaming+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimAMeYl1zFf9RsUkBtT2ICvx4lRMnhw4qN7en0p2GHi7aT7iS3anDW-Wb5a9nuQ_7BuqDGtfTCKIdntGl5eOn5wR-fQQIFQOsGI-E4bACvy-E9pD6JzQFm71qD3PrAtu9wpAPX9fqvhY/s1600/steaming+2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xCpDOjh0SwpJVtGHBlZpRTV6GwMTztC5JIi1lITLt1J40gIqPFBLsAtEMeVinZtMr_UGcRkEBoHM-TM1HLJoVklIT5wuF0XixmgU2Hs_nh4cWCli1SL_G6RYxs5G5_5kUicgo9_0PdA/s1600/russian+play.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xCpDOjh0SwpJVtGHBlZpRTV6GwMTztC5JIi1lITLt1J40gIqPFBLsAtEMeVinZtMr_UGcRkEBoHM-TM1HLJoVklIT5wuF0XixmgU2Hs_nh4cWCli1SL_G6RYxs5G5_5kUicgo9_0PdA/s1600/russian+play.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-39860139559692769632011-01-22T07:47:00.000-08:002011-01-22T08:08:59.255-08:00Completely Naked - Flashing Bodies Project<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A trio consisting of artists Pau Ros and Pablo Goikoetxea plus project coordinator </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Pablo Goikoetxea</span><span style="font-size: medium;">, Completely Naked combine slick digital media and good old-fashioned let's-go-crazy happenings in an ongoing project which they've dubbed Flashing Bodies. There have been five 'actions' as they call them so far, each taking a different theme such as Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights or scenes from favourite cult movies. The work exists on three levels – first the happenings themselves (which look as if they are extraordinary, riotous, joyous occasions,) then short videos, and finally photographs, published in books and online galleries.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You'll find the <a href="http://vimeo.com/13642360">videos</a> on Vimeo, and they're well worth exploring, each being a beautifully crafted and smartly edited little gem of film-making. Uncharacteristically for art videos, there's nothing portentous about them; instead, they share a common thread of high spirits and – dare I say it – fun. The unique brilliance of this team is to give the impression that nudity is a form of dressing up, a game of charades played without clothes but with the help of the occasional wig or bird-mask.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIMDEPXBv4aByHuopbtv2yD48hmwr2qTTZ4YacmpIHyd_f3nITLAcJFKLaegCIFBL6vxmfIPIaeyTtvKKgrksK4hBwsTOcV6lbN0mVzXxd6gm70_dXrb7r8cnwDFt7HK6gfShaH49B5A/s1600/flashing+bodies+action+four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIMDEPXBv4aByHuopbtv2yD48hmwr2qTTZ4YacmpIHyd_f3nITLAcJFKLaegCIFBL6vxmfIPIaeyTtvKKgrksK4hBwsTOcV6lbN0mVzXxd6gm70_dXrb7r8cnwDFt7HK6gfShaH49B5A/s640/flashing+bodies+action+four.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Action Four, The Garden of Earthly Delights</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuqILjJf5lVDyefyYVxBgESW52KNfb7hjShs-bLyYbljAIGN3bFXyjriRza3gusRyrDj_PKaCJ0mCK9DTL9eKVtQDUPrL0SG6YABB7A1XgdqhzJb-h8zq0kqfBrU3sdX7Yt0YKpS09AI/s1600/flashing+bodies+action+2+another.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKuqILjJf5lVDyefyYVxBgESW52KNfb7hjShs-bLyYbljAIGN3bFXyjriRza3gusRyrDj_PKaCJ0mCK9DTL9eKVtQDUPrL0SG6YABB7A1XgdqhzJb-h8zq0kqfBrU3sdX7Yt0YKpS09AI/s1600/flashing+bodies+action+2+another.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Action Two, For Sale</td></tr>
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</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The same spirit informs their still photography, which has all the elegant framing of something created painstakingly in the studio, but which yet resonates with any number of caught moments. The good-natured tenderness of their work means that they can skirt close to the sort of sexual frankness you might associate with pornography while retaining a feeling almost of innocence. There's also an attractive even-handedness, the camera responding with equal warmth to male and female, old and young.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Turning to the two examples shown here, the group shot from Action Four, The Garden of Earthly Delights benefits enormously from the models' response to what was clearly a deeply immersive experience. For the most part, their bodies show a wonderful relaxation. There's a dreamy, foamy slackness to the soft breasts and stomach of the female nude in the foreground and to the sprawling male figure behind with his thick midriff and lax genitals. In the second photograph – from Action Two, titled “For Sale” and offering a subversion of standard images of seduction - the two nudes are grouped intimately together. The detail of the male model's penis resting against the female model's thigh is something other artists might have shied away from, but in this context it seems like a natural gesture of affection and mutual confidence.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you're interested in becoming a fan or a model, Completely Naked can be found on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#%21/pages/Completely-Naked/190073984824?v=info">Facebook</a> and on their own <a href="http://www.completelynaked.co.uk/index.html">website</a>. Also well worth checking out is their beautifully laid out online <a href="http://www.completelynaked.co.uk/bookstore.html">bookshop</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Photographs by kind permission of Pau Ros. </span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-67458244885761680062010-12-23T09:10:00.000-08:002010-12-23T10:37:19.533-08:00ATP Tamara Cubas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo90Y7Zf7F6CuLJop1Og_CI0DCm2OKhCtEuyA35bkbTlHpDFCHDi5pokNv7yYdaGosY7uK3b_l4EtH6wQbzy4st3NNl8HGAamf2C7_9SrtGBMsXly_JIobsEYsn2OD6JB-5XApcQJfqjM/s1600/cubas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo90Y7Zf7F6CuLJop1Og_CI0DCm2OKhCtEuyA35bkbTlHpDFCHDi5pokNv7yYdaGosY7uK3b_l4EtH6wQbzy4st3NNl8HGAamf2C7_9SrtGBMsXly_JIobsEYsn2OD6JB-5XApcQJfqjM/s640/cubas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaime and Turenne explore the possibility of repose, while Marchesano looks on.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIKT85d99YjyoR_QyYLCw68RGOyjJw0BNr8WuDv4hB_NCvJ0oazUHgbrGAhxM-HCtijX69aCxrOsQxJoSQ6o-4MEiUrynLFk2C3NYgOqapl6ADo8nxvSAXR05VuvW5CSlLKZWgxqBUxo/s1600/cubas+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIKT85d99YjyoR_QyYLCw68RGOyjJw0BNr8WuDv4hB_NCvJ0oazUHgbrGAhxM-HCtijX69aCxrOsQxJoSQ6o-4MEiUrynLFk2C3NYgOqapl6ADo8nxvSAXR05VuvW5CSlLKZWgxqBUxo/s640/cubas+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of ATP's fascinating interactions between nude bodies.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipO7MyfZ0drl0grTxueyL23HDJyA17HxeyNb1zKoAVh4nJkZWgGeMTP6R4awsnWVj9Q-JsQW_iklKRkxYfzV14CZu3YTPerkPV6_Ne5vAmukQIzQ9AhawFqqvAkyN3qK4_txZ8-OlJx5A/s1600/cubas+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipO7MyfZ0drl0grTxueyL23HDJyA17HxeyNb1zKoAVh4nJkZWgGeMTP6R4awsnWVj9Q-JsQW_iklKRkxYfzV14CZu3YTPerkPV6_Ne5vAmukQIzQ9AhawFqqvAkyN3qK4_txZ8-OlJx5A/s640/cubas+5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A failed experiment for Turenne, here the clothed outsider.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwHP5cOqg4oOZUysriy4ID4Ho0Zq1RbPF6xloOhxvogpnSYNpspCMRG8EHW_hD8aDRqIpkmV9PfOJzDRSUjNV8rBwiXq3MPVQQ5ylQMCIJhz-4j_IaN-JxZ_JSPTgAEdNrJjGbEAvrTc/s1600/cubas+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwHP5cOqg4oOZUysriy4ID4Ho0Zq1RbPF6xloOhxvogpnSYNpspCMRG8EHW_hD8aDRqIpkmV9PfOJzDRSUjNV8rBwiXq3MPVQQ5ylQMCIJhz-4j_IaN-JxZ_JSPTgAEdNrJjGbEAvrTc/s640/cubas+6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">More forceful interactions. Photos by kind permission of Tamara Cubas.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ATP is an hour long performance piece for two men and one woman created in 2008 by the very talented Uruguayan choreographer <a href="http://www.perrorabioso.com/node/12">Tamara Cubas</a>. An excellent video is available in three parts on <a href="http://vimeo.com/4304530">Vimeo</a>. The elements could hardly be more simple. A set of white walls, as in in a prison cell or clinic, three microphones, and three performers (Mariana Marchesano, Miguel Jaime and Santiago Turenne.) </span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Trapped in this all-enclosing space, the three performers subject each other to what seems like a wordless and enigmatic interrogation. The tension is heightened by a live soundtrack of feedback and industrial bleeps and whirs by Francisco Lapentina. </span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At regular intervals the performance is punctuated by the performers moving to the sides of the stage and, referring for instructions to pieces of A4 glued to the walls, methodically dressing and undressing. These constantly changing combinations of full and semi nudity work on several levels. They reflect power shifts in the trio as the clothed forge alliances against the unclothed. They also deny us the comfort of seeing the three performers as nudes in the classical sense, aspects of humanity's eternal nature. Instead they seem very real and very contemporary.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The intrusion of a claustrophobic kind of modernity is embodied in the microphones, which morph in the performers' hands from live cables pumping out enough power to make them scurry around like crabs to strange probes for sounding each other out. One of the most memorable moments in ATP is when Jaime and Marchesano unscrew the caps off two of the microphones and apply the sensitive ends to Turenne's naked body. Scraping them along the hair of his calves, applying them to his throat and nostrils, the effect is of a pair obtuse and sinister physicians doing everything other than ask the patient a straight question. </span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The matinee idol good looks of the three principles perversely underscores the clinical nature of the proceedings. Clothed, Mariana Marchesano exudes a stunning neutrality in the eyes and face, but what surprises is that she can be just as monumentally taciturn in the nude, somehow muting the effect of her ravishing curves and making them seem hardly inhabited by a human being at all.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Called upon only to be topless in one crucial nude scene, Marchesano could perhaps have been given more to do in exploring the potential of her body. For Cubas, the focus of fascination is the sheer physicality of the male nude. When Turenne crouches on top of Marchesano, the hang of his testicles seems to goad her and to assert a primitive need for dominance.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The interactions between the nudes are strong and deliberate. In the microphone probe already mentioned, Jaime crinkles Turenne's pubic hair between his fingers in order to record the sound, while in another moment of extremely physical interaction Marchesoni has to support the weight of Turenne upon her bare breasts.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Throughout the course of the piece, these obscure explorations never once lose their tension. This is a work of stark seriousness, like Harold Pinter's 'Mountain Language', or Ariel Dorfman's 'Death and the Maiden', only without the need for a single word – apart from those obscure instructions stuck to the walls. It works just as well as a metaphor for political brutality as it does for personal lack of affect. Deeply committed performances from Jaime, Turenne and Marchesano also make it gravely beautiful to behold.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since ATP Tamara Cubas has continued to create a series of highly distinctive and serious pieces - the most recent being <a href="http://vimeo.com/17261965">Actos de Amor Perdidos</a> – which all deserve the widest attention. Lovers of the artistic nude will hope that she returns to that theme again in future work.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Photographs by kind permission of Tamara Cubas.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-13216937061872306112010-12-20T10:38:00.000-08:002010-12-20T10:42:42.825-08:00'Libido,' Dance Works Rotterdam<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLBYDLx-LxNjaa51eYwWIEBNKxVeH3KDAIIOtMoa5-1ZUBEuCFEp284v_Js8VFO9E1GCMu4PPDJe3_i7OmZx8PgR_uJRJsesY5Mem_Mk0EAVepxtq9CLXJ203Np2oibFVfIMOq8KKmM0/s1600/libido+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLBYDLx-LxNjaa51eYwWIEBNKxVeH3KDAIIOtMoa5-1ZUBEuCFEp284v_Js8VFO9E1GCMu4PPDJe3_i7OmZx8PgR_uJRJsesY5Mem_Mk0EAVepxtq9CLXJ203Np2oibFVfIMOq8KKmM0/s640/libido+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Morelle looks like a red devil, while Camarda's pale, ravaged figure, </span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">with her prominent hip bone and knotted arms, </span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">recalls the mannerist paintings of El Greco.</span></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfkEwttctivXDg1xHKdmMzgGXsIjlthUd_WasnYJthZohnKcvWxynlDeJywj7vn4yXIA1aUKREmFJn7ekM_45DpmgevvMFhgNC1Oav4mr3GDXRfTeBdPiCaRjY4r_GBd0vvNnBgi88HY/s1600/libido+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfkEwttctivXDg1xHKdmMzgGXsIjlthUd_WasnYJthZohnKcvWxynlDeJywj7vn4yXIA1aUKREmFJn7ekM_45DpmgevvMFhgNC1Oav4mr3GDXRfTeBdPiCaRjY4r_GBd0vvNnBgi88HY/s640/libido+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Morelle is a picture of force without traction, a man spinning his wheels, </span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">his fresh battered and scorched by his experiences. </span></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0-yuwFD3q43GoXMp4-r5UBiOCQ2MzOkyeHWMH2tojMHGaGt42eaMO-sXed3JMPYnDtKIqSb232vSC_ub4I_vJWDeitM09iCXDx1WkJuXQzmefZzyw0Pnep82DlHNbjBLMDc4zzyYC0w/s1600/libido+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0-yuwFD3q43GoXMp4-r5UBiOCQ2MzOkyeHWMH2tojMHGaGt42eaMO-sXed3JMPYnDtKIqSb232vSC_ub4I_vJWDeitM09iCXDx1WkJuXQzmefZzyw0Pnep82DlHNbjBLMDc4zzyYC0w/s640/libido+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The two spent lovers/combatants roll off a blood-smeared mattress … </span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">or is it a sparring mat?</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Credits: </span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Performers: Vincent Morelle, Sylvia Camarda. </span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Photos: Anna van Kooij</span></div></td></tr>
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</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">'How do we make contact?' is the question posed by 'Libido,' a 60 minute opus created in 2010 by David St. Pierre and Andre Gingras for <a href="http://www.danceworksrotterdam.nl/eng/repertory/libido.php">Dance Works Rotterdam</a>. For those unlucky enough not to make contact with the live show, Josanne Buiting's 2 minute <a href="http://vimeo.com/14974236">teaser</a> on Vimeo gives a taste of a chamber piece that somehow manages to be as full-blooded and opulent as a Puccini opera.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The setting of this psycho-drama is a grim space somewhere between a warehouse and a slaughterhouse, the protagonists nude dancers Vincent Morelle and Sylvia Camarda, both looking vulnerable in this unforgiving milieu. These two characters proceed to push frustratedly at the limits of sex without reaching even the frontiers of mutual understanding.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Looking as if his very flesh has been forged in blood and fire, Morelle gives an unrestrained and technically dumbfounding performance, at one point scrabbling manically on his back like a wounded insect. He creates the sense of a man who, for all his force and energy, is unable to connect, to grasp what is in front of him - fated not only to see it slip out of his hands, but from under his feet as he slithers and slides through his performance. Even the act of crouching on all fours on a trestle table is, for him, somehow precarious and full of potential pitfalls.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Harried by Morelle, Camarda yet carves out moments of stillness. In the video clip we see her sitting, pale and lovely, on the table, as serene as a young naked Buddha. Unlike Morelle, she never seems to lose her footing. Even when the two men spin her like a bar of soap, you feel as if their efforts to dislodge her poise are ultimately futile.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet there is an irony. For all their sense of mutual alienation, Morelle and Carmada are caught together in the same spreading bubble of oil, sweat and blood. Literally mirroring their contortions, the shimmering, liquid floors remind us of their common humanity. Similarly, references to various bodily orifices and excretions serve to suggest that the flesh itself can never be totally sealed off and enclosed, whatever the state of our hearts may be.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While the material itself may be troubling and problematic, 'Libido' is thoroughly exhilarating as a demonstration of the expressive powers of the performing nude. There is an almost iconic power in the moment when, bloodied knives in hand, Camarda straddles the fallen Morelle and allows her body to morph luxuriously through a series of preying-mantis poses. That she can play this scene masked is an act of bravura, an assertion that the unadorned flesh has come of age as a storyteller.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dance Works Rotterdam are currently preparing 'Anatomica', an investigation of the body by Andre Gringas, for an April, 2011 premier. You can follow their progress on <a href="http://twitter.com/danceworksrdam">Twitter</a>.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-15829441469490769602010-12-17T10:12:00.000-08:002011-01-30T03:49:56.392-08:00CARDIFF LIFE MODEL COLLECTIVE - MODELS AS ARTISTS<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cardiff-Life-Model-Collective/112891455403933#%21/pages/Cardiff-Life-Model-Collective/112891455403933?v=">Cardiff Life Model Collective</a> are an energetic, innovative group who blur the distinction between modelling and performance art. As well as their weekly drop-in sessions, they organize lively special events involving music, dance and readings, while also developing their own happenings and hiring themselves out as living art for events. </span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">To judge by the sumptuous images I have seen, this commitment to figure modelling as performance imbues the work of the Collective with a wonderful theatricality, not to mention a meticulous attention to detail. The three poses I want to discuss here are fully thought-out compositions in their own right.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first dual pose offers a study in contradictions. The clean diagonal of the woman's body contrasts with the man's muscular contortion. We wonder whether these two characters are fighting each other or working in concert. Impossible to tell. I love the way the angle of the woman's hair echoes the slant of her pointed toes. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=stage0a-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0307387801&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">The next pose shows the same two models in another mini-drama. This time the relaxed male figure is countered by the subtle tension in his companion, whose torso arches elegantly out of his shadow. Note the dynamic line running from groin to breasts, highlighted by the slight erectness of the nipples.</span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">The solo pose in the last photo is a delight. The model uses her bent knees, straight back and thrown-back arms to create a strong, supple composition, rewarding from every angle. The tension in the chest and bottom suggests a hunger for the viewer's gaze. And note the way her fingers are interlocked behind her back – every detail, you feel, has been considered.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">When a group of talented models apply themselves in this way, they're not muses, they're artists. To lovers of the artistic nude, the Cardiff Life Model Collective offer a great deal in terms of entertainment and food for thought. If you live anywhere near Cardiff, you couldn't do better than go along to one of their drop-in sessions on a Monday or Tuesday. The entrance fee is only £5 as of Winter 2010.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you cherish an ambition to be a nude art model but there are no life drawing classes in your area, or if you're a disillusioned muse looking for a change of direction, the Collective are all the inspiration you need to get up and organize a groundbreaking art event of your own.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">Learn more about the Cardiff Life Model Collective at their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cardiff-Life-Model-Collective/112891455403933#%21/pages/Cardiff-Life-Model-Collective/112891455403933?v=">Facebook</a> page and from their <a href="http://a-muse.me/biography.htm">website</a>, both of which have galleries which are feasts for the eyes.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">Drop-in Sessions <br />
</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every Monday, 5.30pm, Milgi Lounge Yurt, 213 City Road, Cardiff. <br />
Every Tuesday, 5.30pm, Cardiff Arts Institute, 29 Park Place, Cardiff. <br />
Every Tuesday, 7pm, Cardiff Arts Institute </span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccqAElmKY77YFO6qmxhEflZt0sHha6RrnGRysMe77-cF_W_HkiiA2Jbqvucf76s3QHI4Dhqdb8KIPMHORQyenOPtvoa683pY25Td_AVC7z0r1Zatz3b2Zerqu5RV2zznECOQSJymmtJ0/s1600/life+drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccqAElmKY77YFO6qmxhEflZt0sHha6RrnGRysMe77-cF_W_HkiiA2Jbqvucf76s3QHI4Dhqdb8KIPMHORQyenOPtvoa683pY25Td_AVC7z0r1Zatz3b2Zerqu5RV2zznECOQSJymmtJ0/s640/life+drawing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDHMNBx0DzlHTPHzAYzDqsyrCGx9J4qvNhnhr9szCOzTDFiAYFb4jmtpMXUG4Oxihmma2QqjgpeZQj4-C6RnxcU_cHiR-3WsFFRURc4qbxHYQprY0gAhMLiJzUSCUWOqb9EtF_tXwgU0/s1600/life+drawing+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDHMNBx0DzlHTPHzAYzDqsyrCGx9J4qvNhnhr9szCOzTDFiAYFb4jmtpMXUG4Oxihmma2QqjgpeZQj4-C6RnxcU_cHiR-3WsFFRURc4qbxHYQprY0gAhMLiJzUSCUWOqb9EtF_tXwgU0/s640/life+drawing+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrfB6EnOIkMnLgJxMTtq1xCVMnQNztlXrViQg5LEwRHyGJKTpmqpejCNCYOnftxF7qFRQ6IbudK4M55egDtRmSGYx-L8sEv-n7NWSHKC-qaYfayyQ7WCB1UFxJGO4CqaSB3GXRaBKpD8/s1600/life+drawing+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrfB6EnOIkMnLgJxMTtq1xCVMnQNztlXrViQg5LEwRHyGJKTpmqpejCNCYOnftxF7qFRQ6IbudK4M55egDtRmSGYx-L8sEv-n7NWSHKC-qaYfayyQ7WCB1UFxJGO4CqaSB3GXRaBKpD8/s640/life+drawing+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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</span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;">Photographs by kind permission of the Cardiff Life Model Collective.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-63533959020888162172010-12-15T09:18:00.000-08:002011-02-01T09:11:14.948-08:00Laughing with the Nude<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJJWN5ncWMkCnhNfJT7zo65tlBM4A-S3ZK7wmbe-WJf08GP3cqrl5a2kICJkt4W0DBbsIt-00RJzx48SNlyWa3DO1RJtkZWjqLcAQYAvo6bs6TH4A4qODahGz0MBRyK3YARqr71g_Ink/s400/_MG_0892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJJWN5ncWMkCnhNfJT7zo65tlBM4A-S3ZK7wmbe-WJf08GP3cqrl5a2kICJkt4W0DBbsIt-00RJzx48SNlyWa3DO1RJtkZWjqLcAQYAvo6bs6TH4A4qODahGz0MBRyK3YARqr71g_Ink/s1600/_MG_0892.JPG" /></a></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This photo is just one of a rich selection featured on a Spanish language <a href="http://photomanifiesto.blogspot.com/2009/12/al-natural.html">blog</a> called Photomanifiesto, published by Nicola Rocco. They record a theatre production of José Vicente Díaz Rojas' “Al Natural,” directed by José “Pepe” Domínguez. The play is about two contrasting brothers battling over an island paradise inheritance. Idealistic Renato is delighted that the inheritance happens to be a nudist retreat, but money-grubbing Ali wants to waste no time in turning it into a tourist resort. Reluctantly shedding his clothes, Ali visits the retreat in order to convince Renato of the error of his ways.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Looking at these charming photos, it's hard to escape the feeling that nudity is sorely underused in stage comedy. Decades of saucy end-of-the-pier entertainments are to blame, where bras pop off, trousers fall down and the audience are sexually titillated by a glimpse of flesh. In that situation, if you are laughing at all, you're laughing at the nude (or, in the essential prudishness of such entertainments, the topless or scantily clad.)</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In this staging of “Al Natural,” you're laughing with the nude. Partly that's because the nudists, with their shared hippie-like ethos, outnumber the textile intruders. But it's also because the unadorned human body brings a new dimension to the characters. It makes them both less and more than the people we meet on the street. The vulnerability on display comically undercuts their pretensions and aspirations, but at the same time their revealed bodies speak to us on a sensual level, awakening our sympathy and tenderness. They become like characters in a Mozart opera, wrapped in lovely music. </span> </div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For the actors, it must be both exhilarating and frightening to allow their bodies to sing to the audience in this way. The actress in the photo shown here strikes me as someone who has already mastered this new art. She combines delightful poise with a birdlike tension in the way she holds herself, a hint of defensiveness in the long curls tumbling over her breasts.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If anyone is arranging or taking part in a stage comedy featuring non-sexual nudity, why not write in and tell us about it?</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nude-French-Theatre-Lucien-Nass/dp/B0007FS0VO?ie=UTF8&tag=stage0a-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Nude in the French Theatre</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=stage0a-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0007FS0VO" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=stage0a-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0042FZQRQ&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-42936118709637350672010-12-13T09:31:00.000-08:002011-04-24T08:45:18.179-07:00Mini-Tableau #5 by Sarah Small<a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5206053043_805b7ca3ba_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5206053043_805b7ca3ba_z.jpg" /></a>To judge by the high-quality 19 minute <a href="http://vimeo.com/16870404">video</a> released on Vimeo, the talented young photographer and arranger Sarah Small created what is almost a symphony of artistic nudity in her Mini-Tableau # 5, performed on 25th September, 2010 at the powerHouse Arena during the Dumbo Arts Festival.<br />
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The stage in this case is a run of monumental stone steps and columns. The performance starts with a lone model, smiling, arms parted, nude except for a pair of high heels which seem to lift her in relief from her surroundings, making her presence there even more striking and singular. To the strains of 'Caro Nome', this charming figure is joined by 35 other models, some clothed, some nude.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx6XapFNfVswV5PJV4NElL3pmjpNsYAeSk8rr4P59y-Ycd-iPhERaZJKeED0sy2b0D-_Xas3PvYeg4RgEkYjNYFfGMdSyW5w9Vpnp3NiU61r4PlovjhIgALRh7j33bEbUr2xsw-umDFs/s1600/tableau+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgx6XapFNfVswV5PJV4NElL3pmjpNsYAeSk8rr4P59y-Ycd-iPhERaZJKeED0sy2b0D-_Xas3PvYeg4RgEkYjNYFfGMdSyW5w9Vpnp3NiU61r4PlovjhIgALRh7j33bEbUr2xsw-umDFs/s640/tableau+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Arranged singly and in pairs across the steps in a rich visual tapestry, these figures hint at hidden emotions and obscure dramas in their faces. You have the sense that, like a collector assembling a cabinet of beautiful trinkets, Sarah Small has hand-picked every model, delighting in the contrasts of skin-colour and muscle tone. The music switches to a Bulgarian folk quartet, sung by the Black Sea Hotel, and eerily the models add their half-heard murmurs to the melody.<br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=stage0a-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0976457393&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br />
Unexpectedly, the artist herself goes light-footedly up the steps, as though to assure herself of her models' submission to her artistic purpose. She begins to conduct them like a living orchestra, drawing intense lashings from the beautiful African American woman wrapped around one of the columns. There's something very touching in the connection these 36 strangers have with this slight young woman; it's as if they have been enchanted by a benevolent witch.<br />
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The piece climaxes in a performance of an aria by French operatic composer Jules Massenet. This is opera as you won't have seen it before. Singing a capella as the other models slowly drift away out of sight, mezzo-soprano Abigail Wright is naked in every meaning of the word, and all the more profoundly moving for it. Watching a nude body generating such glorious sounds gives you a new respect for the sheer physicality of singing, the way the diaphragm tightens as it brings each new phrase into the world.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0u_0QHHtj_uTkXxaM-zCGvI6jFbrsalIQyGH58aPDDOoPu19se5h7Qbx3kFQscFu8kcbEaq7OqzWHI6Nbx_tnVkaO0ZMQb9QlcYBwnoD_K-PoQRXVPkNiyWXwAfOyoUub9FEa-RdMj3g/s1600/tableau+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0u_0QHHtj_uTkXxaM-zCGvI6jFbrsalIQyGH58aPDDOoPu19se5h7Qbx3kFQscFu8kcbEaq7OqzWHI6Nbx_tnVkaO0ZMQb9QlcYBwnoD_K-PoQRXVPkNiyWXwAfOyoUub9FEa-RdMj3g/s640/tableau+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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The wonderful Ms Wright has also written an excellent, candid <a href="http://skydivingforpearls.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/the-inestimable-value-of-vulnerability-a-tableau-vivant-day-128/">blog</a> on the experience of performing in this piece. I would recommend it not only to those curious to learn more about that individual performance but also to anyone with an interest in the spiritual properties of nudity.<br />
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If reading that blog and watching the video inspires you to take part in one of Sarah Small's future ventures, then why not go to her website and fill in an <a href="http://www.livingpictureprojects.com/applicationModels.php">application form</a>? Click the appropriate button to indicate that you are willing to pose nude, submit a suitable full-body photo – and press the send button before you have a chance to change your mind. If Ms Wright's experience is anything to go by, you won't regret it.<br />
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A word on the poses:</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sarah Small has a gift for taking her models to the edge of an inner precipice and then a finger's breadth beyond. For the models her immaculately beautiful poses offer hidden challenges, both psychological and physical. Abigail Wright is positioned frontally to the audience, with her hands behind her head, a posture which denies her any possibility of self-protection while also being strenuous to maintain. Displayed against a chunky pillar in this way, Ms Wright's full figure recalls a slave girl in some Orientalist painting of the Ingres school, except that hers are the manacles of art.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The slender nude whose solo presence begins the show is also thoroughly challenged by the artist. That there is little or no modesty in her pose is guaranteed by placing her – uniquely among the unclothed models - in high heels. At the same time she is asked to show an almost superhuman control by maintaining a broad smile for almost twenty minutes. Described clinically like this, Ms Small's art may sound like a form of mild sadism. But I would suggest that models are drawn so strongly towards Ms Small just because of such uncompromising demands and the paradoxical freedom from inhibition they provide.</span></div><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7365725617595690825.post-45191303779508448192010-12-13T06:54:00.000-08:002011-01-27T14:20:17.747-08:00A Shared Moment<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8DEz2UXTaOW-6JA7-zp3odGq3fFI-7E2gIZN6u8GEyASN0gRhcvLpf6XOcS5On_VO6IKNqW4wVRneQA5iVfwqP09KKDQf8X3SSZJoKKT1glJYE8e0R9YnOuEz79VWcYQLJQZJwgtDLrA/s1600/life+model.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8DEz2UXTaOW-6JA7-zp3odGq3fFI-7E2gIZN6u8GEyASN0gRhcvLpf6XOcS5On_VO6IKNqW4wVRneQA5iVfwqP09KKDQf8X3SSZJoKKT1glJYE8e0R9YnOuEz79VWcYQLJQZJwgtDLrA/s640/life+model.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A talented nude from the Cardiff Life Model Collective striking a sculpural pose.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Stage nudity has the same appeal as the stage itself, only magnified. Whereas film and TV offer us life at a remove, <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=stage0a-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0415026784&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>varnished, highly-colored, edited to the bone, the stage presents us with a living moment. Even more so when the person onstage stands revealed as a vulnerable object of flesh and blood</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What could be more different from the alienated entertainments of the 21st century than a tiny stage that leaves performers and audience just feet apart, where you are invited to look at an exposed human being, living, breathing, right now? What better antidote to the ever-pressing fast-food drive-in that is the modern media circus than a nude, a bare nude, inviting you to share what little he or she has?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0