Photos courtesy of rhealise

Modelling courtesy of allihillart

Context

The models posed for around 30 minutes on Poble Nou beach in Barcelona, with a number of items laid out in front of them. Most of these items were fairly ‘innocent’ but there were some that (mostly clothes peg and duct tape) that could be used to cause pain/discomfort.

Realisation

Very few people participated in this performance. Due to more ‘extreme’ nature of it we’d decided to do this on the beach walkway, rather than in the centre of town (as we figured we were less likely to be stopped by the police this way). However, in retrospect it may not have been the best location as the walkway had limited footfall and was wide - the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter would have potentially ‘forced’ people to get closer and engage.

Our female model had 3 or 4 people stop and decorate her. One woman got really into it; staying for around 15 minutes and very much immersing herself in the artistic process.

Only a couple of people got involved with the male model, and one of these only did as a result of a dare. Most of the ‘decorations’ on the male model came from the female model (who was watching) and her friend, rather than genuine members of the public. The male model did start to get an erection during this performance, probably as a result of the bondage element, and that may have impacted on the public’s willingness to participate.

This report has been written some time after the event and Blank Canvas 2 has already been performed. Looking at these two events together we can see a very similar outcome with the female model being respected and made to look pretty, and the male model ‘humiliated’.