BEING absolutely starkers for a two-hour art tour isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but in Sydney, there’s no problem getting bums on seats.

A mental challenge as much as a chance to view art in a new way, Stuart Ringholt’s unconventional ‘naturist tours’ have sold out again at the MCA with people from all walks of life scrambling for a ticket.

Which begs the question, why?

For many the reasons for doing it are much more empowering than not doing it, says MCA audience engagement director Gill Nicol.

media_camera ‘Preceded by a tour of the show by artist Stuart Ringholt’ is an adult’s only tour and performance piece where participants become the artwork at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Picture: Anna Kucera.

Ringholt’s work deals with themes of fear and embarrassment, and his tour is an artwork itself— a performance piece challenging how we think about ourselves as much as the works being viewed. It’s been hugely successful around Australia for several years.

Nicol took her first tour a few years ago at the MCA with a work colleague no less (“I know right, and we’re both like, not young!”) after hearing a talk by the artist.

“He spoke so beautifully, about what it’s like to have no barriers between you and the work, and I thought in my role, I need to know what this is like,” she said.

She admits it triggered all sorts of fears and vulnerabilities about being naked in public — especially in her own workplace. But within ten minutes, she was completely at ease.

“All the stuff about being nude, it’s not about sexuality, you are in an artwork and then you are part of the artwork. It’s a performance piece — you are it,” she says.

“It’s also the most amazing thing, you go with no baggage apart from what’s in your head because you have no bags, no phone, you are barefoot.

“It’s so liberating, it’s so exhilarating and it’s really intense and you’re really looking at the work.”

media_camera Pipilotti Rist : Sip My Ocean celebrates the femininie, and nature.

The tours are led by a range of speakers and this year, Nichol is among them. She will be leading a female tour through Pipilotti Rist ‘Sip My Ocean’, a beautiful light-filled experiential exhibition, next month.

“I thought imagine being there with no clothes on with that light pouring all over our bodies, totally experiential, I thought this is going to be amazing.”

For more information about future tours, visit the MCA website.



