The Naked Truth
       
     
       
     
       
     
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The Naked Truth
       
     
The Naked Truth

A collaborative project by Antone Dolezal & Lara Shipley

The Naked Truth is set in the Victorian spa town of Eureka Springs, AR, a place founded on the desire for magical healing. During the Great Depression, in the height of economic despair, a stranger promised to bring salvation in the form of an empty hotel, converted to a cancer curing hospital. Only the man was not a doctor, and his trademark cure, Formula 5, could not heal.

The story of the valley town is not unusual. Opportunities have always lay waiting in desperation for those without the moral qualms to resist. We recognized in this history parallels with America today; a place that continues to suffer from economic instability, questionable truths driving political discourse, and dangerous magical thinking that offers easy solutions to complex realities.

Inspired by superstition, the story of a trickster that is part truth and part myth, and a hotel that was once the illusion of a hospital, The Naked Truth explores the fine line between reality and illusion that can be used to marvel or exploit. It aims to challenge our faith in manufactured saviors and the evidence we employ to make sense of the world. By giving a glimpse into this small corner of America’s past, we seek to unveil a world that exposes the wonder, trauma and eccentric realities reverberating across contemporary America today.

For more of Lara Shipley’s work, visit: www.larashipley.com

       
     

       
     
Norman_Broken.jpg
       
     
Mentalism.jpg
       
     
Baker_Gov.jpg
       
     
       
     

       
     

Crescent-1.jpg
       
     
Smithsonian_Formula5_19.jpg
       
     
Smithsonian_Formula5_5.jpg
       
     
Dining Room_02-web.jpg
       
     
       
     

       
     

       
     

Jar_2.jpg
       
     
Crescent_Hot_Springs.jpg
       
     
Dining_Room_Theatre-bw.jpg
       
     
Norma_2.jpg
       
     
Smithsonian_Formula5_8.jpg
       
     
Parlor_Trick_3-lo-res.gif
       
     
Smithsonian_Formula5_11.jpg
       
     
normans-suite.jpg
       
     
Baker_Desk.jpg
       
     
       
     

       
     

Dr McNutt Hypnotized Patient mus675.jpg
       
     
TNT_Phamplet_01.jpg
       
     
Norman_Archive_New_02-web.jpg
       
     
       
     

(Video Excerpt)
by Antone Dolezal & Lara Shipley
w/ actor Keith Scales