The Naked Truth is a collaborative project by Antone Dolezal & Lara Shipley, set in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This project combines traditional, manipulated, and performative photographs, video, and sound in close dialogue with a historical archive, resurrecting the period of the Great Depression when the Victorian era Crescent Hotel was turned into a fake cancer curing hospital by “Dr.” Norman Baker, an egomaniacal charlatan exploiting the terminally ill and economically desperate.
Baker began his career as a traveling hypnotist and illusionist, later finding wealth and fame as an ambitious radio personality who railed against the American Medical Association and touted his own “cure” for cancer (a serum he stole from another charlatan). For Baker, Eureka Springs was the perfect place to set up a business based on magic. The town was founded on the belief that its natural spring water had magical healing properties. The small valley town enjoyed a brief period of prosperity before falling into extreme crisis during the Great Depression, creating a climate of desperation that Baker saw ripe for exploitation.
We began this project as a reflection on the Trump presidency, noting similarities in the character of Baker. These similarities seem more startling than ever, as we experience first-hand the horror of physical and economic reliance on narcissists who tout misleading conspiracy theories and false medical cures for personal gain. By looking at this strange account of American history, we see 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.
