Abstract
The naked body, though the most commonly shared ‘fact’ of existence, is also the most scripted, inscribed, censored, and/or ‘performed’ spectacle. The camera and editing allow for greater objectification, and/or a fusion of corporeal and idealized aesthetic orientations with twentieth-century theories of opticality and traditions of Modern Dance. The naked dancing body aligns itself more with Modernity and a poetics of dance rather than coming off as a display of narcissism, exhibitionism, or soft porn. The choices made in video self-portraiture re-claim the gaze as the creator’s own and guard him against accusations that he is merely making a spectacle of himself. Or is the point to make a spectacle of the body? Indeed, what IS spectacle and its relationship to the artist/creator’s body?
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Sparling, P. (2016). Naked Came I/Eye: Lights, Camera and the Ultimate Spectacle. In: Arendell, T., Barnes, R. (eds) Dance’s Duet with the Camera. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59610-9_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59610-9_6
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59609-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59610-9
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