art uprisings

A YouTube video sent to me on facebook reminded me of one of Mark's wheezes for earning money. We thought it was an excellent idea to get paid for doing nothing, i.e. sitting in the Ruskin School of Art with our clothes off and not moving for 3 hours. Or trying not to move...The idea was that you arrive at the Ruskin and disrobe behind a screen, then head out to the coldish room and sit or stand more or less as still as a statue for 1 ¼ hours before a break and then another 1 ¼ hours. Good money and, it being Oxford, who worried who knew the naked truth about us? You could meditate, sort out your problems, even sleep, provided you did not move, although some movements were involuntary.
Among the serious art students, there was one who caused more than her fair share of problems. She was a beautiful slim blond artist student who would sit at the front in a short skirt and wooly tights (if cold). She liked to sit on the floor with her legs spread wide, possibly for balance. She spent hours licking her lips or her pencil and then holding it up, apparently to get some idea of size/shape, etc.
She was doing it deliberately, we decided, as we compared notes on what would work best to control the inevitable response - usually the most effective were in-depth meditation about visting the dentist, imagining facing a polar bear naked on the North Pole ice, etc. (we were too young for tax returns). We had nothing to hide behind, and many curious eyes studying us. We never saw the resulting sketches.