Baltimore performance artist Psuperhamb, who goes by “Ham,” says he was punched in the face during a three-day naked protest in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.
Ham, whose legal name was not reported, stood on a small platform at Houston and Crosby Streets from Sept. 5 through Sept. 8 wearing nothing but handwritten messages across his bare skin. One message read “Use less to fight progress,” a slogan apparently targeting OpenAI’s new office opening on Houston Street.
The artist’s latest stunt drew immediate confrontation from passersby. “What the f–k is wrong with you ‘b’?” one man demanded in a video recorded last Sunday. “You got your s–t out? You know there’s kids, bro.”
Onlookers directed their disgust at Ham’s exposed body as well as his message. “I wouldn’t be flaunting that,” one woman advised. Her companion added a sharper insult: “I can’t even see it, it’s so small.”
Ham later described physical violence beyond verbal abuse. “Someone pushed me off of my platform multiple times and then when I got back on he punched me in the face and ran away,” he said. The artist also claimed he was involuntarily transported to a psychiatric ward on Sept. 8 and held for six hours of evaluation before release.
The NYPD has not confirmed any assault against Ham or his psychiatric detention. The department offered only a general statement on the legality of such performances. “Public nudity in connection with expressive activity is not necessarily unlawful; whether particular conduct constitutes a violation of law depends on the specific facts and circumstances,” the NYPD said.
Ham has established a pattern of using his own body as a provocative canvas in New York City. Last year, the Baltimore-based artist stripped to his underwear and socks and stood in freezing temperatures to raise money for an engagement ring. That earlier performance, like the SoHo stunt, relied on public discomfort and viral documentation to amplify its message.
The Sept. 5-8 demonstration unfolded as artificial intelligence companies expand their physical presence in major cities, with OpenAI’s Houston Street office becoming a symbolic target for tech criticism. Ham’s platform-based format — standing still, nearly silent, letting his body and its painted messages speak — invited direct engagement from pedestrians who could not easily avoid the spectacle.
Whether the punch Ham described was reported to police remains unclear, and no arrest has been announced in connection with the alleged assault. The artist’s claim of psychiatric detention also lacks official confirmation, leaving open questions about how authorities responded to complaints during the final hours of his protest.
Ham’s work occupies a contested legal and cultural space where First Amendment protections for expressive conduct collide with public decency norms and the practical realities of city sidewalks shared by children, commuters, and tourists.
The artist has not announced his next performance.