To all my peeps who know my love for rocky and how I like to represent Philly, here is an example of a flash mob.

http://urbanprankster.com/2008/06/rocky-visits-san-diego/

The temporal mechanism of Flash Mobs makes the idea/action very intriguing to me. It’s fun, light, and jarring to the public. It’s a relatively simple way to “make art”, however the method of a Flash Mob   lacks a mature and respectful consideration of the public (almost it’s core function). It seems that the experience is auto-centric and not socially inclusive. The method can be adolescent in that its sole purpose can be purely shock value and the joy of pulling a prank.

There’s alot of cultural, historical, and social validity in studying The Prank, I’m not saying it is without value. What I am saying is as an artist/organizer of said happenings, it’s important to look at your intentions.

I LOVE Flash Mobs. They are exciting and get things going, but it’s important for me to have more of an interaction with the public. It is not enough for me to shock or rebel. There is a specific response I’m working to elicit – a relationship – a conversation.

The purpose of making my work performative and public is to have a pure line of connection from me to the viewer. To ENGAGE. Once I have that focus, I want to plant a very tiny seed. Offer one a question: WHY do we do this? WHAT is this action/object connected to, what are it’s roots? ARE we thinking anymore or are we just DOING? If I can isolate a specific action, be it traditional, metaphorical, or industrious by bringing it out of its ordinary context then doing that task takes on a whole new significance.

I explored this method in A Thoughtful Dinner by isolating the objects of eating and focusing our attention on questioning the importance we have placed on food, eating, and the pushing of food and eating.

flashmob.comis a public domain where you can post your events and react out to fellow flashers. Looks like DANSE magnet might have inspired one of these entries – “DanceParty” going down june 29th in Union Square.

How would you respond if someone people just flooded a public space you were sitting in made an action and dispersed? Do you ever feel a desire to approach a performer or be a part of the “act”? Do you ever want to just spaze out in public? Or have you already?

Let me know in the comment section!