A Chase After Wind

Everyone should start their day with high fives.
posted by Amy on October 1, 2009 at 12:53 PM in Theatre, Artsy Craftsy, Humor, Culture

I just had to share this because it makes me grin. And today I desperately need to grin. Maybe you do too.

....

I first heard of Improv Everywhere while watching the first season of the TV version of This American Life.

From their website: "Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 85 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City."

Browsing their website and reading about their missions, I came across the "High Five Escalator" mission from back in February 2009. Several agents posted themselves along an escalator at the 53rd and Lexington subway station during the morning rush hour. Holding signs that said "Rob wants to give you a high five. Get Ready!" Agent Ron Lathan proceeded to give out over 2,000 high fives in 45 minutes.

Haha! I just love this so much! HIGH FIVE!

IE's website includes lots more awesome pictures and a video of the mission.

.....

If we want to get all analytical about this:

For the last couple of months, I have been studying certain aspects of postmodernism for a class I am taking. Improve Everywhere is a perfect example of postmodern performance art. Their missions are comedic "happenings" - a hallmark of postmodernism. And for the most part, I find them absolutely delightful. Occasionally IE has stepped on people's toes; the mission highlighted in This American Life - "Best Gig Ever" - is an example of this. But IE's intention is to bring a little surprising laughter to unsuspecting folks. And I think that is brilliant.

For the most part, I do not care for postmodern art. More importantly, I have grave concerns about the causes and effects of postmodern art. (And boy, do I know what a loaded statement that is, but I am not up for taking that subject on right now!) But this group seems to me to be a positive example of postmodernism.

What about you, Dear Readers, who may be in a more reflective mood? Any thoughts on Improv Everywhere, or on postmodern art in general? Wouldn't you love to give Rob a high five?

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Rachel H. Evans (guest)

Comment posted on October 5th, 2009 at 09:01 PM

I love Improv Everywhere, and was actually thinking just the other day about how it is reflective of our postmodern culture. The thing is, Improv Everywhere actually requires quite a bit of organization. There is a leader. There is a Web site. There is a mailing list. So really, it is more a reflection of our shared value and desire for spontaneity, emergence, grassroots movements, etc than it is an actual example of such. Like you said, it's a form of art.

...And it makes me happy! :-)

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Lyssa (guest)

Comment posted on October 2nd, 2009 at 02:43 PM

"Happenings" are becoming quite popular in the music/artsy world, which seem to be similar to the Improv sessions. People meet suddenly in a pre-ordained public area to create art by visual or auditory means for a limited amount of time, then end as abruptly as they had begun. I'm not quite sure what I think of these things... on the one hand, it's nice to have this spontaneous eruption of beauty. On the other hand, there's no order, and the celebration of randominity might be deeper delved to be a greater acceptance of chaos. This might be too strong of a connection to draw, but it's something I'm still working through also! Maybe it's also a product of taking little mundane things like Improv Everywhere too seriously.

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