The seductive curves of a toned figure are slowly unveiled by the ultimate seamless shave in designer, animator and photographer Bart Hess’s sleek new film. Inspired by the aerodynamic forms of swimmers currently battling it out in the Olympic pool, Hess was aided by a pair of human shavers manipulating a two-meter long blade in turning a mechanical act of grooming into a strangely hypnotic performance. “What is important to me in my work is a sense of estranging,” admits Hess, who added the white bar in post-production to compound the uncanny feel of the film. “I want to show the spectator an image that may not be recognizable right away.” Collaborating on textiles with designers like Ann Sofie Back and Iris van Herpen, and sculpting unique outfits for photographer Nick Knight’s editorials for AnOther Magazine and US Vogue, Hess is known for his experimental treatment of materials, like the 15Ib slime dress created for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way album and video. “Normally within my work I am looking for the limits of a material,” says Hess. “But in this film I was looking for the limits of the shaving ritual by scaling it up to include the whole body.” Here, Hess takes NOWNESS beneath the skin of his shoot. 

STATS FROM ON SET 

Location
Studio Bart Hess, Canalstreet, Eindhoven, Netherlands.

Shoot duration
Ten hours. 

Cast
One male model, one director, one cameraman, and two shavers.

Amount of shaving cream used
Twenty-eight cans.

Cuts from shaving
Five.

Body surface covered in foam
2.1m².

Amount of hairs shaved during the shoot
Approximately 24,000.

Closeness of shave
0.0001cm.

Wardrobe
Supermarket b-brand shaving-foam; one tiny pair of Speedos to avoid cuts to the more sensitive body parts.

Sound effects
Manipulated real-life shaving sounds.

Shaving appliance
Two-meter-long metal blade.

Olympic record to beat
21.3 seconds (men's 50 meters freestyle). 

Potential health hazards
Choking on the foam (luckily the model was a swimmer so he could hold his breath).


Director's motivational speech
“You are brilliant! Let's do that three more times!”