Swiss Against Climate Change
by Bonnie Alter, London on 08.20.07
It's the big chill, for real. In -10 degree weather, six hundred dedicated Swiss posed nude on a melting glacier in Switzerland. And committed they were: participating meant a day’s travel followed by chairlift rides and a two-hour’s hike to the glacier. They did it to draw attention to global warming and the shrinking glaciers, which are predicted to disappear by 2080. The Aletsch glacier (pictured) receded by 115m between 2005 and 2006. Spencer Tunick, a New York artist famous for pictures of nude gatherings in public places, set this photo shoot up in collaboration with Greenpeace. He said that he wanted to emphasise human vulnerability: 'I want my images to go more than skin-deep. I want the viewers to feel the vulnerability of their existence and how it relates closely to the sensitivity of the world's glaciers." His last exhibit was 18,000 Mexicans stripping in Mexico City.
But some are questioning the impact of these gimmicks. We are so used to being bombarded with naked bodies that the historic links between nudity and purity (think Garden of Eden, Greeks and Romans, Michelangelo's David) no longer exist. And except for Janet Jackson's nipple, there is little surprise factor. Greenpeace is planning to use Tunick’s photographs for a campaign on the “naked truth” about climate change. :: Globe and Mail
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And not a flabby to be found. Much different than the 'no butts on the beach' thing posted that one time.
Go europe, go suisse.
Actually seems to have gone really well. Hats off (ahem) to Tunick, Greenpeace Switzerland and all the volunteers.
There's also video of the naked glacier shoot. And it's got yodeling for those of you already blasé about nudity.
Joking aside, the fate of this glacier is a serious thing. As said on the BBC:
So he is pushing for more global warming so that naked pepole can go up in the mountains? I think it's a very confusing mixed message.
I don't know what this campaign is trying to achieve. I've commented before that Greenpeace's "shock and awe" strategy of the 80s and the 90s to build awareness about environmental issues isn't relevant anymore. I think Greenpeace has long become obsolete.
Do they seriously think that people lack awareness of climate change? That it's some obscure topic that demands attention? That somehow we don't see the melting of glaciers as a threat?
I completely sympathise with individual protesters who, like many of us, are frustrated with governments lack of action. But I have serious reservations the efficacy of how Greenpeace used that to organise this nude protest. What is the point of this?
How does a picture of protesters standing in nude on a glacier appearing in our newspaper help the cause? How does it convey the urgency of the emergency? How does it help a policymaker change his mind? How does it help change the mind of a skeptic?
Sorry, Greenpeace. The emperor has no clothes. All this picture achieves is to reinforce the "crazy environmentalists" mindset. I don't think we need that.