Review by Thomas Mulready
It's one thing to look at the photographs and videos that artist Spencer Tunick creates and displays as the outcome of his city-wide massive-scale nude installations. It's another thing to actually set your alarm and climb out of bed at 3:30AM and actually find yourself in a traffic jam on Ninth Street! And it's quite another to finally pull off your shirt and pants and join the thousands of other people of all sizes and colors and body shapes in an indescribable flock of humanity.
Photographer Herb Ascherman, who volunteered to count people as they arrived, told me the event attracted 2757 participants ready to pose, though the artist told Cool Cleveland that he expected about 1000. (See exclusive Spencer Tunick Cool Cleveland interview here.) Plenty of Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland staff and volunteers were on hand to direct the massive human traffic and reassure tired but anxious participants who came from the Cleveland area, other parts of Ohio and the surrounding states. In a respectful move, Ascherman left his camera in the car, so I loaned him mine, and our photos can be seen below.
If we had a couple of hours to talk, I could relate a few of the thoughts that ran through my head. First, the delicious excitement of disrobing in a public place, then the embarassment of being naked in front of thousands of other people, a traditional Freudian nightmare. Very quickly the mood changes from anticipation to an almost clinical "let's get down to business" attitude. In his pre-event instructions the artist had said, "once the excitement of being naked wears off in a few minutes, you're going to want me to work very quickly..."
After we ran into position along Ninth Street, it felt like waiting for the x-ray at a doctor's office. When Tunick rose up on the lift, we cheered, knowing that the photo was moments away. When he yelled in his megaphone at some clothed jerk who was ruining the shot, we all yelled. When he came down from the lift to run up the street (isn't that why the dozens of volunteers used headsets?), we all started shivering a little more. Finally, Tunick took the first photo, facing up towards the city with the Steamship William G. Mather on our left, with bodies all the way up Ninth Street past the Rock Hall, all the way to the Innerbelt. We'll never see that again.
Then, the bullhorned order came to lie on our sides with our feet heading West. This we did briskly but obediently. At first, the bricks sucked heat from your body, then after a while your body drew heat from the bricks. The landscape of hips pushed upwards like glacial formations, creating a vista of small mountains of flesh as far as you could see. There was less of a breeze and your heart rate slowed, allowing the moment to sink in. What they don't tell you is that each shot takes 20 minutes or more, which is rough when the temp doesn't rise above 60, but it gives participants time to contemplate their own bodies in relation to the earth, to the city, to the others nearby.
Then in an instant, it was all over. Quickly everyone moved back to where they had stashed their clothes. Tunick announced that he was making adjustments in his plans and he had enough people to do a shoot with just women, then another with just men.
When the women posed, the media and the men watched, as might be expected, and it was obvious that more women than men had showed up. But what was remarkable was the silence and respect that all bystanders were careful to exhibit. The juxtaposition of soft curves against the Steamship William G. Mater was brilliant. When the sun rose over the Mather and began illuminating the scene, it was breathtaking. Forming the female bodies in the shape of a "V," Tunick spoke his thoughts out loud, saying he was trying something different suggested by his wife, Akron native Kristin Bowler. This lent another measure of credibility to the potentially gratuitous photo shoot of over 1400 nude women.
By contrast, Tunick wanted to pose the men on the grass of Voinovich Park, right in front of Cleveland Browns stadium. As they stood in position, one guy yelled, "instead of saying 'cheese,' can we just say, 'Modell Sucks!'" to which one of the women nearby said, "they just can't let it go." Accompanied by whoops and hollers from the women, who jostled up close for a unique view (naked men are much rarer to see), the media were fully comfortable with their role by the time of this third photo shoot.
With trepidation in his voice, Tunick announced that the men would be asked to rest their heads on each others' legs, thighs or feet to tighten up the shot. Again the silence and closed eyes of the participants belied their expected embarrassment. Exhibiting a determination to cooperate, the men posed hunched over, on their sides, and on their backs. When one man close to the front started flipping the bird to the camera, a group of women spotted him and called him out loudly. Tunick had warned that anyone goofing off would be removed. Then man relented and put his hands down. The women kept up a constant chatter of commentary on the different body types, the sizes of the men, and how tense they must be to be naked on the lawn. Unlike the hushed silence offered when the women posed (emulating a quasi-religious experience), the women dished freely, joking comfortably. Of course, it could be argued that they've earned that right, and more. The Cleveland women asserted themselves.
Then, of course, it was over. And although people had been freezing their butts off, literally, for over four hours no one seemed in a hurry to leave. Hungry, tired, cold, we walked slowly up Ninth Street, some stopping to pick up the t-shirts they had pre-ordered. Only one person lost their clothes. He thinhks he may have put it too near the edge of the pier. After the event, people met with Tunick at Big Jim's Diner at Ninth & Superior, which was full to bursting with participants asking questions and discussing. Even the cops had cooperated by not ticketing the many questionably parked vehicles.
On Fri 8/6 at MOCA, Spencer Tunick will unveil his chosen image from all the photos that he shot, in a large format (about 5 feet wide), and he will also exhibit some video footage from the event, along with additional images that he captured.
How did this happen in Cleveland? How did this world-class artist make his largest installation in North America right here in Cleveland? Two words: Mark Schwartz. He runs the Nesnadny + Schwartz design firm, famous for their award-winning annual reports for Progressive Insurance and top-quality work for area corporations. Lately, he's become interested in using his wealth to make things happen in Cleveland. His donation of $27,500 made Tunick's appearance in Cleveland possible. Especially after the difficulties of siting the work in an indoor setting in Cleveland (see Cool Cleveland interview with Tunick here.), it would have been impossible to even consider doing this work in Cleveland if the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland had to locate three or four corporate or foundation sponsors. Along with Peter B. Lewis, people like Mark Schwartz can singlehandedly kick Cleveland into a new orbit with persistent sponsorship of events such as this.
Review by Thomas Mulready
Photos by Herb Ascherman and Thomas Mulready
For more information, visit the MOCA Cleveland site http://www.mocacleveland.org/tunick.html
For more information on the artist, please visit http://www.spencertunick.com
Artist Spencer Tunick (on ladder) and producer Jonathan speak with the participants before the event
The artist on a lift at dawn directing the first shoot with men and women at the base of the Ninth Street Pier, Cleveland
Men and women up Ninth Street past the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland
Jonathan on ladder helping to set up the second shoot featuring women only, in front of the Steamship William G. Mather, Cleveland
Close-up of the women, feeling the brisk morning air, wiating for instructions
The second shoot featuring women only, with their heads up
The second shoot featuring women only, with their heads down
The second shoot featuring women only
Women in the shape of a "V" in front of the Steamship William G. Mather, Cleveland
Artist Spencer Tunick getting ready to set up the third shot
A member of the media interviewing two women after they posed
Spencer Tunick, with bullhorn, directing the men on Voinovich Park, at the end of the Ninth Street Pier, Cleveland, Ohio
Men only, posed against the skyline of Cleveland, Ohio
Men kneeling towards Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Men posed on their sides, facing the camera
Men posed on their backs, Cleveland, Ohio (:divend:)