WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA.- cultureEDIT announced LIVE NUDE DANCING, a collaboration between photographer Daniel Trese, choreographer Ryan Heffington and animator Johnny Woods. Commissioned by MOCAtv, the film is based on a piece from Heffington’s critically acclaimed show KTCHN that premiered on May 3rd at Mack Sennet Studios in Los Angeles. Inspired by the characters of Nolan Hendrickson’s paintings, KTCHN bridged the gap between a dance-performance, a contemporary art installation, a fashion show and a killer dance party that explored celebrity culture, human loneliness, public versus private image and new elements of drag and queer culture. LIVE NUDE DANCING airs on MOCAtv as part of the channel’s Artist Video Projects strand which features special commissions and innovative artist video collaborations. The video can be seen here.

In LIVE NUDE DANCING, the leading character becomes consumed by newfound fame. He starts off arrogant, cocky and confident, seemingly knowing that he has the seductive qualities to become a star. He works his moves, stellar presence and dresses to impress – serenading his audience. As he takes on his public persona, we enter on-and-off dual realities narrated through extraordinary use of animation. One follows his intrinsic experiences and submission to fame, and the other his determination to maintain his status. Success quickly turns into greed, taking over his famished personality and clouded ego.

The camera and the public eye become his worst enemy. Their ownership of his life turns absolute as he performs in tandem with the stream of cash, desperately holding on to his stardom trough degrading cheap tricks and thrills. At the point of saturation, money slows down, and his exhausted need for attention and validation leads to a state of desperation that have his fans and the celebrity machine pull away from their desired super star. Left alone, naked and defeated, he is brought down to his knees scrambling for leftover cash, and ultimately becomes a victim of his own doing.

Trese’s film functions as an extension of a specific scene from KTCHN based on Hendrickson’s painting LIVE RESORT WEAR, a flattened representation of human desperation and the attempts to conceal and defeat it when placed in the public eye.

Daniel Trese is a Los Angeles based photographer and filmmaker whose work is strongly rooted in independent publishing and has been featured in group exhibitions across the United Sates and Internationally in London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Sao Paolo. A short list of clients include American Apparel, Bvlgari, CRUSHfanzine, LACMA, Mercedes-Benz, MOCA, The New York Times, Nowness, Paris/La, Pin-Up, The Plant Journal and The Travel Almanac.

Ryan Heffington is a Los Angeles based performance artist and choreographer who has for the past ten years spearheaded a movement across alternative and mainstream culture though an array of dance and dance related events in underground clubs and museums (and everywhere in between). His work has been presented at leading Los Angeles institutions including the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, LACMA, Hammer Museum, Walt Disney Concert Hall, REDCAT and MOCA. Heffington is founder of the Sweat Spot, artistic co-director of the critically acclaimed Hysterica Dance Company and a member of the music/dance collective WE ARE THE WORLD, which has toured throughout North America and Europe.

Johnny Woods is a Los Angeles based animator and director whose work combines analog video technology with 3d CGI and other digital techniques. He has presented work at MOMA, LACMA, the Hirshhorn Museum, ICA (Philadelphia), The Museum of Sex, Austin Museum of Digital Art, and online at MOCAtv. Additionally, he has performed or exhibited his work at the Sydney Opera House, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Nocturnal Wonderland, and various small clubs and venues across the United States.

Nolan Hendrickson is a New York based painter whose work takes aim at contemporary culture in urban society with an unsettling, lascivious and deadpan funny point of view. While straddling a host of issues, from controversial sexual vulgarity to the gay adoption of the traditionally feminized position of the “inferior,” he ultimately creates cohesion in his work with his use of vivid color and highly relevant wit. Solo exhibitions of Hendrickson’s work have been presented in New York at Ramiken Crucible and Zach Feuer Gallery.