The Spencer Tunick Miami nude photo installation on Monday October 8, at the Sagamore Art Hotel, was a phenomenal experience. As an artist/designer/ author, I can't imagine how any creative person would not want to participate. For me it was a must see, must do and I rejoiced upon my acceptance email that I received the week prior to the event. It was art history in the making and a once in a lifetime adventure.
For me Spencer’s work is the sublime "man versus environment" or the human form versus architecture and I think it is exquisite. It is not erotic or vulgar but beautiful, balanced, linear and geometrical. As an author of a book on Streamline Moderne structures, I enjoy the sleek architectural lines that are contrasted by irregular shaped human bodies that arrived in all sizes and shapes and colors.
While although there was much shade, the sun seemed to find me everywhere but I brought my suntan lotion (which we were advised to do and I didn’t fry.)It was a very difficult photo shoot because the area faced north, so half of the enclosed garden/pool space was in the shade and to the other extreme the other half (with the sofas) was in complete sun. Also the figures were being shot with the strong sun from behind which is never desirable in a photo. It will be interesting to see the final shots and how those problems were resolved.
Some participants complained that all they did was wait around. Yes, that is true. But that is how great art is made. It doesn’t happen on its own by magic. The Spencer Tunick crew was great and very organized and kept excellent control of the ready to perform naked crowd. Spencer’s photos display controlled and contrived beauty. In order to achieve this, setting up is everything. This is completely common on any photo shoot, nude or not, and understandable. I think some people were expecting free for all orgies but got a professional, orderly, organzied and safe situation. The media and small minded people try to create a fantasy about nudity that did not apply to this installation. Yes, we were nude, but everyone seemed to be quite natural about it. I had wondered before the event if Spencer would be nude, but apparently not.
The subject of the Miami installation was “excess” and good times in Miami nightlife. There were pink (for the slender ladies) and green (for the slender gents) neon floating rafts and champagne explosions, icons of overindulgence and freedom. The highlight of the day was when Spencer walked up to me in the middle of the crowd and said " Follow me, you're in" for the pool shoot. While lying naked in the high noon sun on a pink raft at the Sagamore Art Hotel, I thought of about how lucky I was and how happy I felt… I couldn’t think of a better place to be!
For me Spencer’s work is the sublime "man versus environment" or the human form versus architecture and I think it is exquisite. It is not erotic or vulgar but beautiful, balanced, linear and geometrical. As an author of a book on Streamline Moderne structures, I enjoy the sleek architectural lines that are contrasted by irregular shaped human bodies that arrived in all sizes and shapes and colors.
While although there was much shade, the sun seemed to find me everywhere but I brought my suntan lotion (which we were advised to do and I didn’t fry.)It was a very difficult photo shoot because the area faced north, so half of the enclosed garden/pool space was in the shade and to the other extreme the other half (with the sofas) was in complete sun. Also the figures were being shot with the strong sun from behind which is never desirable in a photo. It will be interesting to see the final shots and how those problems were resolved.
Some participants complained that all they did was wait around. Yes, that is true. But that is how great art is made. It doesn’t happen on its own by magic. The Spencer Tunick crew was great and very organized and kept excellent control of the ready to perform naked crowd. Spencer’s photos display controlled and contrived beauty. In order to achieve this, setting up is everything. This is completely common on any photo shoot, nude or not, and understandable. I think some people were expecting free for all orgies but got a professional, orderly, organzied and safe situation. The media and small minded people try to create a fantasy about nudity that did not apply to this installation. Yes, we were nude, but everyone seemed to be quite natural about it. I had wondered before the event if Spencer would be nude, but apparently not.
The subject of the Miami installation was “excess” and good times in Miami nightlife. There were pink (for the slender ladies) and green (for the slender gents) neon floating rafts and champagne explosions, icons of overindulgence and freedom. The highlight of the day was when Spencer walked up to me in the middle of the crowd and said " Follow me, you're in" for the pool shoot. While lying naked in the high noon sun on a pink raft at the Sagamore Art Hotel, I thought of about how lucky I was and how happy I felt… I couldn’t think of a better place to be!
