Eli by Peter - Edition #8

Eli by Peter #8 - ‘For a variety of reasons, we don't allow nudity'

Our story's starting point for this edition of Eli by Peter was the ambiguous relationship of our world with nude art and how that has changed over time.

The nude, as a form of visual art that focuses on the unclothed human figure, is an enduring tradition in art. From prehistory to the earliest civilizations, nude female figures were considered symbols of fertility or well-being. With the arrival of Christianity, nude sculptures all but disappeared from Western art. This changed from the Renaissance era onwards. The interest in naked bodies rekindled. In late modern and contemporary art, the idealized Venus was replaced by the woman intimately portrayed in private settings.

In our times, the image is everywhere, and moral standards are set by culture and commerce. This creates tension between what an artist wants and what companies allow. The following passage comes from the Instagram Community Guidelines (2022): 'We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don't allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples.’

What could never be published online can be shown offline. This Eli by Peter is possibly the most miniature handmade book you have ever seen—filled with male and female nudes that could never make their way to Instagram.

With a big thanks to Mariëlle Gebben for the beautiful edit and Wytze Fopma for his skilled manual binding.