Participants needed for nude installation as part of Sydney's gay and lesbian mardi gras

Calling 1,000 Aussies to strip for art

Participants needed for nude installation as part of Sydney's gay and lesbian mardi gras

Participants will be hoping for benevolent weather as they strip for renowned artist Spencer Tunick to create a mass nude installation in the Sydney Opera House forecourt to the sounds of pirate songs.

Tunick's installation, called The Base, is part of this year's Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. But the artist is hoping Sydneysiders, regardless of sexual preference, will show up on the day.

Art buffs: Hundreds of nude models prepare for an installation by Spencer Tunick for the opening of the cultural festival Corpus Bruges in Bruges, Belgium, in 2005. Pics/Getty Images

"We're looking for people who want to form a naked base for the Sydney Opera House," Tunick was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph yesterday.

He said people eager to ogle naked flesh are not encouraged to turn up.

"I think people would be too embarrassed to show up just to look at naked people," he said. "The nude people far outweigh those that aren't," Tunick said.

"When you have 3,000 people nude and 50 or 100 who aren't the attention goes towards them and they feel self-conscious. It's kind of like reverse streaking."

In June 2007, Tunick photographed 18,000 nude people in Mexico City's Zocalo Plaza

According to Wikipedia, Tunick (he was born on New Year's Day in 1967) is "best known for his installations that feature large numbers of nude people posed in artistic formations often in urban locations throughout the world. His models are volunteers who receive a limited edition photograph as a reward."

In June 2007, Tunick photographed 18,000 nude people in Mexico City's Zocalo Plaza.

"The artist's shot, usually viewed as a harmless lark, raised hackles in conservative quarters and became an irritant in a spate of nasty squabb- les between Church and State," according to Wikipedia.

The photographer has taken his "celebration of the nude form" internationally to cities that include Cork and Dublin in Ireland, Buenos Aires, Buffalo (USA), Lisbon, London, Melbourne, Montr-eal, Rome, Sao Paulo, Caracas (Venezuela), Newcastle, Vienna, Dusseldorf, Helsinki, Santiago, Mexico City and Amsterdam.

"A body is a living entity," Tunick says. "It represents life, freedom, sensuality, and it is a mechanism to carry out our thoughts.

"A body is always beautiful to me. It depends on the individual work and what I do with it and what kind of idea lies behind it -- if age matters or not.

"But in my group works, the only difference is how far people can go if it rains, snows etc."

Source: The Daily Telegraph

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels