Getting naked at the Dead Sea

July 13, 2011 - 8:16 AM by

Spencer Tunick installation in Mexico City, 2007

If Israel’s ultra-Orthodox had a hard time agreeing on how to permit a girls dance troupe to perform at the festive dedication of the Jerusalem “Bridge of Strings” a few years back, they’re going to have a field day with Spencer Tunick’s latest art project. David wrote about the project in April; it’s now been given an official launch date according to a press release issued yesterday.

Tunick specializes in staging and photographing large-scale human body “landscapes” in both urban and natural settings. The human bodies we’re talking about here are naked.

Tunick’s work may sound scandalous, but when seen from above or at a distance (which is the case most of the time, notwithstanding a few exceptions), you don’t really see that much (in case you were curious). The results, nevertheless, are quite stunning, and that would be true whether there was nudity or not: simply gathering thousands of people together in one space for an art installation is worthy of our critical interest. His most recent installation, in Sydney Australia, has been viewed by an astonishing 500 million people.

The Dead Sea project is being spearheaded by Tunick’s long time friend and now Tel Aviv resident Ari Fruchter who set about the task of raising $60,000 to get it off the ground. Using the KickStarter website (a platform for funding art projects), Fruchter raised a total of $116,000 from 706 backers.

Tunick’s installation at the Dead Sea is about more than just art. Fruchter writes on the KickStarter site: “By bringing Spencer to the Dead Sea I am hoping to bring back life – showcasing the importance of water in this region and creating art that is a celebration of humanity that brings world attention to the disappearing Dead Sea.”

In the press release, the organizers also pointed to the Dead Sea’s location, shared by Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians, suggesting perhaps that nudity could be what brings these three people together. It might also help boost the Dead Sea’s chances of being named one of the “new” 7 wonders of the world (that announcement will come on 11.11.11 – cute).

In Jerusalem, the pre-teen girls who dared to dance at the Bridge of Strings ceremony were forced to don modest outfits not to offend local sensibilities. At the Dead Sea, there will be no such cover-up: the date of the photo shoot – Sept. 17, 2011 – is on Shabbat.

Tags: • Category: Art, Israeliness, Politics 

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One Comment on Getting naked at the Dead Sea

  1. Final stretch to crown Dead Sea a top natural wonder | ISRAELITY on Wed, Sep 7th 2011 11:05 AM

    2. [...] his mass nude photography project at the lowest place on earth, on September 17 (see our article here). While that may endear the Dead Sea to liberal Israelis and like-minded high brows around the [...]

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