I HAVE BEEN NAKED ALL DAY

From my inbox:

So I've been a little bored lately.

I wanted--no, needed--to shake things up.

Get a new hair-do? No.

Go shopping, buy some new clothes? Nah.

Pose naked for a Spencer Tunick installation? Bingo! That sounds fun.

Ol' Spence organized the shoot in preparation for the upcoming Art Basel extravaganza, one of the biggest art festivals in the known universe. He staged everything by the Sagamore Hotel pool, featuring 600 of Miami's finest exhibitionists supporters of the arts, lined up in groups standing on hotel balconies, floating in the pool lined up on rafts, we were all over the place. Naked naked naked.

Sadly, 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. Since he uses only part of the crowd for each shoot, the first 150/200/whatever people in line are the ones in the shot. You're supposed to take turns, but of course people are selfish and pushy and go repeatedly. Fortunately when I did finally make it in, it was a pretty good spot: 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. addendum: LOOK HERE, THE NEWS CAUGHT THE SHOT!

Also, when the photos are unveiled at Art Basel, look for the photo of about 400 of us standing around the pool bar and the balconies above, shaking champagne bottles and shooting the fizz into the air. I am on the bottom row, front-and-center. Thank you very much. The expression on my face is not from the coldness of the champagne dribbling all over my nakedness; I look that way because I am worn out from holding in my gut all day.

I don't know why I did this. I just thought it would be interesting to see the whole thing go down I guess. And in the end, I think I'm going to like those pictures, and it will be exciting to be in them.

HERE IS THE PIECE I WROTE FOR THE MIAMI NEW TIMES: Spencer Tunick

Comments

[vereaturus97]

Nicely done !
I had the chance to do it myself back in 2005 in Lyon, France. It was right after the Newcastle one.
Did you get any chance to talk to the guy ?
I told him I'd love to do that for him in a church but he didn't seem thrilled by the idea !
Did he have a private party afterwards with a few selected guess ? ^^

Anyway, it was a great experience ! You'll particularly love it when you'll be displayed on giant posters :p

[Ed]

You were just on Best Week Ever. I saw you naked and I screamed. Not because it was scary, but because...of COURSE you ended up on Best Week Ever.

[EJ Greaves]

what's up? searching for more pictures of the Tunick installation brought me to your blog + i thought i'd say "HI!", because i attended it too! luckily i made sure to put plenty of sunscreen on + not manage to get my pale ass burnt to a crisp! you might have seen me there, i was the guy with the vine/leaf tattoos on his chest + wing tattoos on his back! other than taking forever to shot the pix, i hope you had fun!

*peace*
~ EJ

[Beano]

Naked for a few minutes in brill sunshine in Florida? That's nothing but sunbathing at a luxury hotel.
We were naked for well over two hours from 5.30am. at the Baltic installation (Gateshead UK) in 2005. It was - umm - Cool - in more ways than one, crossing the Millennium and Swing bridges over the river Tyne and wandering about Gateshead and Newcastle Quaysides. Climbing up the 'grassy' (i.e. brambled and nettled) terraces of the Sage concert hall etc . We didn't get champagne or to play in a swimming pool afterwards either.
The Amsterdam installation this year began at dawn too - I was on the roof of the Q Park - breezy.
You're a bunch of softies.

[blackbird]

I'm so jealous...

[Scott]

So, 600 more people have seen you nude. What does that bring the total to? :)

[:) Norene!!]

Hey hey, nice writing Mr! It was fun streaking...err posing with ya yesterday. My titties are burnt though! See ya at your j.o.b. sometime soon. I'm gonna harass u!

[justaguynatl]

Yeah, you are definitely in the AP video from the shoot. It was one the AJC.com home page this morning.

Unfortunately, it just showed a nice head shot ;)

[ess]

Rock on, Dan! I think you may be on this AP clip about the installation, about 34 - 43 seconds in?

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1119448694&fr=yfp-t-203

[D]

I can't believe you did this! I wish I could

[Lori]

OMG Dan! I think it's so great that you did this & if I lived there...I would have totally done it too!

[meg]

wow! sounds like you had fun, despite the longer-than-promised nakedness. ;)

[Rachel]

Congrats! That is the coolest thing ever! I wish i had the chance...

<3

[joycelyn]

I saw on the today show that this photo shoot was going on and I instantly thought of you. I am so excited that you went and did it. I would jump at the chance to do it, even in my round shape.
Yahoo for you
JWW