If you're a fan of TV comedy series, "How I Met Your Mother" you would know about the "Naked Man" and how it attracts girls ;)

Art Stage 2011 also had a naked man in an artwork featuring the famous "The Two Fridas" (1939) by Frida Kahlo, a viewer and the artist. The artist and the viewer would then copy the pose and position of the fridas as shown below:

The only obvious difference? Clothes.. if the artist had clothes.

Mr. T Venkanna caused a huge stir in Singapore which is a fairly conservative country, by posing completely nude in a public art exhibition. I personally found this as an eye openner because art can be anything, just like the dadaist's theory of "i found it, i named it, therefore it is art" hahaha.

Being a dancer, i am aware of dancers being required to dance nude yet be completely open and confident about it. Of course I have never done that before, but I have recently seen a piece, "Sehnsucht" with female dancers bearing their chests confidently, what ever size they may be. I felt that it was completely acceptable and not offensive at all, infact the dancers were so beautiful and confident, as if they were completely clothed. They even danced with other male dancers without feeling uneasy and this was when i realised that nudity is art too, after all, we weren't born with clothes on. This is our true human form.

It is very common for artists to scuplt a nude figure.. manipulate the human form.. paint nude models.. but how many artists actually dare to showcase their own bodies in public, making themselves part of the art work themselves? How many artists dare to invite strangers to be part of the work, not afraid that the viewer would mess up the work and spoil the inteded message/effect of the work? I dare say a handful. Venkanna did the unconventional and inspired me to dare to do things people usually do not do.

Venkanna's artwork did cause a stir in Singapore, but i feel that this was something new to the art scene here. In remember in the artist square in paris, a woman was completely nude and was splashing paint on herself in public as a form of art. She received a warm welcome from the audience even though it was freezing cold there. It was considered completely acceptable in Paris, but I am sure that in Singapore, she would get stomped or something ridiculous.

However, the art work being behind a black curtain shows that Venkanna is aware of the conservative aspect of Singaporeans. Hence the black curtain serves as a filter, whereby only people accepting nudity as art can choose to go in to appreciate his work. People who deem nudity as unacceptable, can choose to walk away and their view is blocked by that black curtain. I feel that we live in a country who does not dare to accept new things. If Venkanna dares to take photos of himself, posing like a girl, holding a stranger's hand, completely nude.. Why shouldn't you, completely clothed, be able to simply hold his hand and take a picture with him? This artwork is truly something new to Singapore and I hope that more singaporeans can be more open to art and accept the once deemed unacceptable.