About 1,700 men and women appeared naked in Tyneside on Sunday morning, in the name of modern art, and Mr Damian was there.

Posed at four locations in Newcastle and Gateshead at 4am this morning, the volunteers were participating in a piece called 'Naked City' by the New York photographer Spencer Tunick.

Spencer, who insists he isn't a perv, has done similar shoots in New York, Barcelona, Belgium and Brazil.

Each work is unique, but designed as Gateshead's Baltic Centre described it, to demonstrate 'the poetic whole resulting from individual bodies arranged in a sculptural way in an urban setting'.

As a result, the public installation, as this type of art is known, would 'challenge traditionally-held views on nudity and privacy as well as social and political issues surrounding art in the public sphere'.

The event aroused considerable interest in the press, but ordinary Tynesiders didn't batter an eyelid.

'To be honest, having nearly two thousand people wander around naked isn't much different to a Friday or a Saturday night' one local said.

Girls Aloud sadly didn't take part

Posted by damian at July 19, 2005 10:42 AM