German regional daily newspapers Westfälische Nachrichten and Münstersche Volkszeitung report on our nude performance on Saturday evening and promote this action as part of the cultural event “Sculpture Projects Münster 2017”, which happens since 1977 every ten years from 24 June until 1 October in parallel to the Documenta in Kassel:
Daily regional peridical
Westfälische Nachrichten reports
Daily regional peridical
Münstersche Volkszeitung reports
Westfälische Nachrichten translated [29 August 2017]
“Sculpture Projects 2017
28 August 11:03 – Nude performance on the waterway
Münster – On Saturday, visitors to the harbour could not only admire the artwork ‘On Water’ by Ayşe Erkmens, but also a spontaneous nude performance by the ‘Initiative Aktiver Naturisten’.
The aim of the naturists was to mirror the work ‘On Water’ by Ayşe Erkmens in their naturist way of life and to expand it with an experienceable facet.
A new view of the familiar
By means of a combination of body painting and spontaneous nude performance, they want to create a connection between the work ‘On Water’, the reactions of the people of Münster and their guests to this work and the motto ‘LEBENSWERT’ of the city of Münster. They also wanted to open up a completely new view of the familiar with this action, according to a press release by the Initiative Aktiver Naturisten.
The naturists carried out their activities in the nude and in harmony with nature. In doing so, they placed special emphasis on close-to-nature and environmentally friendly behaviour with all due consideration for the animal and plant world as well as the natural resources of the forest or the changing, open terrain so typical in Münsterland.
Many sources of inspiration
Further sources of inspiration are the body painting art of the artist and curator Andy Golub, New York City, the performance art of the artist and curator Thomas Zollinger, Biel, and the sculpture art of the artist Ayşe Erkmens, Berlin and Istanbul, who is taking part in the ‘Skulpturen Projekte Münster’ for the second time in 2017.
The Initiative of Active Naturists has been actively promoting tourism in Münsterland since 2016. To this end, it initiates the Westphalian Naturist Days (WNT) from time to time with hikes, bike tours, and combinations (cycling, hiking, swimming). They carry out their activities in the nude and in harmony with nature.”
– Source in German with the photo: “Skulptur-Projekte 2017 – Nackt-Performance auf dem Steg” (wn.de)
Münstersche Volkszeitung translated [29 August 2017]
“Nudes conquer the art
28 August 12:47 – Naturist intervention on Ayşe Erkmens waterway
Some of the visitors to that sculpture might have rubbed the eyes or cleaned the glasses that Saturday evening. The currently most visited sculpture of Münster, Ayşe Erkmens ‘On water’, was captured by eleven nudes, who had painted the sequence of the letters ‘lebenswert’ [en: worth living] and ‘natürlich’ [en: natural(ly)] on the front and the back of their nude bodies. And now they were holding hands solidarily without any clothes on Münster's iconic footbridge ‘On Water’. Notable resistance to the nude takeover did not happen. The whole action was not, as you might believe, planned by long hand, emphasised the participants, nine men and two women, who during the morning had met at the Westphalian Naturists Days. The focus of that days was hiking, swimming, or cycling, all of which carried out in the nude and in harmony with nature. The combination of natural nudity and art evoke a particular interest. And so, amongst the participants the idea emerged, to reflect the artwork ‘On Water’ by Ayşe Erkmens in ‘their naturist way of life and to add another experienceable facet by means of a combination of body painting and spontaneous nude performance (…) a half-new look to what is known’, as it is stated in an academic press release.
The courageous eleven nudists were curious about the resonance, which of course did not fail to appear: ‘Reactions from other visitors did take place’, reports Helmut Schultze, who participated lively: ‘Others left space to us and watched our performance attentively. Also from the footbridge, you could read the words ‘Natürlich’ and ‘Lebenswert’. Many visitors interviewed us. Also, reaction from the audience on the waterside, which was estimated to about 3,000 visitors, took place: Applause! Some of the security staff reacted irritated and asked us to leave the bridge. Otherwise the police would be called. Our explanation ‘This is an art project’ helped us to to gain some extra time without disturbance and thus helped us to finish our performance. In any case, photos and probably some video material should have been recorded.’
The public action of the naturists is not motivated politically. Helmut Schultze: ‘Our approach is not political, but rather social: We live naturism and recognise this mental attitude as deeply human and natural – as against consumption-centric orientation, wasting resources, and environmental destruction, with which the present humanity is going to turn our planet uninhabitable soon.’
The organising team of the SculptureProjects took the action, which they could not change any more, calmly. ‘The dock at the port is freely accessible to all visitors. Since the group has not pushed or harassed anybody, they are free to walk on the footbridge like any other visitor’, the press office of the #sp_muenster from Domplatz said.
The arts-minded naturists took their inspiration, among others, out of a nude visit to the exhibition ‘The bare life’ and a spontaneous performance ‘How little abstraction does art tolerate?’ by the psychologist and nude artist Milo Moiré on the final day of that exhibition in the LWL-Museum, Münster (Westf.) in February 2015. All official art, so to speak.
The naturists, used to the jargon of art, managed to ‘add another new aspect’ to Ayşe Erkmens' site-specific intervention, as the press release of the artful nudes calls it.
The Initiative of Active Naturists, which communicates by Internet, is active for the promotion of tourism in the Münsterland region in Germany since 2016. (Fb)
Photo:
The Initiative of Active Naturists carried out a spontaneous nude performance on the artwork ‘On Water’ by Ayşe Erkmen. Photo: Initiative of Active Naturists”
– Source in German with the photo: “Die Nackten erorbern die Kunst – Naturistische Intervention auf Ayşe Erkmens Steg” (mvz-online.chayns.net)