Artist Spencer Tunick has staged and photographed mass nude gatherings around the world, and the latest city to get the Tunick treatment is the British town of Hull, which is also 2017’s UK City of Culture city.

“Think you know Hull? Think again,” is one way the sleepy town is trying to rebrand itself in the run-up to the festivities, which will include film screenings, music and theater performances, and workshops. The BBC reports the nude gathering will take place on July 9.

The work, tentatively titled Sea Of Hull, will feature participants in colored body paint, organized to mimic the waves of the ocean—a fitting concept given the city’s seaside location. In an email to artnet News, Tunick described his vision for the project: “[By] flooding the city with a humanity of color, I hope to make a living sea.”

“I’m very interested in Hull and its history as I seafaring center.  Many of it’s streets and parks today, previously were canals and waterways,” the photographer continued.

Spencer Tunick, Dead Sea 6 (2011).
Photo: Spencer Tunick.

Anyone over 18 is invited to participate in the shoot—assuming you’re willing to bare your birthday suit in front of hundreds (maybe thousands) of strangers, that is. On July 10, Tunick will produce a second installation featuring a group of invitation-only participants, so be sure to look alive on day one.

While many of Tunick’s previous portraits feature participants going completely bare, he hopes the use of body paint in this installation will help people who wouldn’t normally participate in this kind of thing to feel more comfortable.

Tunick told artnet News that he’s been working alongside New York-based body paint company Mehron, who are manufacturing a new kind of paint for the project. “Upon my request they developed a special formula for me to easily apply paint to 1000’s of bodies in under 10 minutes,” he shared.

If the promise of a thin layer of paint between you and world wasn’t enough to convince you, all participants will also walk away with a limited-edition photograph by the artist. Now let’s just hope it doesn’t rain.