Getting your kit off for art’s sake
Author:
Lalage
Harris
Posted:
2009-05-06
I’ve recently taken up life-drawing classes. Fancying myself as a liberal artiste, I wasn’t prepared for the schoolboy humour my new hobby elicited here in the office. “Why pay to look at an old hairy bum?” said one avant-garde Art Director. Raised eyebrows and tittering further served to crush my lofty aspirations. Is my artistic intention really just a posturing pretension – a substitute for tight jeans and quirky glasses? Or perhaps (whisper it) it’s just an excuse to dabble in soft porn?
At 16 I botched together my first poor imitation of a hairy bum. My Sistine Chapel was a girls’ grammar school – the sort that’s been pickled in the fifties and kept sealed by militant spinsters. Presided over by our own Miss Jean Brodie, we gigglingly awaited our first endeavour into this hallowed tradition of the Old Masters. But ten minutes into the first pose, the adolescent blushes evaporated, to be replaced with a reverent silence of concentration. If the process of struggling to capture a complex, living image on paper can silence a gaggle of mouthy teens, then surely there’s something impressive in the exercise.
Ruskin called drawing ‘an instrument of investigation’. It’s as natural to children as role-play and running. But we lose the skill with our dawning self-consciousness and fear of error. Yet looking closely helps us to feel more keenly, and engage with the world. And in a culture of instant gratification, where we increasingly detach ourselves from our bodies – through drugs, surgery, or virtual reality – the exercise of stopping and simply looking is refreshing. It’s life affirming.
So should we applaud Channel Four and its decision to start televising a life-drawing class this summer? The naked body has been a source of endless controversy – a source of wonder and, in equal measure, of disgust. None, surely, would impose an age restriction on art galleries. But moral guardians of the media have deemed that life-drawing – repackaged and serialised for our TV dinner age – is unsuitable for its proposed pre-watershed slot. They’re accused of moral decay, of being obsessed by sex and nudity. But nudity in itself isn’t sexual. Surely context plays a huge part. And, anyway, when sex is everywhere why would anyone turn to a life-drawing class to get their kicks? With their blemishes and hairiness, most life models would be considered repulsive by your Page Three connoisseur.
Then again, I wouldn’t jump to C4’s defence. It seems more likely that they’re cashing in on a trend of popular TV, such as ‘How to Look Good Naked’ and ‘Too Fat, Too Thin’ etc. And there’s a peculiar absurdity in ‘life-drawing’ from a 2D image. This must destroy the wonder of the exercise. There’s magic in representing and engaging with our perception of the world – and not the world as it’s sifted through the light-box in our living rooms.
So I’d recommend picking up a pencil and giving life-drawing a go. And if you can find a hairy bum for free then even better. (I’d suggest Calton Hill).
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What’s your opinion on life-drawing? Is it still for art’s sake? Or just for titillation?
About the author
Lalage Harris is Junior Copywriter at The Gate, Edinburgh.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:44 am
When I was at Art College we had a very scary Argentinian biker chick life model. She would identify sniggerers and flip them the bird. The juveniles in our class quickly got the message.
Also, my brother claims that at his college a male life model was sacked after being discovered “relieving” himself before a session. So as to avoid any unexpected distractions arising…
In response to Lal’s very serious article, Channel 4 will do anything for a quick ratings fix. Hopefully the general public will realise how boring it actually is to look at a naked person for 2 hours. But I doubt it.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
This article arouses fond memories of art school - reminds me of the older male model who reappeared after a short break in class, and settled into his new pose to reveal a diamond cockring ( WTF is THAT ?? ) - what a flasher.
After the initiation of the first class I quickly learnt what an excellent experience a life class is for an artist, always a challenge. Imperfections in the model taught us that beauty can be found in many forms.
May 9th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
As a former nude model (with a hair-free bum I might add..!) I found the experience of modelling for an art class anything but pornographic. Instead, I found that the students were incredibly driven, respectful and solely interested in creating wonderful works of art. Rather than being scared or self-conscious, I felt that I was assisting the students to advance their creative abilities.
It was a truly brilliant experience for me, so thanks for drawing attention to the value of these classes.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:21 am
There is only one reason that life drawing classes have taken off in the last few years.
Titanic.
The movie, not the ship.
As soon as Kate Winslet sprawled herself across that couch and Leonardo sketched and then rubbed round her charcoaled breast, while peering wantonly over his pad, you just knew there’d be an explosion of lead across the country… .. .
On a serious note, why is it even an issue?
The “getting naked” bit of these T.V. shows is for two reasons
1. It gets ratings.
2. It genuinely gives the “stars” a bit of a buzz and a confidence boost - like in the army, they have to be taken down to their lowest point and then bult up again. It’s an adrenaline rush getting your kit off in front of an audience - having done this on many more than a handful of occassions.
However, I think there is a bit of British prudishness involved.
Look at the Scandinavian countries. They regularly have mixed steam rooms and saunas - no nautiness involved. Something many of our UK counterparts wouldn’t dream of doing.
From an artistic point of view, life drawing is probably the most challenging type of drawing you can undertake. The room for error in perspectives and anatomy are small. And when you do make an error, it seems to be magnified.
The reality of it is that life drawing/sculpting, has been going on since the beginning of time.
The naked body is a wonderfully complex thing. I’m constantly surprised by it’s complexity, strength and fragility. It’s no wonder that people like showing it off and drawing it.