SHORTS AND TO THE POINT: Narcissister’s NARCISSISTER BREAST WORK shows that New Yorkers can somehow manage to go about their day despite a topless woman walking next to them on the sidewalk

The latest film project by performance artist and sexual provocateur, Narcissister, NARCISSISTER BREAST WORK just debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.  

The film focuses on the exercise by women utilizing their lawful right in New York City to bare their breasts in public. This is done by way of various women and one trans-male, in walking, riding a bike, etc. – more or less, simply being out and about in the city without a top on, but wearing the face mask that has become the Narcissister signature. The film could not be more simple in concept: Turn on the camera, then have the model, while wearing the mask, take off their shirt and see what happens.

While the purported goal or object of the film is to serve as an investigation into how prohibitions on female toplessness are grounded in a fear of, and desire to control, the female body, what actually comes out of it is something that is actually pretty like affirming, I believe. Of course, I say that as a former resident of New York City, who loved the personality of that city. Scene after scene, location after location, Narcissister stand-ins strip down and start walking and…no one cares. Occasionally, an eyebrow will be raised and someone will smile and that’s it. No men immediately feel compelled to latch on to her and start furiously humping away (as I assume Mike Pence and his ilk believe would surely happen), and from everything I can gather no other civil unrest or plagues courtesy of invisible men in the sky occur either. The point is made in the film that underlying laws forcing women to cover up is the idea that women’s bodies are shameful, and what NARCISSITER BREAST WORK demonstrates is the ridiculousness of that notion. There is a comic irony in the mundane and unexciting nature of what transpires. New Yorkers are more interested in their cell phones and their daily business than they are in catching a glimpse of free-range boobies. I guess that’s another reason why it’s one of the greatest cities in the world.

1 NARCISSISTER BREAST WORK is characterized as an “exercise” as opposed to an “experiment” regarding women utilizing their right to bare their breasts in public on the streets of New York City. Could we read into that a preconception by you as to what the reactions or non-reactions would be with the various participants? And if that is the case, were you surprised at all by the reactions to each of the women?

I did this project once before in New York City a number of years ago as a 2 channel video projection so we had some idea of what to expect from both the participants and the passers-by. In both cases the participants (including myself) were nervous and cautious at first but then felt the experience of walking was empowering and exhilarating. Of course the mask helps tons in all of us feeling more at ease and protected- and also the presence of the camera woman walking alongside. As far as public reactions go, in both cases I was most struck by how much cell phone culture defines street life; most people we passed in the street had their faces down looking at the phones and barely noticed a woman with bare breasts passing by!

2 During the filming process, did any conversations pop up with people (especially men) asking why/what you were doing and did that add any insight into the investigation of the theory being explored?

Nobody approached us. However, there were a few hecklers and we included a few of those moments in the cut. Even though we did this in New York City where people are accustomed to seeing film crews and also displays of extroverted and colorful behavior, I still feel and felt the impact of the gesture on those we passed.

3 I was also kind of hoping at some point one of your subjects would walk past New York’s infamous Topless Photographer? Were you aware of her, and if so, did her existence “inform” this project or possibly even help inspire it?

I am not aware of her! The inspiration for the project was that I have lived in New York City since 1993 and had known about the legality of bare breastedness for women on the street. However, I had never once seen a woman exercise her right except at the beach in the summer. I was curious to do a stylized investigation into what would happen if the right was exercised in an every-day way on the street.

4 I admit freely that watching the film made me miss New York (I moved to Dallas five years ago.) because the personality of the city is so readily apparent in the film. Do you think the nature of the city is particularly welcoming to an artist like yourself and encouraging to your work?

I always envisioned the film as a love letter to New York City so I am pleased to read that you feel the film captured the distinct personality and allure of the City. And yes, as we all know New York has a long, storied history of inspiring and encouraging the work of countless artists including myself.

5 This is the second project I am aware of that you have teamed with editor/producer Taryn Gould on. Can you give some insight into how you both work together – both the literal application of director versus editor/producer in this case, as well as the process, the sharing/meshing of philosophies and ambitions with the projects?

It has been a joy to realize how much our strengths complement each other. Taryn has such an innate sense of how to best create narrative flow and such strong instincts and timing when pairing imagery with verbal content. I respect her editing talents so much. As for myself, I bring my experience working as a visual artist to the table- my aesthetics, my imperative to be experimental, my ethos, my clarity about whether the work is original and is achieving the impact I know it can or should achieve. We work really effectively together, which I know can be hard to achieve. And on top of it we appreciate each other as people apart from our work and are close friends! Working together never feels like a chore. We already have another short of our own underway and are in discussion about working collaboratively with another director on a feature.

6 A number of women (and one man) serve as subjects in NARCISSISTER BREAST WORK. Does the film utilize everyone that participated or did some end up on the cutting room floor, so to speak? And if so, why did they not make the cut?

We included everyone except one woman who got too nervous to actually do the bare breasted walk once she took her shirt off! The man is a trans-man who has been in my community of performers for a long time as a friend and collaborator. It was a real gift to have his participation the film and to witness that he still embodied the societally conditioned fear and caution that many of us women felt during this process. And I personally find it poignant to contemplate his phantom breasts that are perhaps still present in the clips of him.

7 The Narcissister mask is instantly distinctive and memorable. Was it the clear “winner” to be the one used for your projects and performances or were there a few masks that needed to be voted on or agonized over before this one was chosen?

I experimented with several other masks at first before quickly realizing this one is the face of the character. I now know the provenance of the mask- this is a longer story- I can tell you if u wish to hear!

8 Popcorn or Candy?

Definitely popcorn.

Narcissister’s NARCISSISTER BREAST WORK shows that New Yorkers can somehow manage to go about their day despite a topless woman