Naked artist makes man cross

Press, 25 July 1978, Page 1

Naked artist makes man cross

An arts festival performance where a man lay naked on a cross was yesterday described in the Magistrate’s Court in Wellington as being in line with contemporary trends in New Zealand, reports the Press Association. The chairman of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council (Mr Hamish Keith) said a “crucifixion” act performed by a Wellington artist during the Christchurch arts festival had used the naked body of a man as an expressive device. He was giving evidence during a case that the defence counsel (Mr A. A. Ellis) described as an important test for the right of artists to perform serious works. It was thought to be the first show of its kind to be performed in New Zealand. Andrew Raymond Drummond, aged 26, exhibitions

officer at the National Art Gallery, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of offensive behaviour at the gallery of the Christchurch Society of Arts on March 4. The Magistrate, Mr J. D. Sullivan, S.M., reserved his decision. lan Alan Bastion, aged 23, a Christchurch welder, said he, his wife, Judith, a friend, and her seven-year-old daughter went to see the Christchurch arts festival pottery exhibition on March 4. After looking round, they decided to see the sculptural exhibition on the next floor. Mr Bastion said he went into a dimly lit room where there were about 25 people. “I saw this guy lying

down with no clothes on,” Mr Bastion said. “He was lying on a wooden platform with his arms out and legs apart.” Mr Bastion said he was disgusted and had not expected to see that sort of display. He did not consider it to be art. His wife said she was offended. Cross-examined by Mr Ellis, Mr Bastion said he and his wife belonged to a religious group that disapproved of public nakedness. Mr Ellis said at the end of the prosecution’s evidence there was no prima facie case, but the Magistrate ruled there was. In evidence, Drummond said he had done three

years of art training at Palmerston North Teachers’ College and two years at a Canadian art school where he had graduated with an honours degree in sculpture. During 1977 he had been invited by the Christchurch Arts Festival Committee to submit a proposal for a sculptural work. Its context was a live sculptural event with the work being built on one of three platforms. He had told the committee it would be performed nude and they had accepted it without question, he said. Drummond said the platform had been in a separate room furthest away from the stairs. Before the performance he

had typed out a note explaining the crucifixion act and pinned it to a wall just inside the door. Describing the act, he said he had come into the room naked and had his hands and feet lashed on to the cross with rope. He also had wires attached to a machine so the audience could see his heartbeat. An assistant had poured rubber latex on his torso, waited for it to set, and repeated the pouring. Drummond said he had worn a gas mask during the performance as the ammonia fumes from the rubber were toxic and he had been told prolonged exposure could cause liver damage. After the second coat

had dried, he had ripped off the latex, stretched it over the cross, and left the gallery. Photographs taken during the “crucifixion act" were also placed on the cross. Drummond said the performance was a personal interpretation: he was trying to restate an aspect of the crucifixion and question the spirituality of the cross. A senior lecturer in sculpture at the School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University, Thomas John Taylor, said he had seen the performance. The audience had felt distinctly uneasy during the session and there was some tension, he said. Most had seemed very absorbed.

The type of performance where the artist used his body as an “ingredient” was not isolated round the world, he said. Mr Taylor said he considered nakedness an essential part of the performance; any clothing would have been ridiculous and incongruous. An Auckland art critic and writer, Ryston Tremain Curnow, said Drummond's work was distinctive for its spiritual values and he thought it distinguished. It was not unusual in the contemporary art scene. Nakedness was a common feature of performance art, he said. As far as he knew it was the only performance given in New Zealand where the artist had been naked.