The Completely Gratuitous Nood

Nudity plays several parts in figurative sulpture - it signifies a timelessness, unencumbered by clothing which may ‘date’ the work; it also signifies allegory, as in Michelangelo’s David, where we are drawn to contemplate the idea of David as an emblem of Florence, rather than view the work as a mere narrative scene.

But most sculptors today employ nudity without much consideration at all as to what it might signify. The nude figure is what we were taught to produce in art school, and it’s what galleries can sell as decorative works, designed to look pretty, or sexy, or powerful, but not having much to say. Figurative sculpture without a narrative, identity, or basically any reason for being, outside of decoration, comprises most work today, despite occasional attempts to ‘make it more interesting’ by adding evocative but ultimately nonsensical elements to the figure - antlers and bones seem to be fashionable additions lately. Many of them are excellent - well made, attrative and compelling - yet ultimately are decorative rather than a conveyor of meaning.

So instead of ranting (well, in addition to ranting), I decided to make a sculpture of the sculpture I don’t like - Completely Gratuitous Nudes. I misspell ‘nude’ to poke fun at the use of the term, intended to lend respectability to any figure without clothing on. Many works earn this term, and it is a term of respect - but many sculptures only hang onto the coattails of respectability by being labeled a nude, when ‘naked person in a pose’ or ‘model without clothes on’ or simply ‘tits and ass’ would be more apropos ( don’t get me started about torso sculpture). There’s more to sculpture than this, and that’s what I hope my Nood gets cross. it turns out she’s not so gratuitous after all.

The gesture she makes with her right hand, similar to the ‘OK’ gesture, comes from a game adolescents play. The game is to try to trick your friend into glancing down at your hand making this gesture. If you catch them looking, you get to punch your friend on the shoulder. The point of the game, like the point of Gratuitous Noods, is to make you look. And she knows you’re looking.