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Flash Mob

 
 
Tryphena Absent
13:49 / 22.08.03
The London Flash Mob site describes the phenomena (for want of a better word) as seemingly unplanned gatherings of large groups of people that converge in public (or semipublic) places for brief periods of time.

I'm interested in how far this action can be described as art. To an extent these types of gathering seem to be a type of temporary, organic installation and particularly because there is no certain purpose behind them. The concept seems to have grown out of forum theatre and performance art, demanding a certain amount of interaction from passers by, yet fundamentally it's really about the mob turning up, performing a certain action and than leaving.

Can Flash Mobs be regarded as art or should they be described in another way?
 
 
at the scarwash
00:20 / 23.08.03
Well, from what I read on the site, it could certainly be considered art. As for whether it's a particularly interesting or good work, well...

It seems like the idea of gathering a large group of people in one place and providing them with interesting instructions to do en masse could be very cool indeed. But from what was described, it doesn't seem that anything noteable was accomplished. Sure, it's an installation, but one that seems quite done. Watching a crowd at a sporting event provides the same level of stimulation, and is more interesting, as the group-actions are less conscious, and more ritual.
 
 
Saint Keggers
04:35 / 23.08.03
We had one a week or two here in Montreal where everyone gathered near a large public fountain and started throwing/launching and handing out rubber duckies, all while going "quack quack".

Good times were had by all. (or most)
 
 
Tryphena Absent
12:32 / 23.08.03
But a football crowd doesn't have the same purpose behind it and surely that has to contribute towards the idea that the Flash Mobs alone are organic installations?

A football crowd gathers to watch a game and yes they have ritualistic action but the point is very much divorced from anything other than ritualism and the sport. Flash Mobs have one single point- to gather a crowd together. This single purpose, the focus on experience, surely makes it art?
 
  
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