Would you eat food off of a naked body?: Local event, Food & Form, has nothing – and everything – to do with nudity

By Melissa Karen Sances
For the Valley Advocate

To Coco Bustin, the body is a beautiful vessel. She first came to appreciate it in figure drawing classes at Tufts University, where she met every curve and contour with wonder. Nudity, she realized, was an artistic invitation. As a natural foodie, she gravitated toward nyotaimori, or the Japanese art of eating sushi off a naked woman’s body. When she hosted such an event and the model canceled last minute, Bustin boldly transformed from artist to canvas, a vulnerable, full-circle experience that would inform her vision for Food & Form.

Six years later, the founder of Art as Experience is poised to unveil a “social experiment” that will engage multiple senses and break down barriers around bodies. On Sept. 7, she will host the second annual Food & Form event in Worthington. There will be locally sourced food. There will be llamas. And yes, there will be nudity.

Intimate relations

Bustin intends to give tradition a modern spin. The practice of nyotaimori typically involves female models, who are instructed to lie quiet and still. (Some detractors insist that this practice objectifies women.) The creative director of Food & Form wants to honor all bodies with a male, female, and non-binary model, with whom fully-clothed guests are encouraged to engage. “When you’re eating off of them, you’re coming up to them very intimately,” says Bustin, who grew up in Milton and now lives in Northampton. “We’re making them feel comfortable and more than just a platter. They are human in this experience.”

She encourages the models to share how they are feeling in the moment, and has a body worker on-site if anyone needs a minute to tap out. Last year, the models were more relaxed than the guests. Many of the 85 attendees “came to the space pretty trepidatious”; some were compelled to ask for permission to take food each time that they approached. Everyone came together after the meal to honor the offerings.

This year’s collaborative part of the event, where guests tap into their own creativity, is a surprise element that will incorporate another of Bustin’s loves, flowers, to express gratitude for the models’ generosity. “I like to invite people into the art-making process,” she says, “to have the guests feel that they contributed to something beautiful.”

Safety in numbers

“We have so much to learn about how to treat bodies,” says Chantelle Castano, who lives in Oxford and is the creative manager of the event and the owner of Soluna Medicines. The holistic artist points out that nudity is often conflated with sexuality, but that making nude bodies the centerpiece of Food & Form is about holding them sacred. (When guests buy tickets, they are asked to fill out a questionnaire stressing this distinction.) She says that the night will be a “full-sensory experience” that includes jazz music and two DJs, performance art, nature and a bonfire, so that guests can engage with art in whatever ways feel comfortable. “So many beautiful conversations happen around the bonfire,” she says, noting that it blazes all night for guests who want to camp out and continue the party until noon the next day.

This year, Castano and her friend Marie Murry will offer interactive performances throughout the evening. “Collaborative art is the name of the game,” she says, noting that art in community allows for more spaciousness, more possibility. “I’d rather play an instrument in a band than be a solo act. I’d rather be a performer able to walk through the crowd than stay on stage.”

Castano hopes that others feel comfortable enough to feel curious. A recent conversation with her adolescent niece, who cringed at the mere idea of food on a naked body, reminded her of how far she has come in her own relationship to nudity.

“As someone who has experienced trauma to my body throughout the years, I could hardly be naked by myself,” she says. Her move to a retreat center led to a breakthrough. For 10 months, she lived among people who regularly went nude, but who never pushed her to disrobe; in fact, they offered to put clothes on if that would make her feel more comfortable. “I never want to ask you to cover your body,” she told them, and today she is fiercely committed to helping others feel safe to feel free.

Two vibes collide

Bustin and Castano are BIPOC artists who began pushing boundaries together in college. Castano, who attended Boston University, was walking her cat one day when a man told her that his friend Coco would be delighted by her vibe. “She was always up to some sort of shenanigans, trying to make life as creative and unique as possible,” says Castano. The two met – sans cat – and ended up hosting many art parties together. After going their separate ways, they reconnected in 2022 and began holding nude body retreats before collaborating on Food & Form.

Castano points out that the event is a way to shift the culture like a nonviolent communication workshop might, but without “being so on-the-nose.” Reciprocity is built into the event rather than defining it. It also helps her and Bustin reflect on themselves. “We both want to know who we are and why, and to be open to more love and life and beauty and experiences.”

A culinary ode to western Mass

The event’s seasoned chefs, Kory Behrens and Zack Novak, who are from Northampton and Sunderland, respectively, crossed paths two years ago and immediately connected. Behrens’ work has brought him to Japan, and Novak remembers fondly how his Polish great aunt cooked “magical stinky food” for the family; both deeply appreciate food’s cultural significance and its aesthetic appeal.

The five-course meal they serve will be an ode to western Massachusetts. “There’s just such good stuff around here; you owe it to it to make it shine,” says Behrens. The pair will focus on seasonal favorites, like corn, tomatoes and apples, using every part of the food to make self-contained dishes that can hold up at room temperature on three bodies.

“It’s like taking a palate of paint and seeing what you can do with it,” says Novak.

Behrens considers himself lucky to serve high-end creatives for whom food isn’t just a meal, but art in itself. Last year’s guests traveled from Boston, Providence, New York and Connecticut.

Novak notes that he wants to create dishes that will allow guests to linger over the food to heighten the experience of eating. And that while he and Behrens are creating atmosphere, they will be part of the whole gestalt.

“They didn’t just call catering and have a bunch of crackers put out on the people,” he says. “We’re going to be an equal part of it, actually building an experience together with other artists.”

As for the nudity, the two haven’t given it much thought beyond the logistics and aesthetics of plating food on a person. “It hasn’t even registered,” says Behrens. “I don’t know if it’s because I live in western Mass, but it doesn’t seem like a thing for me.”

Cultivating hope

This year’s event will take place in Worthington on the property of an herbalist whose land features a river and roaming llamas. (The address is shared with guests upon ticket purchase.) Bustin notes that the property includes a full room dedicated to costumes that the staff may utilize. Some of the herbs on the property will be incorporated into the food and cocktails.

Upon arrival, guests are encouraged to mingle and explore the property. Dinner will be served to live jazz over the course of two hours. After the ritual to thank the bodies, DJs will host a dance party into the next day. Guests are invited to camp out, grill and swim in the river.

Last year, Bustin found a group of guests enjoying the water naked. “It was still this very nonsexual experience that was amazing to see,” she says. (Guests are invited to come dressed in evening attire, with room for flexibility “in the right circumstances.”)

“I heard the word ‘hope’ a few times,” says Castano. “It was a very hopeful experience to be with a group of almost 100 including staff, all coming together in the name of art and food and the body.”

For safety reasons, the event is invite-only, meaning that the hosts want to check out who the guests are on Facebook before confirming. Participants will get a guest list, and the staff is equipped to support people as needed throughout the evening.

The hosts hope guests leave with a sense of respect for what’s ordinary and extraordinary about bodies. “Being a spirit in a human body is the most spiritual experience you could have,” says Castano. “It’s a spiritual vessel for life.”

“Why is it that nudity makes us so uncomfortable,” asks Bustin, “when it’s just so normal in the end?”

Want to attend Food & Form? Email foodandformevent@gmail.com expressing interest, and the hosts will send you a discount code and invitation.

Melissa Karen Sances lives in western Mass, where she is writing a memoir as well as feature stories about extraordinary people. Reach her at melissaksances@gmail.com.