Art au naturel: Volunteers strip down in U.K., New York for mass art projects

Note: this story contains images of nudity.

On both sides of the Atlantic this weekend,everyday people baredtheir bodies and endured a lot of body paint for two highlypublic art exhibitions.

Approximately3,200 people stripped naked and painted their bodies blue for a new work staged in the U.K. by American artist Spencer TunickonSaturday, according to Hull City Council.

Specifically, the event was designed to celebratethe English city of Hull's relationship with the seahence the blue (four shades of blue,to be precise).

The New York artist isfamousfor enlisting regular folkto dofftheir clothes and becomesubjectsfor his large-scale photographic works.

For his latest piece, entitledSea of Hull,Tunickconvinced participants to cover themselvesin blue paint andpose near, in or on various local landmarks, including the tourist attraction of a swing bridge known as the Scale Lane footbridge.

Tunickalso said heintended thework to referenceclimate change andthe rising of the oceans, so blue seemed a natural choice forhis adventurous subjects.

Hull, a northern English city,has a storied maritime culturethat dates back to the12thcentury.Tunick'sartwork wascommissionedby theFerensArt Galleryto honourthe seaside milieu andmark the city's celebration as the U.K. City of Culturenext year.

The artisthas been creating suchworks since the 1990's with his nude photosoften met with controversy.He's been arrested multiple times fororganizingsimilar projectsin his hometown.

More feather-ruffling lies ahead:Tunickis planninga piece for the upcomingRepublican national convention.His concept? Multitudesofwomen will clutch largemirrors which, according to the artist, will "reflect the knowledge andwisdomof progressive women and the concept of Mother Nature into and onto" the convention site.

Same day, different naked people

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic on Saturday, another art project also embraced the state of being au naturel.

About 100 naked volunteers gathered in New York to offer theirbodies as canvasesfordozens of bodypaintingartists. The eventmarkedNYCBodypaintingDay, which celebrates freedom of artistic expression as well asbody acceptance.

Bodypainting Day is held annually, with2016 the third year it took placein New York. Festivities also take placein Amsterdam and Brussels.

This year's experiencein the Big Apple held atDagHammarskjoldPlaza, outside the United Nations headquartersleft many people blue.Andgreenand orange andpurpleand neon yellow.

After becoming living artworks, thein-the-buff volunteersboarded adouble-decker busthat took the unique art show around the city.

Unlike Tunick'sstaged shoots during his 90's heyday, the New York event faced the reality of modern tech.

Many onlookers snapped cellphone images and videos of the participants, who were in the midst of beingpainted inboldcolours.

At least they needn't fear arrest: technically, public nudity is legal in New York when for artistic purposes, such as an outdoortheatreperformance or an art show.

After volunteerswere arrested during a bodypainting project in Times Square in 2011, one of the modelssued and won a $15,000 USsettlement, proving that sometimes itpays to have a flashybirthdaysuit.