ACHIM MENTZEN — LIVING SCULPTURE / TRANSPARENCY PROJECT
One project. One name. One body. One public work.
Living Sculpture and Transparency Project are one single public art project by Achim Mentzen.
The core is radically simple: one's own body is not hidden but consciously used as the material of a live performance. Nudity is neither a secret nor a punchline, but a visible part of the artistic inquiry.
The human body is not obscene.
The project explores nudity, shame, social norms, the public, the gaze, objectification and bodily self-determination.
The seven days
The central format is a seven-day continuous performance. Within the agreed performance area, sleeping, eating, personal care, conversations, rest and everyday actions can become part of the work.
The public is not just a backdrop. Observation, questions, irritation, approval, objection and conversation can be documented parts of the work.
Objectification
One's own body may be looked at and perceived as a visible object. This is a deliberate artistic theme.
Objectification does not mean giving up self-determination here. Achim Mentzen himself decides on the place, duration, frame, consent, documentation and limits of each performance.
Radical transparency
Radical transparency means visibility without an anonymous art persona. The name Achim Mentzen is part of the project.
It explicitly does not mean forcing other people to do anything. House rights, the law, safety, consent and clear boundaries remain in place.
No substitute body
The work depends on the artist's real presence. No performer and no anonymous figure replaces the artist, unless a specific performance is explicitly designed otherwise.
Performance is not a sexual service
The project may explore social ideas about sexuality, body and shame. However, a performance is agreed as art and not offered as a sexual service.
Purpose of publication
The project is meant to be findable internationally, documented and repeatedly visible: through its own website, project archives, press, art and performance contexts, open calls, cultural calendars and suitable media.
Truth before reach. Repeatability before one-off events. Visibility without deception.
Contact
Website: https://achimmentzen.github.io/
Project archive: https://github.com/achimmentzen/Transparenzprojekt