Graduation au naturel barely raises an eyebrow
Elena Berg appears to have brushed up on clothing etiquette when it comes to dressing for University of Otago graduations.
The 25-year-old walked across the Regent Theatre stage yesterday where she graduated with a BA and DipGrad (endorsed in music) wearing nothing but body paint, her mortar board, a graduation gown and a smile.
Lets hope it develops into an Otago tradition.
Miss Berg said she had been wanting to wear body paint at a public function since she saw the Air New Zealand advertisements in which the airline's staff wear nothing but a painted-on uniform.
The singer-songwriter in the Dunedin band Girl on Girl Action (GOGA) plans to shoot a music video for the band, also wearing body paint.
Actually that is probably a conservative move if this is anything to go by.
''We thought it would be a really good tester to see how many people noticed.
''It was about testing people's perceptions - trying to get them to open their eyes a bit.''
I have watched more than my share of bands in Dunedin and I don't recall anything quite as undressed.
Surprisingly, she said few people noticed her attire - or lack of it.
''Not as many people noticed as you would think. Most of those who did notice, noticed my feet first.
''No-one said a thing at the graduation. Even my Mum said you wouldn't notice if you didn't look hard enough.''
Trust me I would have noticed.
She was comfortable in her outfit, until the paint started to flake off following the graduation.
''I was going `oh no', because I wanted it to be something that wasn't vulgar.
''So when it started to flake off, I decided it was time to pull the plug.
That could make dinner at the restaurant rather awkward.
''I wanted to keep it PG rated.''
It was certainly a graduation to remember, she said.
I wonder what the AO version would be like.
