Spencer tunick
5,500 nude participants graced Brisbane’s Story Bridge for Spencer Tunick’s largest Australian installation.
On Sunday 27 October 2024, Brisbane/Magandjin experienced a breathtaking transformation of its iconic Story Bridge as 5,500 nude participants came together for RISING TIDE, a monumental live nude installation created by New York artist Spencer Tunick. Part of the Melt Festival 2024, this event celebrated diversity, equity and inclusion. Through Tunick’s lens, thousands of bodies flowed together in a stunning display of unity and artistic expression.
RISING TIDE marks the 30th anniversary of Spencer Tunick’s international career in documenting the nude figure in public spaces. With this installation, Tunick not only celebrates the beauty of the human form but also honours Brisbane/Magandjin’s vibrant LGBTQIA+ community. Participants of all ages, body types and genders braved the spring morning for this once-in-a-lifetime event.
The installation created a seamless landscape of bodies that spanned the Story Bridge before moving to The Brisbane Riverwalk, showcasing the raw beauty and strength of diversity. To facilitate this extraordinary artwork, the bridge was closed to traffic from 1am to 7am. Over several hours, Tunick captured the live landscape from multiple vantage points, immortalising this unique expression of unity and inclusivity.
Reflecting on the event, Tunick said, “This work on Brisbane’s Story Bridge and locations around it has been my most inclusive installation to date. 5,500 people is my largest Australian work so far and this one is very special because it celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. Photographing all the participants on the bridge was like looking down the mouth of a whale, filled with love and diversity.”
Among the thousands who participated, stories of personal empowerment emerged. One participant shared, “I wanted to be a part of something bigger. I’ve gone through illnesses, and you just get to a point where so many people have seen your bits over the years that you just go why not? It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Another shared, “It’s really nice to see so many different body types – shapes, sizes and age groups. I came alone so it’s pretty fun to see that so many other people have braved it as well.”
“It’s a sense of unity that you don’t often get. It’s just an incredible opportunity for people to come together, to celebrate each other and to celebrate art,” a third participant said about Melt Festival, which is taking over Brisbane/Magandjin from 23 October to 10 November 2024.
RISING TIDE is part of a broader body of work that began with the intimate TIDE installation in 2023, where Tunick first engaged with the Brisbane/Magandjin community to explore themes of diversity, beauty and vulnerability. TIDE served as a prelude, laying the groundwork for this larger, major public event. From 16 October to 10 November 2024 the work was showcased at Brisbane Powerhouse as a projected video exhibition, marking Tunick’s debut gallery exhibition in Australia and the first time the work was available for public viewing.
RISING TIDE has been hailed as a transformative art event, demonstrating the power of art to foster community and inspire social change. The final artwork will remain a lasting tribute to Brisbane’s vibrant LGBTQIA+ community and a testament to the city’s ongoing commitment to equity and inclusion.
About Spencer Tunick
Spencer Tunick has been documenting the live nude figure in public, with photography and video, since 1992.
Since 1994, he has organized over 100 temporary site-related installations that encompass dozens, hundreds or thousands of volunteers, and his photographs are records of these events. In his early group works, the individuals en masse, without their clothing, grouped together, metamorphose into a new shape. The bodies extend into and upon the landscape like a substance. These group masses, which do not underscore sexuality, often become abstractions that challenge or reconfigure one’s views of nudity and privacy. The work also refers to the complex issue of presenting art in permanent or temporary public spaces.
Spencer Tunick stages scenes in which the battle of nature against culture is played out against various backdrops, from civic center to desert sandstorm. In 2002 he started to work with standing positions for his group formations referencing traditional group portraiture. Now, for some installations, he adds objects that the participants are often holding or wearing and has included body paint.
Near the end of installations, for the final setups, he sometimes separates the participants into smaller groups to make additional assemblages: sometimes by sex, sometimes by age, or even by hair color. However, no one is ever excluded from an installation because of the color of their skin, ethnicity, gender identity, sex, race, religion, or political affiliation. Within reason, if you can make it to an installation you can participate, unless of course if there are space limitations.
Spencer could not make his art without the generosity of the participants. He is eternally grateful for their participation. He wishes he could credit everyone in his individual and group photographs but there are hundreds and thousands who have taken part collectively. In exchange for taking part, participants receive a limited edition print.
Spencer has and continues to make group installations/photographs elevating awareness of cancer, HIV/AIDS, LGBTQIA+ rights, equality and climate change, among other issues.
Spencer Tunick’s temporary site-specific photographic installations have been commissioned by the XXV Biennial de Sao Paulo, Brazil (2002); Institut Cultura, Barcelona (2003); The Saatchi Gallery (2003); MOCA Cleveland (2004); Vienna Kunsthalle (2008) and MAMBO Museum of Modern Art, Bogota (2016), among others.
