- Title: UK: NEW YORK ARTIST GATHERS HUNDREDS OF NAKED PEOPLE FOR SELFRIDGES PHOTO SHOOT.
- Date: 28th April 2003
- Summary: (EU) LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 27, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. NAMED MEN AND WOMEN WALKING NAKED IN THE COSMETICS DEPARTMENT OF 'SELFRIDGES' DEPARTMENT STORE 2. MEDIUM SHOT OF NAMED PEOPLE MARCHING 3. PEOPLE'S FACES AS THEY ENTER THE COSMETICS DEPARTMENT 4. ARTIST SPENCER TUNICK SPEAKING TO MODELS BEFORE BEGINNING TO FILM, USING A MEGAPHONE 5. WOMAN LISTENING 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST SPENCER TUNICK ADDRESSING THE MODELS, SAYING: "No socks. I know there are some men here that were socks when they are naked." 7. NAKED MODELS TURNING WITH THEIR BACKS TO THE CAMERA 8. MODELS LYING ON THE FLOOR, POSING FOR THE FIRST SESSION 9. STORE STAFF LOOKING AND SMILING 10. MODELS POSING, LYING ON THE FLOOR 11. CLOSE UP PEOPLE'S FACES 12. POSTER ON THE WALL/WIDE SHOT OF PEOPLE POSING ON THE FLOOR 13. SECURITY GUARD WATCHING 14. MODELS WALKING TO ESCALATORS FOR THE NEXT PHOTO 15. WOMEN STANDING AT THE ESCALATORS, LOOKING DOWN 16. PEOPLE STANDING ON THE GROUND FLOOR, LOOKING UP/WIDE OF PEOPLE POSING ON ESCALATORS 17. ARTIST SPENCER TUNICK TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS, TELLING MODELS TO LEAN FORWARD 18. VARIOUS OF MODELS POSING ON ESCALATORS 19. CLOSE UP OF WOMEN'S BACKS, WOMAN LAUGHING 20. PEOPLE POSING ON ESCALATORS 21. PEOPLE STANDING 22. PEOPLE GOING UP ON ESCALATORS 23. PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH CLOTHING DEPARTMENT 24. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MODEL JESSICA SAYING: "It was amazing how quickly everyone took their clothes off and thirty seconds later it was the norm. And everyone was like walking around and like "Oh yeah, that's a really nice tattoo you have got there," So it was good, yeah". 25. MEN'S FEET 26. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MODEL CHRIS SAYING: "When you strip away people's clothes there is just the humanity left and I think it's lovely, and I like what he does". 27. MEN'S BACK AS THE POSE AT THE ACCESSORIES DEPARTMENT 28. MORE MEN POSING 29. TUNICK THANKING MODELS, MODEL GET UP AND CLAP 30. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TUNICK SAYING: "Be consumed is what my, what it's called, it's like being consumed by the product but also in the end the body wins out over the product, and when you see the images in my work, not the work that comes from the press, you understand that the body eventually wins". 31. MEN LEAVING THE ACCESSORIES DEPARTMENT Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 13th May 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVAZZ75TMWSTJMWL4R2UVUFT2OU
- Story Text: Hundreds of naked men and women have paraded between
cosmetics and accessory counters in one of London's most
famous department stores where a New-York artist gathered them
for a photo.
It was an unusual scene at London's "Selfridges"
department store: men and women of all ages, races and colours
walked casually through the cosmetics department, preparing
for a photo session on the cold marble floor.
Tattoos and pierced body parts were exposed as the
volunteer-models gathered at the shop to pose for artist
Spencer Tunick, a New-York born photographer who has already
created various mass-nude artistry around the world.
In the past, Tunick filmed his models in the outdoors.
This time, he exchanged scenic views with the bright neon
lights as a background.
Tunick was invited to participate in Selfridges' marketing
theme "body craze", which will host different artists from
around the world, in what the store calls "a celebration of
the human body."
Hours before opening time on Sunday (April 27), Tunick
addressed his models and laid down the rules.
"No socks. I know there are some men here that wear socks
when they are naked," he said.
But creating art with more than 500 people cannot be all
jokes and laughs. Tunick's task, to film four photo sessions
before shoppers walked in, required dozens of assistants,
discipline and ordering around. "Don't laugh", the artist
shouts when some of his models giggle while posing on the
store's escalators.
Tunick's previous installations were captured in urban
locations across the world from the Americas to Australia and
every continent in between. For him - and some of his
models-fans - the connecting thread is the naked human form.
"When you strip away people's clothes there is just the
humanity left and I think it's lovely, and I like what he
does," said Chris as he waited for the final photo session, a
men's only photo op at the accessories department.
"It was amazing how quickly everyone took their cloths off
and thirty seconds later it was the norm. And everyone was
like walking around and like "Oh yeah, that's a really nice
tattoo you have got there." So it was good, yeah," said
Jessica while her friends dressed up.
For his work, Tunick recruits hundreds of ordinary people,
who meet in a specific location. He then asks them to strip
off and then have their naked bodies composed into sculptural
shapes and bizarre formations that build on the features of
streets, buildings and cityscapes.
Tunick's last project "Nude Adrift" was a journey that
took the artist to 7 continents, where he gathered over 25,000
people, creating two series of works - his large group
gatherings of temporary site-related installations and
spontaneous individual portraits.
In exchange for posing for Tunick's "Be Consumed"
artwork, the models will receive a print of the event by the
artist. But judging from the applauds at the end of the
installation, the volunteers had an experience they will never
forget.
"Be Consumed" is what my... What it's called, it's like
being consumed by the product but also in the end the body
wins out over the product, and when you see the images in my
work, not the work that comes from the press, you understand
that the body eventually wins," Tunick says as his team packs
up their equipment and the store is getting ready for
ordinary, overdressed, customers.
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