frozen in grand central station...jealous me!

madameshawshank

http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html

oh oh oh and a thousand more ohs...how I would have loved to have been a part of this!
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"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

sweetbabyjames · Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 357

Madame, there was a spontaneous mass pillow fight that filled one NY street a few years ago. The account of it on NPR made me cry - so much fun & goodwill in one place.

msue · Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 368

The group who did this brilliant act has done many other clever, creative collective pranks. Their link will tell you more about the Grand Central prank as well as some of the others they've done. I think you might be able to sign up for announcements to be included in future pranks. There are also clips of various pranks on YouTube.

Edited to add some of my faves:

http://improveverywhere.com/2006/04/23/best-buy/

http://improveverywhere.com/2006/01/22/no-pants-2k6/

http://improveverywhere.com/2006/08/19/slo-mo-home-depot/

Smile

Rainey · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:41 pm Post subject:

What an inspiring act of creativity and radical human revolution against the ordinary and expected!

Thanks so much for sharing it.

My son took part in the giant pillow fight in San Francisco recently.
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God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor

sweetbabyjames · Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 357

Rainey, did he post pictures anywhere?

bainst · Joined: 07 Aug 2005 Posts: 151 Location: Baghdad, Iraq

That was so cool. I love acts of expression that go against the norm.
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madameshawshank · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:53 am Post subject:

How about we all secretly meet in Paris somewhere...Griffin to organise methinks...we'll certainly all be in boots! .....now what mass something or other will he plan Wink

perhaps we could assemble at the Musee d'Orsay...find a spot and with quills in hand write poetry...in various languages....

so glad you all enjoyed the clip..
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"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

gingerpale · Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 1324

This was a beauty, for sure. Hard to say if it would be more fun to participate, or to witness, an event like this. And very challenging to come up with a "play" that is simple enough to involve dozens (hundreds!) of hastily recruited players. Without causing fear (we live in sickening times) or inconvenience to the public. Must be cheap, minimum props. (Remember "streaking"?)
Makes me think of a person looking up at the sky--soon everybody is looking up!

Judy · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:02 pm Post subject:

How fantastic! Flash mobbing grows up.
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Griffin · Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 932 Location: England

Very, very impressive. If only because I know how hard it is to stay that still for that long!!! Being a life model you have to hold a pose for over ten minutes and it's extremely difficult. You are suddenly aware of every twitch in your muscles and the gentle sway of your body as it tries to keep balance with the earth's motion.

And yes, oh, oh, oh!!! Wonderful and especially the expectations of people wondering what this was for...'A protest or an acting class' was interesting. But not a gathering art event! I suspect that in Paris it would be more understood - I am surprised it wasn't quite so understood in NY as an art event.

I was also thinking... imagine if aliens made certain people freeze for five minutes... and then those people carried on as if nothing had happened. Oh the number of variants of stories that could be written!!

If it were me... well not necessarily boots, but possibly strange clothes involving interesting footwear. Perhaps a co-ordinated reading of a sonnet by several people who were standing in the same area but not together...

One artist asked for thousands of people to pose naked in the North East of England (Newcastle) and got them to do it too! It must have been so cold!!!!
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sweetbabyjames · Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 357

GP - about that "made you look" phenom, I was in the train station yesterday with my daughter. We noticed an official sign on the ceiling that read, "Caution - do not walk on ceiling." Seriously! So I gave her my camera to go take pictures and before I knew it, she was surrounded by ceiling-lookers and other picture-takers. It was too, too funny.

gingerpale · Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 1324

sweetbabyjames, there must be some agile commuters in your area!

I've heard of classfuls of kids who shave their heads to show support for the one kid undergoing chemo... or is that just an urban legend?

Since Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein, and some are trying to embarrass him about this, it's been suggested that ALL Democrats change their middle names to Hussein for the duration of the campaign Very Happy

.

Rainey · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject:

I am still imagining walking through Grand Central Station and witnessing it happening unprepared for the surprise. Cristo's umbrellas come to mind because I imagine an enormous number of people ordinarily immune to their expected surroundings being instantly forged into a community of people bewildered and needing one another to validate the extraordinariness of the circumstances.

And just think of the ripple effect however many weeks or months later and the impact still making its way around the world! I love it!!!
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God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor

sweetbabyjames · Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 357

I don't have a middle name, so I'd gladly be a Hussein. Better to overwrite the Sadam connotation with something positive anyway. Imagine a slew of new American Husseins. For that matter, if he turns out to be one of the good presidents, maybe the next generation will see a bunch of baby Baracks.

Christo is one of my favorite artists, though many (if not most) of my peers scoff at his work. I love works that alter the normal surroundings or somehow impinge on personal space to create a new feeling. The Gates and those lily pad things at Biscayne are breathtaking. He compares his installations to rainbows, like ethereal events that you have to go see while they last, which adds another level of excitement. Rainey, that's a really good point too - how the memory of those experiences continue to change perception of the space.

Lilia Dignan · Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Posts: 159 Location: San Francisco

Thank you for that video clip, Madame! I like that idea of a group of C&Zers converging in Paris. I can write something in Tagalog (the Philippine language).

Griffin, as long as you don't let me kneel like that guy with the camera - I'm sure to fall flat on my face!
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