Olo

[Ed]

I don’t normally post purely male nudity but this performance is very unusual and I know a few of you will enjoy this one. Also, I think it’s worthy of discussion. Is it art? Is it exhibitionism? Is it explicit?

 

Martin and like this

[Anonymous]

As usual, I couldn’t work out what was going on. I liked the way it looked visually with lots of carefully worked out shapes being formed by the bodies. The dancing made sense and the woman miming (I think) with the mouth harp provided a good focus, almost a narrator. I liked her costume too! I’m just as intrigued by male nudity as female, so no problem with the naked guy. Typical bloody man, though, keeping his socks on.

I wouldn’t use words like exhibitionism or explicit. The performance did seem to be about his body, or the way it was being treated, but he was never in undue closeup, and the other performers were just as involved as he was. I don’t know how I would define “explicit”. Maybe if something is too explicit, namely not implicit enough, the unsubtlety takes something – maybe quite a lot – away from the performance , but nothing about this seemed explicit in that sense. It was certainly intrusive for the man though. Maybe having his body used in that way was part of the point.

If I had the body and the moves, and if I understood what it was about, I’d probably be happy to join in but that’s a lot of “ifs”, too many for me to be able to identify with him really.

[Martin]

Is it eroticism? No. There is a sexual narrative behind the performance but the male body is simply being used to represent the Male and not for any overt sexual activity. His naked body including his penis is his costume and the handling of his penis appears to be integral to the story and showing how the females can manipulate the male actions. The male actor appears to be more focussed on the performance and not reacting to anything that happens to him in any inappropriate way, and there is no attempt to demonstrate any intimate act designed to have an effect on the male himself or the character of the male.

Is it Exhibitionism? No, it’s a performance. Clearly choreographed, at least set pieces within it even if some were repeated and may be more tango-like in its performance – the body of the Male offering opportunities for set piece actions by the females in response, and vice versa, as in the Tango where the male lead is forcing the female into positions where she can best be shown off.

Is it Art? Yes, a choreographed performance has to be Art presented for viewing by others.

Is it right to keep his socks on? Well, I’d prefer not as well. But he is a dancer protecting his feet. For me, I’d go bare foot. Indeed, nudity for me means fully nude with no add-ons (so if I need to see when modelling then I will wear contact lenses instead of glasses and remove my wedding ring – simply because they are not part of my body).

 

Treating his penis as though it was just a handle, as they would lead him by the hand if clothed, was, for me, the right thing to do. It shows their control and his subjection, would work if the females had been male but wouldn’t if the subject had been female.

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[Anonymous]

The relationships between the performers must be interesting. I see that Vitamina describes itself as a collective, so I imagine they spend a fair bit of time together when they’re working on a performance. They see each other naked, they hold onto each other’s body parts, it looks like a very intimate set of relationships.

On the other hand, maybe it’s all just routine to them. I worked with a semiprofessional ballroom dancer for a while and I remember her saying how touchy-feely they were in real life because they had no barriers at all to physical contact when dancing. In fact I remember Karen Hardy on Strictly challenging her celebrity partner to touch her anywhere, just to stop him ruining the dance by being shy.

I remember Ed saying how reluctant some potential NE participants, especially women, were to be touched.

Martin and Ed like this

[Martin]

To me, it is just that : “part of the performance”.

As an actor I play a character and it is the character who is Nude rather than me. So if it is right for the character then that’s what I give to the filmmaker. And that includes intimate actions and situations as required.

That’s not me in real life though! I don’t walk around naked normally – just when I am in performance of some kind!

• This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Martin.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Martin.

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[Ed]

I don’t have stats to hand on this, but very few male participants/candidates have any objections to being touched anywhere. The great majority of females are dead against being touched intimately and I’ve spoken to quite a few who would not allow any contact whatsoever.

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[Anonymous]

Maybe more for women than men, touch is quite complex. In a NE setting, you wouldn’t be groping or prodding someone but neither would you be caressing them. Given that it’s an experiment, you could hopefully at least put a hand on them and get them to say how awkward it feels. I assume that nobody would mind a hand on their elbow but most would be challenged by one on their genitals. You could ask them how their feeling changed, if at all, if you started moving your hand instead of keeping it still. I saw a survey a while ago asking people to colour in an outline drawing of a person with red for “do not touch” and green for “not a problem” and I think it had different pictures for different relationships – stranger, colleague, friend, best friend, partner and so on. The BBC has a few programmes next week about touch – maybe the survey was for that.

I think for me it would be a challenge to be touched “everywhere” but I’d give it a go. If I took part in an experiment I’d expect it to push my boundaries a bit, and having them pushed would be part of the fun. I imagine it would be different if it was a man or woman touching me, and also if one or both of us was blindfolded. Being explored by a blindfolded person sounds like fun. Being touched while blindfolded sounds quite challenging (in a good way).

This reminds me a bit of the bucket list exercise that someone did here a few weeks/months ago. He was asking what activities would be easy and which would be more difficult. A similar exercise for touch would be interesting, but – unlike a bucket list – it might not make much sense without actual touching involved.

(This is still my favourite video, by the way.)

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[Martin]

Probably also the circumstance and surroundings that would have an impact.

In an experiment, being observed whilst touching or being touched is going to change what happens or what you feel. Being filmed or being watched by one or by a group…. all will be different.

Being indoors or outdoors, as well as being able to control or not control (not only sight but also ability to speak). Or use of your own hand being used to touch yourself but controlled by another.

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[Author]

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