- Title: AUSTRALIA: 5,200 strip naked on the steps of the Sydney Opera House
- Date: 1st March 2010
- Summary: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (MARCH 1, 2010) (REUTERS) NAKED VOLUNTEERS ON SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE STEPS VARIOUS OF GROUPS OF VOLUNTEERS POSING OPERA HOUSE STEPS COVERED WITH NAKED VOLUNTEERS SPENCER TUNICK TAKING PICTURE VOLUNTEERS TURNING THEIR BACKS PHOTOGRAPHER VARIOUS OF VOLUNTEERS LYING DOWN ON OPERA HOUSE STEPS TUNICK GIVING INSTRUCTIONS VARIOUS VOLUNTEERS LYING DOWN MEDIA AT EVENT VOLUNTEERS HUGGING FOR PHOTO MEDIA FILM VOLUNTEERS TUNICK CLIMBING ON LADDER VOLUNTEERS WALKING TOWARDS HARBOUR BRIDGE VOLUNTEERS IN FRONT OF OPERA HOUSE ENTRANCE TUNICK AND CREW VOLUNTEERS POSING TUNICK TAKING PICTURE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST PHOTOGRAPHER, SPENCER TUNICK, SAYING: "This is a great work you know, I don't have that many opportunities when I go above 3000, maybe I have ten works where I've gone above that, so one day, I would like to have an exhibit of works that I do with three or 4000 and above. It's very difficult to get that many people, so maybe I'm getting closer to having a body of work which is larger than three or 4000 people." VARIOUS OF VOLUNTEERS POSING VOLUNTEERS CLAPPING AND LEAVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEERS SAYING: "Awesome to see, you know, there's pregnant women out here, people with their babies, all so natural and human, it's great." (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEVEN ANGLIER, FRENCH SYDNEY RESIDENT, SAYING: "I thought it could be a bit awkward at first to dress down and have people looking at you, but it's funny because when you're naked but everybody else is naked, you feel like you're dressed up because everybody looks the same, so no one is looking at no one else. So it's really, it's really a weird experience because you think there could be something sexual behind, but there's not." MAN GETTING DRESSED
- Embargoed: 16th March 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Australia
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA9VUJXL9LG72UFDXBMTQEGL0CC
- Story Text: Organisers said 5,200 people stripped naked on Monday morning (March 1) on the steps of the Sydney Opera House to take part in an art project.
"Mardi Gras: The Base", the latest Spencer Tunick installation was commissioned by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Rugby players, retirees, doctors, sailors, teachers and even a pregnant woman with twins, who was rushed to hospital after the installation to give birth, participated in the event.
Organizers said the steps of the Opera House were transformed into "a base of human flesh".
"Awesome to see, you know, there's pregnant women out here, people with their babies, all so natural and human, it's great," said an unidentified volunteer.
Tunick said his inspiration for the installation came from the particular architecture of the iconic Sydney Opera House as well a Sydney's acceptance of its gay, lesbian and multicultural communities.
He was very happy with the turnout.
"This is a great work you know, I don't have that many opportunities when I go above 3000, maybe I have ten works where I've gone above that, so one day, I would like to have an exhibit of works that I do with three or 4,000 and above. It's very difficult to get that many people, so maybe I'm getting closer to having a body of work which is larger than three or 4,000 people," Tunick said.
Some volunteers said they were a bit uneasy at first when they started taking off their clothes, but soon relaxed.
"I thought it could be a bit awkward at first to dress down and have people looking at you, but it's funny because when you're naked but everybody else is naked, you feel like you're dressed up because everybody looks the same, so no one is looking at no one else. So it's really, it's really a weird experience because you think there could be something sexual behind, but there's not," said Steven Anglier, a French Sydney resident who put a wig on so he could recognise himself in the photo.
Tunick also took photos inside the Opera House, but those photos won't be released for another three months.
He is well known around the world for his nude installations in urban areas placing his models in artistic poses.
His largest installation was in Mexico on May 6, 2007, where he photographed 18,000 people on Mexico city's Zocalo Square. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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