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EVERYONE, JUST MAKE SURE YOU
HAVE ROOM.
STRETCH OUT. STAY OVER HERE.
THIS IS GREAT.
>> Carlo: THE PHOTOS ARE FUN.
THEY'RE FUNN
THEY'RE ABSURDIST!
THIS IS THE KIND OF INTERVENTION
IN PUBLIC SPACES THAT DISRUPTS
REALITY IN WAYS THAT MAKE YOU
THINK ABOUT IT IN DIFFERENT WAYS
AND TO LAUGH OUT LOUD.
>> I LIKE TO PHOTOGRAPH WHERE
PEOPLE SPEND TIME, LIKE WHEN
THEY'RE WALKINTO WORK, OR
WHERE THEY SIT TO HAVE LUNCH, OR
IN FRONT OF THE DELI, OR WHERE
THEY WOULD BUY Slim-Fast.
AND I LIKE TO BLOW MY
BACKGROUNDS OUT OF FOCUS SO THE
HARD CITY BECOMES ALMOST AS SOFT
AS THE BODY SOMETIMES, AND SO,
BY SHOOTING EARLY IN THE
MORNING, THERE'S NOT THAT MUCH
LIGHT, WHICH IS GOOD FOR ME.
I NEED TO SHOOT DURING DAYLIGHT
IN THE MORNING WHEN THE LIGHT IS
NOT TOO POWERFUL.
♪ [ PULSING BASS BEATS ]
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>> IT WAS GREAT.
IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE.
>> Interviewer: WERE YOU SHY AT
FIRST?
>> UH, NO, ACTUALLY.
IT WAS -- WHEN EVERYBODY GETS
NAKED AT THE SAME TIME, IT'S --
NOBODY'S SELF-CONSCIOUS.
I THINK PEOPLE GOT A LITTLE
SELF-CONSCIOUS WHEN... MOST
PEOPLE ARE DRESSED AND THERE ARE
A COUPLE OF PEOP STILL NAKED
LOOKING FOR THEIR CLOTHES.
>> ONCE WE WERE ALL NAKED,
EVERYBODY WAS THE SAME.
LIKE, I JUST FELT LIKE WE WERE
ALL ONE.
>> I WORK AROUND HERE AND I
ALWAYS FANTASIZE ABOUT BEING
NAKED, AND SO NOW I ACTUALLY HAD
THE CHANCE, SO IT WAS KIND OF
FUN.
>> THE ART COMMUNITY IS, AT THIS
POINT IN TIME, DIVIDED ON
SPENCER'S WORK.
MANY PEOPLE, UH, CURATORS AND
ART CRITICS AND COLLECTORS
SUPPORT HIM, BUT THERE ARE SOME
PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL QUESTIONING
THE WORK AND THEY WANT TO SEE
WHERE HE'S GOING TO GO BECAUSE
THE... THIS TYPE OF WORK HAS A
POPULIST IMPRINT TO IT.
>> Kim: CERTAINLY, SPENCER HAS
BEEN VERY, VERY SMART ABOUT IT
ALL.
HE PICKED A SUBJECT THAT WAS
CONTROVERSIAL, ALTHOUGH I THINK
HE MIGHT HAVE EN SURPRISED BY
HOW MUCH ATTENTION HIS WORK GOT
GIVEN WHAT ELSE WAS OUT THERE IN
PHOTOGRAPHY AND NUDES.
>> YEAH, I THINK PEOPLE
UNDERSTAND, IN GENERAL.
I'M NOT TALKING THE PEOPLE THAT
UNDERSTAND ART.
I'M SAYING PEOPLE, IN GENERAL,
CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
GOOD AND BAD.
I USE THE BODY AS A SHAPE.
IT'S VERY HARD TO LOOK AT A MASS
OF BODIES, AND -- AT LEAST IN MY
WORK -- AND GET AROUSED.
IT'S USING THE BODY AS AN ART
OBJECT, NOT A SEX OBJECT.
>> Carlo: HIS WORK, I THINK, IS
ABOUT THE DISSOCIATION BETWEEN
THE INDIVIDUAL OR THE SOCIAL
GROUP AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT.
IT'S SORT OF A "BACK TO NATURE"
IN A PLACE WHERE THERE IS NO
NATURE.
>> THE THING THAT'S COMPELLING
IS THAT HE IS FLOUTING A
CONVENTION.
NORTH AMERICANS ARE VERY
PURITANICAL.
THEY HAVE THIS THING ABOUT THE
BODY.
IT SHOULD BE COVERED AT ALL
TIMES, EXCEPT AT HOME, AND THEN
USUALLY IN THE BEDROOM.
SO, HE HAS A PURPOSE, AND THE
PURPOSE IS TO SORT OF THUMB
HIS NOSE AND SAY, "LOOK, THE
BODY IS A BEAUTIFUL THING.
WHEN YOU PUT IT NEXT TO
CONCRETE, YOU REALIZE THE
FRAGILITY OF HUMAN LIFE AND YOU
ALSO REALIZE THERE'S BEAUTY,
BOTH IN MAN-MADE STRUCTURES AND
IN NATURE."
>> THE FACT THAT PEOPLE SHOW UP,
IT JUST REAFFIRMS THE FACT THAT,
THAT THE WORK AGREES WITH PEOPLE
ON MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS, NOT
ONLY AS A STATEMENT OF DOING
SOMETHING NEW WITH YOUR BODY,
BUT ALSO AS PEOPLE REALLY
WANTING TO BE PART OF A
CONTEMPORARY ART WORLD AND
ALWAYS BEING ON THE OUTSIDE.
AND THIS IS A CHANCE TO BE ON
THE INSIDE AND HELP MAKE A
PIECE, BECAUSE I CAN'T DO THIS
ALONE.
[ LOUD CHEERING ]
♪ [ LIGHT POP ]