August 19, 2007 7:00 AM

And when they were done, they slid down the ice on their butts

Hundreds pose nude on Swiss glacier

BETTMERALP, Switzerland — Hundreds of naked people formed a “living sculpture” on Switzerland’s Aletsch glacier Saturday, hoping to raise awareness about climate change. The photo shoot by Spencer Tunick, the New York artist famous for his pictures of nude gatherings in public settings worldwide, was designed to draw attention to the effects of global warming on Switzerland’s shrinking glaciers…. “The melting of the glaciers is an indisputable sign of global climate change,” said the environmental group Greenpeace, which co-organized the event. It said most Swiss glaciers will disappear by 2080 if global warming continues at its current pace.

I have nothing against the human body, bare or otherwise. It’s what all of us were given. At this point, though, I’m growing a bit tired of the trend of photographing large numbers of naked people as an artistic or quasi-political statement. I’m not a prude, but if we’d been meant to be naked in public, we’d have been built like Reggie Bush or Jessica Biel. Unfortunately, most of us are built like Kirstie Alley or Karl Rove…and isn’t that more than we really need to be showing?

Hey, if Spencer Tunick wants to traverse the globe photographing people sans culottes, and if people are willing to strip for the privilege…well, why not? That doesn’t mean that I have any particular desire to see the finished product. I also don’t want to know where the men are putting their wallets.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on August 19, 2007 7:00 AM.

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