General Chat

saw this question posed on Yahoo....wondered what everyone here thought

Viewers have complained about a new Channel 4 programme that features full frontal nudity at 12.30pm.

Life Class: Today's Nude features different male and female models each day and encourages budding artists to sketch along at home as a tutor explains drawing and painting techniques

http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/blog/article/216472/page-4/

Whilst being in the buff is a natural thing, I personally don't want to be looking at other peoples bits at that time of the day (other than my OH's of course).

So no, not for me.

I can't see the point of 'life' classes on TV.
The people actually at the class are focussing on shadow, muscle, skin tone, light/shade etc. The technicalities, not the body.
Those following at home, with, one hopes easels and paint at the ready. apart from not getting the same light/shadowetc are limited to what the camera shows them.
The majority of home viewers - well one can only imagine!
Sounds like a W*nk*rs paradise to me!

Personally,I think not, however people have the choice,switch off or change channels,nobody forces you to watch it,those who do, do so by choice, **M**.

Welllll no...unless he has the face of Adonis and the body of Ronaldo. I don't want to see pink, saggy, bits while I am eating.. BCXX

what about children switching onto the channel by mistake?

No, Lesley, I never eat children:-) Maybe just a little nibble at my grandchildrens' chubby bums.....

I think if it's a life class and someone is sitting around in the nude - not moving and not wobbling about too much - that it can't be that offensive ...

I think children would quickly get bored if there was no movement as such!

And most children have seen naked adults haven't they? I know my son used to clamber into the bath with me when he was young - he found it a useful question-time as I obviously wasn't going anywhere so he knew I was happy to chat, answer questions etc, without any distractions.

So, generally, I don't see it as a problem really.

Jill

Buttercup Fields Today at 14:01 Request review
No, Lesley, I never eat children:-) Maybe just a little nibble at my grandchildrens' chubby bums...

lol BC

sorry BC....I edited quickly. Didn't realise anyone had read it.

Has to be one of the most boring programmes that I have watched.

Thought it would be interesting from the point of view of drawing lessons but I certainly did not think it would be at least 15 mins of looking at the nude model.

Maureen

Hiya SRS
I caught a glimpse of that programme yesterday while I was flicking channels.
WELL what a load of rubbish! I think it's just an excuse to get nudity onto our screens.At the wrong time of day? well it wasn't sexy or provocative in fact it was very boring.
My two oldest kids are artists and neither of them would watch that programme.Now me as an absolute beginner might have taken a look see but as I found it boring I wouldn't have looked in again.
I was more shocked at the use of the F**k word by Kelly Osbourne and also the shows host on the show between BB and the BB final last night. unnecessary.They could have said for F's sake and we'd know what they meant.
Tricia

Nothing wrong with the nude body, cant see why this upsets people, we are all born naked, we should be allowed to go naked if we want. Be proud of your bodies, dont be ashamed.

Evening everybody,

I didn't see the programme, but don't let that stop me from having an opinion!

If this was an artists' model, I reckon the whole thing would have been more boring than anything else (me not being an artist).

As for children watching it, I agree with those who think they'd just be bored. I'd be more concerned with the effect that some of the images on the six o'clock news have on youngsters. My daughter, when only very young, saw some of the clips of famine in Africa which were shown on LiveAid, on the news. They upset her dreadfully - much more, I dare bet, than some nude model would have done.

That's what I think, anyway

Have a good evening, all

Sue x

From Leonardo da Vinci to Lucian Freud, artists have always taken their inspiration from the human body by turning to life drawing to understand the naked form. While the painter may get all the attention, on the other side of the canvas is the lesser-known life model.
Sarah started modelling when studying at Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. As a student strapped for cash the allure of making money modelling for art was too much to resist. But there was another motivation - self exploration.
"I was intrigued by the idea of being naked in front of strangers," says Sarah. "Especially at the age of 20 when you're still getting to know your own body and developing your own sexuality. It was a very romantic idea, a bohemian idea."

Artist's gaze
Sarah can recall the first time she modelled, as she met the eyes of the students posed to draw her, she felt self-conscious. Her mind raced with questions.
"My first time was daunting. I was wondering what people thought of my body. Was I attractive enough? Did my bum look big? The things most people would be concerned with.
"I had just got back from holiday and I felt like I'd put on lots of weight. I thought I can't do this, what had I been thinking? But then I realised what I felt was only natural. From then I relaxed and it was easier."
Despite being under the intense scrutiny of a room full of pupils, male and female, Sarah found she quickly became used to being under the artist's gaze.
"It made me feel more confident about my body. I felt liberated. I feel more self-conscious wearing a bikini on holiday with friends than I did when I was naked in front of strangers.
"For me it was a means to channel that exhibitionism. I quite liked getting naked in front of strangers. I find it quite exhilarating, you're the centre of attention and you're enabling people to be creative."
When Sarah decided to become a life model people were intrigued.
"I think some guys liked it. It was a good line to use as a student meeting people in bars. It got people interested and I definitely got a few boyfriends from it."

Some artists see drawing from observation as the pinnacle of the practice, allowing a chance to capture the essence of the form, recreating it in a way that copying a photograph just cannot compare to.
According to artist Alex Kane, life drawing has become less fashionable. Kane, the man behind the Channel 4 series, Life Class: Today's Nude, says life modelling should be viewed as "educational and non-sexualised nudity". However, life modelling has gained some dodgy associations, Sarah explains.
"People say to me isn't life modelling really weird? Isn't it a bit sexual? Of course there are men who have this idea they're all going to draw these naked women and it's going to be thrilling.
"But the artists don't view you sexually. They see the body as a series of lines and shadows, a piece of art."

Depicting anatomy has been a valued skill for centuries
Perhaps a more pressing issue for the typical life model is the cold.
"There's a heater normally, but the worst place was the freezing Canvas Gallery in Islington [in north London]," says Sarah. "They had a gas burner and it blew towards you, it was a little scary. I was paranoid about it blowing up."
As if catching a chill wasn't enough, posing can also be physically challenging. You have to be very fit to remain motionless.
"I think I've got thread veins [small blood vessels near the surface of the skin] prematurely from modelling because you are cutting off the blood supply over long lengths of time.
"I used to get extreme pain, some poses were just agonising. Imagine sitting down and resting on your hand, twisting slightly to the right. There's pain in your wrist, pain in your buttocks and the lower back from the pressure."
There are always bad experiences, but life as a model can also be rewarding. One artist sold paintings of Sarah in a Paris show. A painting was bought by a top buyer, and is currently displayed alongside a Vermeer in the French capital.
With her image holding pride of place in Paris, Sarah feels part of her will live on beyond her years.
"It's nice to think there's a little bit of me that will survive out there somewhere. It's lovely to think my image is out there bringing people happiness."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8143978.stm

so would you ever pose nude for art?

Find such questions unreal, one can watch people being shot, or murdered on some series, but a bit of buff and they creep out to complain.

Lol Lesley... I am with whoever said that as long as they look like Adonis with the body of that footballer chappie... whassisname??? (I think BC said it!!)

However... my opinion, lol... is that nudity as in still life models for artists to paint... well, depending on the pose, yes, that is ok... and kiddies are brilliant at getting bored with stuff like that... they'd be screaming for CBeebies or Hannah Montanna, or Transformers (I'm getting to be an expert, can't you tell!!) within minutes.

However... I think anything showing sex, or the prelude to sex... you know, all that writhing and squirming that goes on in the adverts for deodorant.. should not be shown anywhere until after the watershed.

But I also feel pretty much the same about violence, the news and suchlike.

There are ways to control what youngsters watch on some channels... maybe there should be a facility for parental controls on the terrestrial telly as well.

Love

Daff xxxxx

ps... I use the off button for myself... but I noticed recently that there were some rather steamy ads at around teatime on one channel, when 7 or 8 year olds, for instance, would be watching while mum or dad prepared tea........

Love

Daff xxxx

Its against my human rights not to let me see nudity on TV, thats what I pay my TV licence for. lol lol lol

Censored TV like in Iran, and no Human Rights like in Burma?

Yes, bad language is the worst thing on TV,