Gossip Queen: Bare bottoms and busts cause social media giant to play fun police

NUDE landscape photographic artist Spencer Tunick has had his plans for a mass birthday suit installation in Melbourne’s famed Chapel Street shut down by a social media giant.

NUDE landscape photographic artist Spencer Tunick has had his plans for a mass birthday suit installation in Melbourne’s famed Chapel Street shut down by a social media giant.

New York-based Tunick, who specialises in living art installations featuring hundreds of everyday people stark naked in public settings, will create dramatic mass nude images, called Return Of The Nude, in trendy South Yarra in July as part of the PROVOCARE Festival of the Arts.

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Spencer Tunick in Chapel Street, Melbourne. Picture: AAP

However, the festival’s call for participants keen to shed their outer layers has hit a hurdle with Instagram shutting down its account, deeming Tunick’s arty nudes inappropriate.

Chrissie Maus, PROVOCARE Festival of the Arts events director, said it was imperative for the festival to have the account @provocareonchapel back up and running.

“The account was taken down because we posted some gorgeous landscape pictures of Spencer Tunick’s most acclaimed works,” Maus said.

Naked men and women posing for artist photographer Spencer Tunick in Melbourne in October 2001.

“As the headline artist of PROVOCARE, we were excited to tell Melbourne we had secured such a prolific artist for this year’s festival. His art is beautiful and awe inspiring, it most certainly is not pornographic.

“Reality stars like the Kardashians display far more explicit pictures on their Instagram accounts than anything Spencer Tunick’s images portray. “

She said they had no idea the account was going to be closed.

“Instagram gave us no warning that we were in violation and that we needed to take down any offending content, they simply took the account down altogether,” she said.

“We have been sending them direct messages to reverse their decision, offering to pixilate the sensitive areas, but the page has not be reinstated.”

Maus said people wanting to be part of Tunick’s nude take over of Chapel Street could register at provocare.com.au.

Maus said Tunick encouraged everyone regardless of age, race, gender, ability, or body shape to be part of the artwork.

PROVOCARE runs from July 5-15, 2018.

PROVOCARE will be Tunick’s third experience in Australia.

In 2001 he created his first Australian installation, called The Unfamiliar Familiar, in Melbourne, then in 2010 he created a mass nude, called The Base, on the steps of The Sydney Opera House.

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