Downtown hippie audiences had become so saturated with spectacle that nude body-painting barely registered

Evidence

According to “Scenes,” “several others stepped forward into the purple glow, stripping to the waist [and] began painting themselves. The crowd went on eating popcorn and apples and smiling and dancing. A few stood watching. But for the most part, it was nothing they hadn’t seen before.” Then, one boy “deeply moved by having his torso daubed, decided to escalate. He removed his pants.” — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 1172

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the book’s argument about avant-garde saturation; connects to other claims about how cultural overproduction normalizes shock.