Streaking, action - Running naked in the center of the city, Belgrade
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- Streaking, action - Running naked in the center of the city, Belgrade
- Striking, akcije Trčanje gol u centru grada, Beograd
- 1971
- 3 b&w photographs
- 24 × 32 cm
In the 1970s, a central concern in male body art was the performative side of the naked body, which was often staged for the media of photography and film. One of the first artists to publicly carry out a naked performance in Europe’s then-communist Eastern part was Tomislav Gotovac, whose first appearance as a streaker took place in 1971 when he ran naked down Belgrade’s Sremska Street. This action was supposed be included in a film entitled “Plastic Jesus,” which was eventually banned and supposedly destroyed. About ten years later, in 1981, Gotovac repeated this action in Zagreb as part of an artistic performance entitled “Zagreb, I Love You!” On that occasion, Gotovac came from Ilica Street and walked towards Republic Square—now Ban-Jelačić Square—in order to lie down naked on the ground there and kiss the asphalt as a declaration of his love for the city. W.S.