Yes, This is Our Brother-in-Law

As the years go by I find that I begin to take for granted that I have a brother-in-law who is known around the world for taking nude photos of thousands of people. For me it has become less about numbers and more about the installation itself and what he's doing with his (to me) three mediums: the human body, city landscapes, and a camera. From time to time, however, Spencer does something that really snaps me out of it, like when he gets 7,000 people in Barcelona to disrobe in 2003, or the 2,700 he got to pose for him in Cleveland in 2004. The beautiful thing is not the record-breaking, but that, in doing something that is unprecedented in history, so many people get to participate in a unique creative process and vision.

I was eating lunch with two of my colleagues at school the other day when one of them suddenly remembered seeing something about Spencer in the news. Something about 18,000 people in Mexico City, and did I know anything about it? No, I did not, I answered, thinking she must be wrong, that it must be 1,800. Of course I should have known better.

So, the real trick is not getting 18,000 people together. Concerts and sporting events routinely attract that many people and more. But to get 18,000 people to disrobe in public is something else. This week, I'm going to let the number amaze me.

Click here for further reading in English and in French. Also take a look at Spencer's website.

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