Spencer Tunick asks Australians to strip naked for campaign against cancer
Sydney (Australia), 25 Oct (EFE).- American contemporary artist Spencer Tunick has appealed to thousands of Australians to pose naked for an installation in Sydney in order to raise awareness about the need for getting tested for skin cancer, the organizers said on Tuesday.
Scott Maggs, CEO and founder of the NGO Skin Check Champions – part of the art project and provider of free skin cancer screenings to vulnerable populations in Australia – confirmed to EFE that the installation is set to take place on 26 November on a beach in the city, without specifying which one.
“We want them to take their clothes off to spotlight skin cancer,” stated Maggs.
Australia has the highest number of skin cancer patients in the world, and according to Skin Check Champions, two out of three people in the country develop skin cancer issues, while one person dies of the disease every five hours.
Maggs said that they have chosen a beach in Sydney since it is one of the outdoor spaces traditionally linked to the Australian lifestyle.
“When one imagines the average Australian, they are carrying a surfboard and have tanned skin. It is representative of the Australian stereotype, which has a great outdoor life, but also has its risks and the beach probably invites us to reflect on the risks of being exposed to the sun,” Maggs told EFE.
Spencer Tunick, who has photographed a large number of naked people in places like Barcelona, Mexico, and even for a climate crisis campaign in the Swiss Alps, has already photographed people without clothes in Australia: once in front of the Sydney Opera House (2010) and twice in Melbourne (2001 and 2018).
“I use the amazing array of body types and skin tones to create my work, so it feels perfectly appropriate to take part in this effort in that my medium is in the nude human form,” Tunick said from New York in a statement by Skin Check Champions.
The installation is part of events being held for the National Skin Cancer Action Week in Australia (from Nov. 21-27) and is expected to bring together about 2500 people of all ages, races or body types to honor the memory of the over 2000 people that die of skin cancer every year in the country. EFE
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