After visiting the Liverpool Biennial I looked on their website and found that they were looking for volunteers for ‘The Naked Corner’ on Renshaw street. It would involve being in my underwear, in a shop window, with an advertising slogan written on me. The project sounded really interesting, the artist (Daniel Knorr) is making a point about copyrighted slogans in advertising where there should be no ownership. The name is to suggest the association of the ‘speaker’s corner’ where open debate can take place, and with the idea of the ‘naked truth’. The slogan written onto bare skin suddenly takes new meaning, for example ‘the best a man can get’ would mean something completely different on a women’s chest then on a razor. ‘Language is never harmless: it is a marvelous tool, but also a very powerful weapon.’
Why did I want to do this?
-The theme is really relevant to my interest in advertising and branding.
-I’m a believer in doing one thing everyday that scares you, and wanted to experience something new.
-Most importantly I wanted to use it as a starting point for my Static, I’d be contained in a small area for a long time and sat in the same position. Also while I was in the shop window I thought about how it was a bit like being the static in a television set.
I felt very nervous before hand, and even came close to backing out. However while I was getting painted up excitement took over. There were a lot of slogans to choose from. I purposely didn’t want one with any sexual connotation, or any from a fast food chain. I chose ‘No Nonsense’-John Smiths. I have been a fan of there advertising, and thought it was a fun thing to say about myself and what I was doing at that time. It could have been perceived that I was saying that performance art is ‘no nonsense’.
I chose to have the slogan written on my back, as I didn’t want my face to appear on stranger’s blogs etc. And sat facing away from the window, although I often was looking over my shoulders so I could gage peoples reactions. I knew I was doing the right thing as soon as I sat down in the window, I felt comfortable and exited.
Within five minutes BBC radio pulled up right outside my window and started interviewing people on the street about my performance! It was very intense, and I only caught snippets of what people were saying such as ‘I was really shocked!’. I relaxed about when they went but it was exiting to have such an important media presence interested in what I was doing.
The range of reactions was so interesting, I’ve always enjoyed people watching and this was the best way to do it! A number of people tapped on the window, as they must have wanted to interact with me and see my face? I heard a few people wonder aloud if I was real or not? (a good sign as I must have kept quite still). I heard one women say ‘That’s really clever’. There were some people that laughed a lot which felt a little uncomfortable.
Many people took photographs so I’m glad I made the decision to not include my face, although it did make it a little more difficult to watch and engage with the audience. The hardest thing was keeping my back so straight for so long. I also found it frustrating not been able to hear what people were saying unless they spoke loudly. I’m so glad I did this, it was a fantastic unique experience that I’ll remember for a long time. And also it has given my static project a new lease of live!
