ARTE Tracks Translation
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Network: ARTE Show: Tracks Episode: Urban Nudist Date: December 31, 2016 Translation: Stéphane Deschênes Jan 1/17 [UP] = Unknown person Off-Camera Reporter: Don’t hold it against me. I’m asking purely for journalistic reasons. AK: OK Off-Camera Reporter: Do you think you could undress for this interview? AK: I think that I could. Off-Camera Reporter: You can have me undress too. AK: Yes OK I can do it. Narrator: To have some or not to have some is a question as old as the world. For the activist nudist clothing is hell on earth and getting dressed is cheating. Ask them to drop their pants and they will. Object of a debate stressed out like a string bikini on a beach in Nice, nudity on canvas makes the censors crazy and on the shores, the birkini is replacing topless. Cautious, the nudist activists express themselves in private places. But ultimately, those who want to get rid of ironing, want the right to be nude on the subway, at work and to sleep (this may seem odd but the three words rhymes in French so it sounds cute) [UP]: People think that nudism is shocking. But that’s what we all are. We are all nude but we cover up. [UP]: Religion has made nudity something bad. But it should not make you afraid. It is neither hurtful nor shameful. It’s just nudity. [UP]: If you have shoes, you can put your things there. Or in your hair. You have to be creative. [UP]: If I don’t need pockets, I get naked. Narrator: For nudist activist, everything has gone wrong since Adam bit into the apple. By coincidence, the big apple is, with its 8 million inhabitants, the epicenter of this movement that wants to get rid of dry cleaners. This November evening, about 20 nude people have gathered in this overheated loft for a movie evening. [UP]: The problem is that we are not managing to send the projector’s signal to the DVD player. So we can’t see the Goonies. Narrator: Founded in 2010, the Young Naturist of America association has more than 500 members that get together once per month. Unlike traditional naturists that rhyme nudity with nature, these activits fight to live nude in urban environments. [UP - off camera]: Don’t put your breasts in the humus. NG: In 2013, I participated in the contest for the smallest penis in Brooklyn. And I won. The next day it was everywhere in the newspapers. I got a whole bunch of messages. One man said I was an inspiration for him. He was really worried about the size of his penis and he thanked me for what I did. He felt better. I had a few messages like that. I’m very happy to know that it might help people. Felicity: We believe that it goes against the naturist philosophy to discriminate against people based on gender or sexual preference. Or anything makes them who they are. And there are clubs that discriminate that way. Narrator: At 27 years old, Felicity Jones is the founder of the association. Born in the New Jersey countryside to naturist parents, she spends her childhood and weekends nude with her family but is not allowed to talk about it at school. Narrator: Having moved to New York, she quits her job, 4 years ago, as a switchboard operator to devote her heart and soul to the nudist cause. Felicity: People make jokes about cooking bacon nude because of the oil splashing onto the body. Narrator: Among her fights, is the right to show herself topless in New York. An act that is allowed since 92 but which resulted in her arrest in 2011. Felicity also fights to be able to post female breasts on Facebook which prohibited breastfeeding images until recently. Felicity: I have already been nude in Time Square in New York. People were shocked. They freaked out. But when you looked up, you saw an enormous ad with a woman who is barely dressed and a close up of her buttocks. It was a totally sexual image of this young woman but it did not shock anyone. If you use nudity to sell something, if a woman’s body is used to sell, that’s allowed. It does not cause any problems. But when a woman decides to take off her clothes because she’s comfortable like that, everyone jumps on her. You’re a slut, it’s bad, it’s shameful. That’s how our warped culture deals with nudity. Narrator: Adam and Eve can go and get dressed. Being nude is no longer a symbol of innocence but is now an ideological choice. At the end of the 19th century, the Germans of Freikörperkultur, the culture of the free body, make a return to nature and nude physical exercise an antidote to the industrial revolution. But in the 1930’s, the movement is taken up by Nazi propaganda. Forbidden in the United States in the context of prohibition, presenting yourself nude comes out of the closet in the 1960’s thanks to hippies and becomes a symbol of protest. Since the arrival of photoshopped bodies, nudity has become common except when it is not retouched. For former Disney singer Miley Cyrus, it is an easy way to shock; she dreams of organizing a concert where the public will be nude. Narrator: For Andy Golub, there’s no need to make a big deal of nudity. In these bags the New York artist does not carry dismembered bodies but his working tools - pillows to protect the rear end of his models. AG: The only way for you to get closer is to turn your body in this direction and to bend your knees. Narrator: Andy first paints canvases, furniture and then cars. In 2007 while he was exhibiting in a contemporary art gallery, a model next to him proposes that he paint her. It was a revelation. Since then, Andy is the Rembrandt of body painting. AG: Believe it or not, I have no trouble finding models who not only accept to be painted nude but to do it in public. And that says a lot about the times, people are tired of being rushed everywhere. They don’t feel they can express who they are in their daily lives. And suddenly, they find this, which is itself a bit extreme, but it is a reflection of the extreme environment in which we live. AG: Fantastic pose you guys, you can get up. Narrator: Once per year, Andy and his models exhibits the work outside for Body Painting Day. Created in 2014 in New York, this event allows urban nudity in the context of an art project. Due of its success this year that brought 100 models and 70 artists together, Andy has decided to also organize it at Amsterdam, Brussels, and San Francisco. AI: To walk around nude and to feel liberated without thinking ‘oh my god I am nude, I am nude’. But to live your body fully. It is something that helps create authentic connections with others. Because they don’t see you sexually but just as an individual. Narrator: In New York, professional stand-up comics are participating this evening in the Naked Show, the only comedy show in Adam’s costume. Alison Klemp, the organizer, is the only one to have already performed completely nude. For the other 6 comics, it’s the big jump. No chance to change their mind. AK: On three, we are all nude. AK: The first time I participated, I was terrified. I was going to the gym all the time. I was eating nothing. I was under pressure to be in top physical shape. Plus I was going first which was very freaky. But once on stage, I just felt a huge adrenaline rush. The same kind of feeling you get when you climb or do other extreme sports. ML: What could go wrong? Nothing. Everything will go well. I’ve never felt this confident before a show. It is really weird. SH: I’ve always told myself, if I was a guy, I would be so afraid to have an erection. And to lose it. AR: I have at least one joke about dicks. Who has dick tonight? Or possibly lots of dick. [Alison Klemp & Mike Lewis speak in English with French subtitles] AR: It reminds us that we are animals. In the end, we are just animals who tell each other jokes. That’s all we are. .