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Although Tunick has been arrested before, the Times Square incident was the first to make national news. In a May 6 New York Times editorial, William Safire defended the artist, saying, "We libertarians view this bluenosed suppression of artistic expression as a foolish waste of the police's time." A prescient statement when you consider the events that followed. Tunick's repeated attempts to reapply for a permit to photograph his nudes on city streets were rejected. When he was finally given approval to assemble and photograph a group of clothed models on June 6, he was greeted by 50 police officers and six paddy wagons. "It was the police vs. me on this early Sunday morning when not a soul was on the street. It felt like the '60s. It was oppressive. I photographed everyone lying on the sidewalk fully clothed with their hands raised," he told me recently over the phone. Meanwhile, Kuby is filing a federal civil rights lawsuit to obtain an injunction against the city of New York that will prevent the police from arresting Spencer and his models for public nudity during his next shoot on July 18.

I met with Tunick in late May at the i-20 Gallery in Chelsea, where he is a featured artist.

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How would you describe your work?

I form living sculptures with hundreds of people nude, lying on their backs or in other positions. Not touching. Not sexual. Forming a shape. There's no sexual directness to the work. It's a very beautiful pink sculpture, spotted with tans and browns and yellows.

What are the logistics of finding people to pose?

I hand out 3,000 flyers. On my invitation, I always include specific instructions and a sample of my work. Usually 5 to 10 percent show up for the shoot. Everyone who participates gets a small, signed print. Then I make six bigger prints, so I'll have something to make a living off of.

I take everyday people and bring them into the contemporary art world. A lot of people come into the photograph thinking they're going to see naked bodies, and that it's going to be a sexual experience. When it's over, they may not remember even seeing a breast or a penis. It might just be this crazy pink blur they see. People also volunteer to pose by e-mailing nakedpavement@hotmail.com.

Does everyone who shows up get to pose, or are you selective about who appears in your pictures?

I know it sounds really wacky, but usually people who wear gold don't pose. People who wear silver do pose. People who have pearl earrings or pearl necklaces don't pose. I never give it to anyone wearing a suit unless they've undone their tie, and there's some kind of leather or shell hanging from their neck -- something that hints at their individuality. No one wearing Tommy Hilfiger would pose. The hip-hop crowd -- white or black -- wouldn't pose.

You can tell by what someone's wearing if they have a sense of freedom. Mostly I pick people who are wearing something in fashion, who demonstrate that they've learned about the human figure and about art, even in the smallest way. To pose for me, you have to let go of your ego. Just for a few minutes of your life, you have to be a performance artist.

Next page | "On CNN, you can see someone's head open with his brains dripping out, but you can't show a non-sexual nude body"