We interviewed Ulises Velázquez, a 33 year-old professional visual artist from Mexico City who specializes in nudes. He participated in the Spencer Tunick installation in his city on May 6th and provided us with a very detailed record of his experience. We translated it from Spanish and bring you his account organized by topic…

WHY PARTICIPATE?:
The reason Velázquez wanted to participate in the Tunick installation was partly to see firsthand the reactions of people to nudism, knowing that for many it would be their first time. However, his main motive is that he’s very critical of Spencer Tunick’s work, and he wanted to better understand his creative process. He also states his belief that Tunick is a media creature and a social phenomenon, quite ignorant of the culture of the countries where he’s invited. Velázquez was accompanied by three of my friends, all of them nudists. Once there he met with colleagues, more friends as well as other familiar faces. Velázquez says it was a unique experience and was worth it.
According to Velázquez, many people participated with the goal of helping make a Guinness world record for Mexico. Others thought they were taking part in a historic event, while still others were just fans of Tunick and his work. Finally, there were the “rebels” who saw this as a way to thumb their noses at the rigid, ultra-conservative Mexican state and society.

THE WEATHER:
The weather was rather cold early on, but it was around 22 C (74 F) when they were actually called upon to disrobe. It only felt cold at that point because of the brisk wind blowing through the square.

PRIOR TO GETTING NAKED:
Velázquez tells us the event was chronologically well organized, which he attributes mainly to the experience of Tunick’s staff. Alongside Tunick’ own team, there were also a large number of staff from UNAM university, the Mexico City government and the Murietta Foundation, organizations that funded and promoted the event.
There were people already in the Zocalo from 11 pm on Saturday, May 6. The square was closed-off to the public at 1 am on Sunday.
Tunick outlined in detail the poses expected of the volunteer models, and the order in which they would execute them. When the time came to undress, Tunick said “1-2-3 everybody naked”, and everybody was naked within seconds. Some aides went around helping people who had trouble getting naked, escorting-out those few who had a last minute change of heart. Some people were asked to leave for violating the rule against using cell phones and cameras.

THE POSES:
In the front of a hotel facing the square an enormous white cloth was deployed, onto which diagrams of the poses were projected for all to see.
The poses were as follows:
A- Standing-up and looking forward with arms to the side.
B- Lying down face-up.
C- Fetal position with knees and head touching the ground.
There were some variants to the above poses. For instance a variant of pose A had them saluting the flag. The most humiliating pose was C, as they were required to have their rear ends pointing at the cathedral. This had many feeling uncomfortable and positioning themselves in another direction, thus prompting assistants walk over and try to convince them to point in the required direction, delaying the photo shoot in the process.
The shoot took all of 90 minutes.

THE WOMEN:
Velázquez estimates that there were 2 or 3 women for every man posing. He adds that additionally, there were a number of transsexuals also participating. After a number of takes, Tunick asked all the men to leave the square and only the women were to stay nude for more photos.

THE PROBLEMS:
- Tunick was greatly frustrated by his Spanish interpreter’s incompetent, who incorrect translations of his instructions to the masses.
- There were some problems with the sound equipment.
- There were frequent gaps in the distribution of people across the square.
- Lighting conditions changed rapidly as the installation progressed.
- In his opinion, there were an insufficient number of assistants: Just 150 for over 18 thousand people.
- A number of participants were escorted by family, friends or spouses who took nude pictures of them, oblivious of the other nude models and the rule against taking photographs.
- Screams were heard around 8 am. At first, Velázquez thought it was people protesting against the event, but in fact it was churchgoers clamoring to be allowed to walk through the Zocalo to go to mass at the cathedral. This made more than one nude person feel conscious of his/her state of undress. Velázquez also said that loud protests were audible from people who wanted to participate but were refused access. Many of these people disrobed in the nearby city streets and imitated the poses taken by those in the actual event!

THE MOOD:
Velázquez says that participants weren’t just happy, they were euphoric! Everybody was generally very satisfied with the experience and there existed a sense of solidarity. Of course, there were a few exceptions, he said.

THE BENEFIT FOR NATURISM IN MEXICO:
Velázquez estimates that a lot of the people who took part will be looking for ways to extend their first experiment with social nudity by looking for places or clubs where they can be nude again. The event also received a lot of coverage by the media, thus making a big impact across the country.