The Happening happening?: Frozen Grand Central Station

I first saw the Frozen Grand Central Station video after a friend suggested it to me. The group, Improve Everywhere, has one mission to "cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places". In this specific video a group of about 200 people synchronized their watches then at 2:30 they froze for five minutes. Complete freedom was given as to choice of pose as long as it was realistic. As the group was frozen Charlie Todd, one of their publishers, went around with a hidden microphone to capture some on-lookers' reactions.

I mainly chose this, besides the fact that it is one of my favorite reality videos, because of the different connections one can make to new media. First of all, it is much like the last artist I wrote about where the audience is included in the process. With this situation there was a small specific group that initiated this project but then they recruited more people making it their project as well. I liked this idea of group ownership or art belonging to the people and not one person. Second of all, I like the different technology used to capture this scene. Most people identify that cameras were set up to videotape but then there were also microphones on the participants so that the viewers can hear different responses. I think that this is interesting because art is out there to create a response, to inspire people to question and think about different topics but those responses are not usually shared with a vast audience. This brings to light a new style, much like blogs, where people can "post" the first impression responses of viewers to art. Third of all, I saw a relation to the "cut and paste" quality of new media. With this project there is the original work, which would be the real time freezing, but then there is also the replication when a viewer opens the web page and how the video is played over and over again, entering households all over the world. Building on this idea, each copy of the video is slightly different, or at least the viewer's experience changes. Because the videos are so packed with stimuli, a person could focus on a different portion of video and see totally different views, people, reactions. In this sense this unchanging recording can actually grow.

I also liked how people can relate this to popular entertainment. Besides all the new reality television out there, this has a strong, but less frightening, relation to the plot of the Happening. In that movie the people freeze before.... (I guess you have to see the movie). Fortunately, this video came out months before M. Night Shyamalan's and so no real panic ensued.

This video is inspirational to me because it helps to encapsulate how vast new media is.