Naked States

When a new documentary release is billed as one of HBO's most highly-rated programs, you can be sure nudity is involved, and yowsa, there are acres of skin in this buff cross-country chronicle of photographer Spencer Tunick's quest to photograph ordinary people naked in every state. Compelling bemused passersby to pose for him in some public place such as New York's Times Square, Tunick waits anxiously to see if they will show, and then gets his picture. Oddly enough, this gets boring after awhile, although it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement as he wrangles the band Phish's endorsement to photograph potentially thousands of fans at an outdoor concert. But it does spark debate whether Tunick is "an activist offering a symbolic extended middle finger to bourgeoisie mores" or whether, as one onlooker notes, "somebody ought to do something about (this)." Tunick's true naked ambition is revealed in a sequence in which he complains that none of the respected art magazines will do a story on him. More interesting than Tunick are the interviews with those who were compelled to pose, from a pregnant woman to a rape victim who found the experience "liberating." Sure to attract attention, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Lee Benson)