1,800 Clutch Balls for Spencer Tunick in Vienna

Spencer Tunick, the master of the mass nude photo, hit Vienna, Austria over the weekend, photographing nearly 2,000 people in Happel Stadium. Tunick said he hoped to capture "the spirit of sports, the grand sweeping waves of stadium architecture and the abstract relation of the human form to modern structures."

No word on whether or not Austria's skin-lovin' national rugby team took part in the shot.

Two more shots AFTER THE JUMP (possibly NSFW)...

Previously
< ahref="http://www.towleroad.com/2007/10/behind-the-scen.html">Behind the Scenes of Spencer Tunick's Miami Beach Photo Shoot [tr]
Glacial Bodies: Spencer Tunick's Latest Freeze Frame [tr]

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Behind the Scenes of Spencer Tunick's Miami Beach Photo Shoot

Photographer Spencer Tunick (above) produced one of his mass nude photo installations on Monday at the Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach.

More than 500 people showed up to take part in the shoot, which consisted of several set-ups including 140 men nude in the pool on green rafts, 140 women in the pool on pink rafts, and 400 standing around the pool bar and on the balconies of the hotel, shaking bottles of Champagne and shooting foam into the air.

Tunick called the Miami project "a cross between an installation by Nancy Rubins and Robert Smithson, with the quirky quality of a Diane Arbus piece."

One notable participant was blogger and former Real World housemate Dan Renzi, who wrote about the experience on his blog.

Said Renzi: "They promised us we'd come in, work out the shot, get naked really quick, and then za za zoom we'd be done. Promise! Cut to us, today: standing around naked, waiting to re-set the shot. Standing around naked, waiting for a cloud to pass. Standing around naked, because it was just so much easier than constantly pulling our clothes off and then finding them in the pile and putting them back on again. Naked naked naked. Although I couldn't work my way into a shoot until about half-way through the day; people are insane with devotion to Spencer Tunick, following him around the country like he's the Grateful Dead, and they are ruthless when it comes time to line up for shoots. He uses only part of the crowd for each shoot, the first 150/200/whatever people in line are the ones in the shot. So although you're supposed to take turns, of course people are selfish and pushy and go repeatedly. Fortunately when I did finally make it in, it was pretty good: we were lined up on the rooftop deck, shoulder-to-shoulder, standing on chairs to lift us up above the guard railing. And up there, we were perfectly in line with the Delano/National/Shore Club hotels, so anyone in their rooms had a clear view to watch. Which, of course, they were, people were virtually picknicking on their terraces and staring. But any nervousness about being naked in public was totally negated by the terror of standing several storeys in the air, teetering on wobbly chairs, inches away from a guard rail that subsequently came up only to our knees."

Renzi says he did the shoot because he thought it would be an interesting thing to do, although he says that for some it was somewhat dangerous: "a woman below us passed out after standing with her knees locked for too long."

Renzi was captured briefly on CNN. He notes: "You may notice my hair is all over the place; I didn't wear any product, I felt it went against the entire concept of the nakedness. Although I did wear deoderant. There's no need to be rude."

Click here for another (NSFW) shot of Renzi (in the square), via ohnotheydidnt (hey, is that Ann Coulter or Anne Heche right behind Dan?).

The photos are scheduled to be displayed at the upcoming Art Basel fair in Miami Beach. It's nice to get the naked truth about these shoots. Nice work, Dan.

I Have Been Naked All Day [how was your day, dan?]
Hundreds bare all for art in Miami Beach [miami herald]

More Spencer Tunick...
Glacial Bodies: Spencer Tunick's Latest Freeze Frame [tr]
18,000 Bare All for Spencer Tunick in Mexico City [tr]
World AIDS Day Premiere: Positively Naked [tr]
Tunick Watch: Naked on the Coast of Spain [tr]
Spencer Tunick Celebrates Skin in Caracas [tr]
A River of Flesh [tr]

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News: Kylie Minogue, Sydney, Spencer Tunick, Nikolai Alexeyev

In the first nationwide law of its kind in Latin America, Colombia grants health benefits to same-sex couples.

Jury in Princess Diana inquest gets an uncanny look at her final moments, as they too are chased by the paparazzi in Paris: "The coach carrying the Diana inquest jury has reportedly crashed as it traced the Princess's last movements around Paris. In an eerie parallel with the catastrophic accident which killed the Princess, the bus driver was apparently trying to out-manoeuvre paparazzi outside the Ritz. The jury, coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, and teams of lawyers made British legal history by making a site inspection of the places where the Princess and her lover Dodi Fayed spent their final hours. But within minutes of starting the tour in the Place Vendome, close to the Ritz hotel, their bus knocked a police outrider from his motorcycle. Then seconds later the bus collided with an 18-inch metal bollard."

Britney Spears and sister attacked at sushi restaurant: "Nobody wants you in this neighborhood Britney! MOVE! You are making this neighborhood very unsafe!"

Bush White House has tried to "silence" MSNBC's Chris Matthews, host claims: "They will not silence me!...They’ve finally been caught in their criminality."

Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev gets "solidarity reception" in the Windy City.

Kylie channels Patrick Nagel for new album cover...

Former OUT magazine editor Brendan Lemon and his friend Jerry Wade have started an entertainment-oriented blog called Lemonwade. Lemon has the scoop on Jake Gyllenhaal's rumored trip to the Broadway stage in Farragut North: "Lemonwade has learned that [Mike] Nichols will not be directing the play. For now, the production — with Gyllenhaal or anyone else — is on hold. And with Gyllenhaal’s film schedule filling up (he has just signed on to star in a love-triangle movie called 'Brothers,' with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman), I don’t see him on Broadway anytime soon."

600 people to pose nude for Spencer Tunick at Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach: "It's about fantasy and leisure. It's a stereotype, but it's true. You're going to have a good time if you come to Miami Beach. I'm going to have 100 to 200 women in pink rafts. We're going to have people on the balcony posing very much like the Tower of Babel meets Logan's Run. We're going to buy some champagne, 500 bottles, and were going to make a giant explosion for the climax of the installation from the balcony."

Violent anti-gay crimes in Sydney prompt unusual political visit to Oxford Street: "As partygoers looked on, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Police Minister David Campbell, Labor candidate for Wentworth George Newhouse and local drag queen Maxi Shield wandered the clubs and back alleys of Oxford Street to gauge the impact of homophobic violence."

Gay nightlife "targeted" in Birmingham, England.

B'gosh! Gay and lesbian support group forms in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Movie theater lobby contains hidden erotic message.

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Glacial Bodies: Spencer Tunick's Latest Freeze Frame

Six-hundred people took part in a unique weekend activity on Saturday, posing naked for photographer Spencer Tunick on a Swiss glacier in a Greenpeace-sponsored shoot intended to draw attention to the issue of global warming.

The Guardian reports: "For the Aletsch shoot, Greenpeace advertised on its website for suitable volunteers for the project who could allow all day for the 'unique experience'. Participants were assured they would not 'be naked for very long'. Tunick's 'living sculptures' have a dual artistic value for his fans, both in the act of persuading so many ordinary people to disrobe and in making nudity appear mundane, but for yesterday's work he said it was human vulnerability he wanted to emphasise. 'I want my images to go more than skin-deep. I want the viewers to feel the vulnerability of their existence and how it relates closely to the sensitivity of the world's glaciers,' he said."

The Swiss glaciers are projected to disappear completely by the year 2080.

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18,000 Bare All for Spencer Tunick in Mexico City [tr]
World AIDS Day Premiere: Positively Naked [tr]
Tunick Watch: Naked on the Coast of Spain [tr]
Spencer Tunick Celebrates Skin in Caracas [tr]
A River of Flesh [tr]

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William Hamilton Martin and Bernon Mitchell, NSA traitors whose treason was blamed in part on their homosexuality, are proven to be straight after documents are declassified: "After interviewing more than 450 individuals about the twosome’s character, habits, and sex lives—right down to the skin rash on Martin’s stomach—the NSA, in a 1961 report, could find no conclusive evidence the two men were gay. “Martin and Mitchell were known to be close friends and somewhat anti-social, but no one had any knowledge of a homosexual relationship between them,” investigators reported. Both, in fact, had American girlfriends, and Martin married a Russian woman four months after his arrival there. Mitchell also wed later."

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Sopranos, Ugly Betty lead Emmy nominations. Full list.

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Conservative Episcopal priest from Boston defects to become a bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya: "The Rev. William L. Murdoch, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in West Newbury, will fly to Nairobi next month for his consecration as a Kenyan bishop, then return to Massachusetts to minister to other disaffected conservatives who are leaving the Episcopal Church over its 2003 decision to ordain an openly gay priest as the bishop of New Hampshire."

Fancy yourself the next Alan Turing? Have a bit of practice decoding some of the messages from this 1938 Enigma machine for sale on eBay. Bidding is currently near $20,000 but the reserve has not yet been met.

Window Media President Peter Polimino to step down, and will be replaced by three co-presidents: "Mike Kitchens is Window Media's chief operating officer, Steve Myers is chief financial officer, and Bill Kapfer is responsible for marketing and Genre's publisher."

Lover of flesh Spencer Tunick will make his next project a commentary on global warming and photograph hundreds of naked folk in the Alps. He is encouraging those who wish to participate to arrive there by public transportation.

Annie Lennox is back with Songs of Mass Destruction, a new album featuring the track "Sing" to which Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Celine Dion, Fergie, Faith Hill, Pink, Dido, Gladys Knight, kd Lang, Angelique Kidjo, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Melissa Etheridge, Anastasia, Joss Stone, KT Tunstall and many others will add their voices. The track will raise awareness and funding for the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) - organizations fighting for human rights, education and health care for those affected by the HIV AIDS virus.

Do you take it? (warning: NSFW)

Nova Scotia tries to get in on the gay travel market with Rainbow Halifax.

"I could hear them.": Be careful when traveling in Belize and don't read this post while you're eating lunch.

Channel 4 in the UK presents 40 Years Out, a week of programming meant to mark the passing of the Homosexual Reform Act in 1967, which decriminalized homosexual acts in private between two adult men aged 21 and over.

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18,000 Bare All for Spencer Tunick in Mexico City

For all our Spencer Tunick coverage, click here.

In Mexico City yesterday, 18,000 people disrobed to be part of photographer Spencer Tunick's latest human installation, in the city's massive Zocalo Square. A "no-fly" zone was established above the historic plaza, rich in cultural and social history: "One of the world's biggest and most imposing squares, the Zocalo is framed by a cathedral, city hall and the National Palace official seat of government, which is adorned with murals by Diego Rivera. A ruined temple next to it was once the center of the Aztec civilization and was used for worship and human sacrifice. Spanish conquistadors used bricks from the temple to help build their own capital."

Said one participant to Reuters: "This event proves that really we're not such a conservative society anymore. We're freeing ourselves of taboos." Mexico City recently began registering its first same-sex civil unions since a law was passed legalizing them last November.

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World AIDS Day Premiere: Positively Naked [tr]
Tunick Watch: Naked on the Coast of Spain [tr]
Moons for the Misbegotten [tr]

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World AIDS Day Premiere: Positively Naked

I've covered Spencer Tunick and his human art installations quite a bit on this blog, and at one point produced quite a lengthy post on New York's downtown meatpacking district bistro Florent, so I was quite interested to see a new documentary, Positively Naked, that premieres at 7pm tonight on Cinemax. Not coincidentally, today is also World AIDS Day.

The documentary chronicles a shoot done by Spencer Tunick at the restaurant to celebrate Poz magazine's tenth anniversary issue. For the shoot, which Tunick did for free, 85 HIV positive people gathered at the restaurant and disrobed for the photograph. The documentary follows several of the participants on their individual journeys over the course of the day the shoot takes place, from their morning trepidation about participating, to the shock of actually finding themselves naked in a restaurant full of strangers, to an ultimate liberation from the self-consciousness so many of them express.

In a very short time (the movie lasts less than 45 minutes) directors Arlene Donnelly Nelson and David Nelson give us both a glimpse of Tunick's creative process but also a look at the collaboration that takes place between Tunick and his human subjects. It's a collaboration that is ultimately more eye-opening for the participants than for the artist. The documentary is both serious and light, intimate but not saccharine or emotionally manipulative.

Said Julia, a former drug addict and prostitute who participates in the shoot: "I think the message is that HIV and AIDS affect all people, of all ages, of all colors, from all walks of life. That we’re living, we’re thriving. That, in fact, we don’t look any different from anyone else. And that it could be you."

If you happen to have Cinemax, it's on tonight at 7 and repeats December 10 at 6am.

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Destination Florent [tr]
Tunick Watch: Naked on the Coast of Spain [tr]
Spencer Tunick Celebrates Skin in Caracas [tr]
Moons for the Misbegotten [tr]
A River of Flesh [tr]

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Tunick Watch: Naked on the Coast of Spain

Spencer Tunick was up to his old tricks over the weekend in the gorgeous Basque resort town of San Sebastian, Spain, where hundreds of volunteers disrobed for his lens. Here on Zurriola Beach they look like a group of sea lions sunning themselves...

This Spanish journalist got carried away, literally...

It's not a coincidence that Tunick produced these shots just weeks before the San Sebastian International Contemporary Photography and Video-Art Fair which begins here the first week of May. A little local attention never hurt anyone.

Spanish papers noted that many more men than women came forward to strip for the photographer.

Tunick took his subjects inside the Kursaal Auditorium for another shot (click to enlarge). Yikes. Not the kind of Saturday afternoon activity for bashful claustrophobes.

Previously
Spencer Tunick Celebrates Skin in Caracas [tr]
Moons for the Misbegotten [tr]
A River of Flesh [tr]

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Spencer Tunick Celebrates Skin in Caracas

Spencer Tunick convinced 1,500 Venezuelans to disrobe for him in Caracas, Venezuela over the weekend, just the latest in his series of human installations. This time, the freedom from clothing came at the feet of the statue of Simon Bolivar.

Tunick's subjects posed for a knee-crushing two hours. Man I bet it smelled like ass in there. At one point, Tunick became angry at a group of gawkers: "There are some people over there with clothes, get them out of there!"

Previously
Moons for the Misbegotten [tr]
A River of Flesh [tr]

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A River of Flesh

Spencer Tunick unveils one of his massive living installations this week at Gateshead, UK, where it was shot last July. His interpretation:

The straightbacked bodies reminded him of "newborn trees", he said. But he also adduced a "whimsical, 1984-ish narrative element to the piece" - a sense that one might imagine some curious, even sinister futuristic process being undergone by the participants: mind control? Mass cloning? Evacuation?

Previously
Moons for the Misbegotten [tr]
Destination Florent [tr]

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Moons for the Misbegotten

No, it's not another Ann Coulter lecture. Spencer Tunick takes Belgium.

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