Body art: one of Tunick's previous installations,
in New York's Grand Central Station
Photo: Jennifer Szymaszek/AP
Fancy being part of an art installation, having the moment captured by a world famous photographer and then getting a free, limited edition print as a memento of your 15 minutes of fame?
Then the Baltic in Newcastle is the place to be on July 17 and balticprojects.org/tunick the place to go to register your interest.
But there's just a little catch. The photographer is Spencer Tunick and that means just one thing: only sign up if you're prepared to go the full monty. Strip off. And yes, that does mean completely, totally starkers.
But, contrary to many people's preconceptions, what you don't need is a supermodel-shaped body or an attitude. And that's what makes it such an extraordinary experience. How do I know? Because I – along with three good friends and a few hundred strangers – stripped off in London's Selfridges for Tunick's Consumer installation in 2003.
OK, so it does feel a little weird at first. Tunick does his installations all over the world and I suspect that the atmosphere in, say, Brazil, is somewhat different to Britain, where a curious but very English reserve held sway and it was all taken very seriously. This was most definitely Art, not Carry on Up the Escalators.
Participants in Tunick's installations routinely describe the experience as "liberating" and, for me, this came through overwhelmingly when we were split into two gender-based groups for separate shots. I'd hazard a guess that most women rarely see a huge variety of other's women's bodies stark naked. Instead we get a parade of perfectly toned and buffed celebrity bodies courtesy of Heat mag et al on which to base our ideas of what the "normal" and "perfect" female body is supposed to look like. Being with over a hundred naked women of all ages, races, shapes and sizes is an utterly perception-altering lesson in the complete variety of the female form. It's reassuring, comforting and, yes, ultimately liberating.
In fact, everybody seemed to feel so comfortable in their birthday suits by the end of the shoot that there was a marked reluctance to get dressed again. Which was slightly awkward for the Selfridge's managers as their store was due to open in a few minutes to the fully-clothed public.
So, if you're in the Newcastle area, go on, take the plunge, I dare you.
