Tag Archives: Christopher Agostino’s Transformations

What really bothers me about this…

by Christopher Agostino

The two things that bother me the most about this Facebook censorship of the Breast Cancer Awareness images:

— 1—

That the removal of the images indicated no regard to the social impact of the project or the women participants. In this particular case it is the very act of allowing their unclothed, painted bodies to be seen publicly that is meant to facilitate the healing of the individuals and to be the vehicle for increasing breast cancer awareness. There seems to have been no consideration of that when judging whether the images met the vague Facebook standards—standards vague enough you’d hope they would allow leeway for a good cause.

— 2 —

That the actual nature of the images seemed to be of little or no consequence: in the particular case of Jamie, the survivor/model whose quote about having her photos removed by Facebook appears in my initial post, the image that was removed so completely obscured her torso through bodypainting and digital touchup that it’s hard to guess what the justification is. (see the post, her quote and the image: http://wp.me/p1sRkg-r0 )  Was the reason for removing the image only because there is body painting involved, as if that act is enough to make an image inappropriate? From a body painter’s perspective that possibility is troubling. More troubling is the suggestion in some postings about the image removal that it is specifically because these images have to do with breast cancer that they were flagged in the first place—that breast cancer images draw Facebook scrutiny. I don’t know if that is true. I do find it curious that the image of the cover of Survivors Magazine was removed from my Tweet about that initial posting, whereas the image of the cover of the Art Color Ballet book was not, even though it also shows a painted naked female torso.

So that’s what troubles me most.  

Now, the thing that is the most annoying about these kind of image removals is how coldly they are done—no explanation, and no vehicle for appeal. (If you don’t believe me, see the info below about Scott Fray’s attempts to deal with this problem, who has gone much further into it than I have) I’ve had a few bodypainting images in tweets just disappear, no notice to me at all. You Tube was nice enough to send me a message telling me they were restricting one of my videos, but no specific explanation why and no recourse offered to ask about or argue the decision. The best guess I’ve heard from anyone is that some viewer flags the content, then the powers that be take a look at it and the default setting is that they remove it, deux ex machina. These social media sites all have their Terms of Use we all have to agree to, and in there is language about their right to remove inappropriate content, but exactly how that is defined and how they apply their standards in a particular case is not something the user is privy to—Google, Facebook, all of them, are much more concerned about protecting their corporate privacy than they are about protecting our privacy.

I’ve pretty well run my course on this censorship issue and if I keep talking about it I run the risk of passing myself off as an expert in a field in which I’m only an occasional victim, and a minor one at that, as nothing yet of mine that has been removed was particularly troubling to me. I have one more post in me about this which should be coming up pretty soon: “Nipples”.

One more thing, I had a bunch of people contact me by email about the last few posts and their own issues with FB and censorship. I invite any and all of you who read my posts to add your comments here on the blog page and help move the conversation forward.

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On The Media just broadcast     The Facebook Show      Check it out to get an inside look at this privately controlled entity that has such a public impact and now has almost 1 billion users after only 6 years of existence. My favorite factoid might be about the guy who got FB to give him a copy of all the information they keep on him and it totaled up to 1,200 pages of data.

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A few months ago I was led to the art of Scott Fray. I don’t know Scott, and he was not one of the artists that contacted me about the recent censorship posts. His work is beautiful, breathtaking, championship winning, and apparently not appropriate for Facebook. See an article about his own problems with FB:  http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-12740-ufffdwe-are-the-champions-of-the-worldufffd.html

From the article, regarding what happens when Facebook bans your work: “Unfortunately, their Terms of Use are rather ambiguous, at least their policy toward bodypainted images. There seems to be no differentiation between nudity and what many (but obviously not all) would consider art. Nor is there any clear explanation on their FAQ page. The form e-mail the four received stated: ‘You uploaded a photo that violates our Terms of Use, and this photo has been removed. Facebook does not allow photos that attack an individual or group, or that contain nudity, drug use, violence, or other violations of the Terms of Use. These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for a users, including the many children who use the site. If you have any questions or concerns, you can [sic] visit our FAQ page at www.facebook.com/help/?topic=wphotos.’  The FAQ page offers nothing in the way of clarification, particularly on where bodypainting falls in that gray area between nudity and art. And, even more unfortunately, the corporate office in Palo Alto, Calif. is unavailable for comment. No fewer than 20 interview requests via phone calls and e-mails from this reporter went unanswered. Granted, Facebook does not seek out offensive comments or photos, rather it waits for someone to report them.

See my fine art bodypainting at  https://thestorybehindthefaces.com/body-painting/

To learn more about our programs and performances:  http://www.agostinoarts.com

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Body Painting on TV in a Superbowl Ad, a Good Thing, Right?

by Christopher Agostino

There’s a godaddy.co TV ad coming for the Superbowl that features body painting, sort of. “Uses” it, really. In line with their Superbowl ads of the past it shows much of an apparently naked women being minimally painted, and invites the viewer to rush to their website to see just how the naked the model really is. Because, as we all know, the only reason to body paint a women is to get her naked. Oh well.

When I heard there was a Superbowl ad with body painting I thought that might be a real good thing, get some quality body art into the public eye on a big stage, (like that cool series of ads with the  painted clothes being washed off to sell plumbing equipment) but although this is disappointing I think that’s all it is, an opportunity missed rather than any kind of blight on the good name of body painting. The salacious nature of too much body painting is too available for any of us to be too sensitive when someone makes a mockery of the art to sell sex in a TV ad.

It says something about our bizarro cultural values that it is apparently profitable to spend hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars using body paint to tease an audience about the possibility of seeing a naked breast yet photographs of fully painted breast cancer survivors get banned on Facebook. That’s what I was looking into, researching that censorship issue regarding the Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project photos and Facebook (see the previous post http://wp.me/p1sRkg-r0) when I ran across the godaddy ad. Maybe that’s why the ad didn’t annoy me as much as it might, because the juxtaposition of those two uses of body art is so absurd. The body painting community has a long way to go to fully elevate its status above accusations of pornography when such an obviously positive social act as painting breast cancer survivors to help them reclaim their self image is cast in that light, and when a Superbowl TV ad presenting the biggest media exposure that body art is going to get explicitly uses it as an invitation to see something pornographic.

The godaddy thing is not much of a surprise. American advertising has always used sex to sell product, and if in the minds of the public “body painting = sex” than ads like this are to be expected. If there is a battle to be fought I think it is on the other end, when positive, artistic examples of body art are censored. Ultimately, I think it is the public’s exposure to the quality and significance of the art that will elevate the status of body painting. This is why the censorship issue with Facebook seems more troubling to me than seeing the art misused by godaddy. It is so inappropriate for Facebook to ban the body painting photos of brave breast cancer survivors who made the choice to appear topless as art. These are women with their bodies transformed by circumstances of disease beyond their control, taking new control of their bodies by allowing their new bodies to be seen naked, protected by the art they are wearing, and that should be respected, not vilified. They should be celebrated. That’s the ad that should be on TV during the Superbowl.

 

Some bodypainting in commercial videos:

Carolyn Roper’s very fun work in an Irish National Lottery commercial:  http://wp.me/p1sRkg-gG

Air New Zealand “Nothing to Hide” video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH3OEi4mG8g and their “Bare Essentials” safety video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7-Mq9HAE62Y   Carmel McCormick is the bodypainter for the ads, find her work at: New Zealand Body Art.  (www.carmelsbodyart.co.nz/)

See my fine art bodypainting at  https://thestorybehindthefaces.com/body-painting/

To learn more about our programs and performances:  http://www.agostinoarts.com

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Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project and SURVIVORS Magazine

Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project

by Christopher Agostino

Click on this link  http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/257729  to be able to download for free the digital version Premiere Issue of SURVIVORS magazine, featuring an extensive article on and images from the Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project founded by Michael D. Colanero. Go to this link: http://www.cafepress.com/BCABPP  to see the gallery of bodypaintings and click on each image for additional information and an array of available products to purchase in support of various Breast Cancer causes and foundations.

Cindy Papale Lead Model and Project Cornerstone as her portrait “Ribbon in the Sky”.

I only became aware of this project recently as I saw the link to the free Survivor magazine and downloaded it. You have to log into the HP Magcloud site to get the free download, but it is easy enough to do and well worth it. The painted bodies and photographs of the process are beautiful. The final images are a combination of body painting (Keegan Hitchcock is doing some remarkable work as the main artist) and Michael D. Colanero’s digital painting and effects, and the magazine’s exposition on the process involved is valuable information for a bodypainter. But the greater value of the magazine is in the stories of the breast cancer survivors featured in the paintings. If you are a bodypainter or, like me, have cancer survivors among the people you love, get the magazine, check out this wonderful project.

To alter our body through art is to take control of our self-image, and the image we project to the world as well. This is the heart of the project and such an admirable use of body painting. Although I’ve never had the privilege of being involved in a project of this magnitude I’ve talked with the people I’ve painted about how that act affected their feelings about their own bodies. I’ve talked with models about how empowering it can be to be painted, and to be seen painted, and I invite any of you to add to this post your comments about your experience being painted. I also believe that this is an art not meant to be restricted to just the youthful perfect models we all so often paint (including me). We give in too easily to this cultural notion of what is or isn’t beautiful when really we all are, and all  of our bodies deserve to be celebrated as art.

About the Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project (BCABPP), from the article in Survivor magazine:

“…this unique and collaborative project is a form of art therapy that affects deep and sometimes profound changes in the participant model, but also reaches out beyond them – touching those that see it. Viewers are moved not only by the art itself, but also the energy projected by each of these inspiring survivors. The Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project: A Fine Art & Photography Essay of Survivors is a project that has been in progress since January of 2009. So far 25 brave breast cancer survivors have come forward to participate. They have come to South Florida from several states around the U.S. and one flew in from Australia – with other interested women in Canada and parts of Europe as well. The project initially started to create a single image but it was instantly obvious that would never be enough. So, the concept evolved into a calendar – 12 images – but that still wasn’t enough! Then the goal was set… a coffee table book with 50 survivor images accompanied by a page each with the individual survivor bio and story. Perfect!

The project will illustrate cancer’s total lack of any mercy or prejudice regarding who and when it strikes. BCABPP hopes to spotlight survivors from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life, and from as far away as we can attract them. It includes survivors of all ages, shapes & sizes during various stages of their process of pre, post or non reconstructive options. All the designs are custom made for each survivor and relate in some way to their character traits, personality, passions, interests or other aspects of their story. All of these are created in a way that also translates to the larger breast cancer experience. Describing a myriad of moods, emotions, thoughts and fears in common to many survivors. Some themes are light, positive and inspiring while others may be a bit deeper, darker and thought provoking – still others single out a specific issue such as early detection, or genetics. All are unique individuals with assorted stories – but with many common threads of high points, low points, hurdles, setbacks and milestones making up the tapestry of survivorship.”  

In the video clip, model/survivor Doris Jelinek talks about the empowering choice involved in this extraordinary image

The images in the series are available as fine art prints and framed pieces with 15% of the profits being donated. They are currently on exhibit at UNCOMMON Gallery; 2713 East Commercial Blvd.; Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308. Additional products such as coffee mugs, mousepads, journal books, calendars and greeting cards just to name a few are available at http://www.cafepress.com/BCABPP with 100% of the profits of these products being donated to various Breast Cancer causes and foundations. 

You can find the images in a higher resolution here: http://pinterest.com/dorisjelinek/breast-cancer-awareness/

creator / photographer / digital artist Michael D. Colanero www.uncommonstock.net

Lead Body Painter / Make-up Artist Keegan Hitchcock www.bodyartbykeegan.com

Body Painter / Make-up Artist Luci Ungerbuehler www.twofacedart.com

Here is a video about the project from a local PBS station: “The ArtStreet segment was produced by Shirley Ravachi a breast cancer survivor herself as well as a future participant in the project. Four women, all survivors with various circumstances, diagnosis and states of reconstruction come together over two days to participate in the project and be filmed and interviewed for this short PBS segment. Day one was Doris (Releasing the Spell) and Maria (Warrior) while day two was Melissa (Pink Cheshire) and Dawn (Tribute). All the survivors provide short interviews and are covered in behind the scenes images of the body painting process and the actual photo shoots to create the images. Also interviewed are Michael D. Colanero – the project creator, designer, photographer and digital artist, as well as the project Lead Body Painter and creative collaborator Keegan Hitchcock. Lucianne “Luci” Ungerbuehler also painted one of the survivors on day two (Tribute)” (—from the station’s website).

Go to the BCABPP You Tube channel for more videos: www.youtube.com/BCABPP

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Banned on Facebook — sign the petition

There is a secondary issue here, one which a number of body artists have been confronting, and in this case it is very unfortunate that the project has achieved more publicity due to being censored on Facebook than because of its merits.

The issue of censorship rises from the continually vexing question of whether a painted body is art, or whether it is naked—vexing to a section of the American public, or, perhaps, vexing to the perceived morals of the American public by the giants that run social media. I had a You Tube video of one of the painted body performances at FABAIC deemed “age-restricted” by You Tube, apparently just based on some viewer clicking a button as they watched it—and when they do that You Tube doesn’t contact you and give you any opportunity to defend the content or make an argument, it’s just an “off with their heads” kind of Royal Decree. If you have not yet yourself run afoul of the censorship process going on within the social media giants, this still concerns you. Here is some information about the BCABPP having images banned on Facebook and a link to their petition about it:

“The images from the BCABPP have been banned on Facebook citing nudity and pornography. Please sign this petition to help us fight the ban and bring Hope and Inspiration back with these beautiful images of Survivors.”

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/bcabpp—breast-cancer-awareness-body-painting-project/

"Agony & Beauty" -- model/survivor Jamie Inman, see her quote here

From one of the model/survivors, Jamie Inman, on the experience of being censored on Facebook:  “This morning, Facebook deleted a photo of a magazine cover that featured me for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As a full time advocate for breast cancer awareness, I am reliant on social media to help people become educated on the devastating effects of this disease. There was no notification, no inquiry as to the photo’s origins, no polite request to take it down. They simply deleted it, along with 5 of my other photos featuring cancer survivors. In each of these photos, the outlines of our bodies are visible but our breasts are fully covered by body paint. Flesh tones and nipples (which many of us no longer have) are completely and tastefully concealed under the incredible artwork of renowned photographer Michael D. Colanero and body painter Keegan Hitchcock. There are countless Facebook ads that appear unsolicited showing women in sexually suggestive poses far more revealing than my photos. Millions of men appear bare chested on Facebook with no fear of recourse.

As a two time survivor of cancer, I am hurt and offended. As an advocate and speaker, I am determined to speak out against one of the largest human networks in the world standing between people and information that can save lives. Facebook’s entirely irresponsible process of removing content based on unsubstantiated complaints without review is endangering the public health. Facebook is no longer just a fun distraction; it is a source of news and information that hundreds of millions worldwide rely on. With this success comes a responsibility to approach free speech and advocacy for public health in a more cautious and deliberate manner. I want to know how Facebook plans to live up to their responsibility to protect free speech and ensure that an open and informative dialog can take place on their network.”

From a Huffington Post article: “Colanero was devastated over the images’ removal, and the negative effects being labelled ‘pornographic’ will have on the cancer survivors. In an interview with the Huffington Post, he was quick to note that the figures were inspirational, not obscene and that they were not nude since they were painted….Most of the media attention the Body Painting Project is receiving is centered around the censorship controversy and less about the courage and inspiration of the women themselves. Colanero expressed his frustration of the negativity now associated with the project, and how it has distracted from the plights and accomplishments of the survivors.”   www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/breast-cancer-body-painti_n_1074725.html?ref=social-life

Two articles of mine on the issue of the acceptance of nudity in body art: is a painted body naked?  http://wp.me/p1sRkg-5Q

is a painted body naked ? – Pt.2: Painting Clothing On vs. Painting on Clothing:  http://wp.me/p1sRkg-6v

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