New Media Artist Profile - "Improv Everywhere"

Improv Everywhere is a group of people lead y Charlie Todd, who organize large-scale public participatory events, similar to flash mobs, but with a more mundane and less destructive goals.

Some of their missions have included things like :
-A "Twins" ride on the subway, where pairs of twins sat opposite each other and mimicked each others actions like a living mirror


Human Mirror from ImprovEverywhere on Vimeo.


Or this one, with synchronized swimming in a public fountain


Synchronized Swimming from ImprovEverywhere on Vimeo.



Improv Everywhere says that

"Improv Everywhere is, at its core, about having fun. We’re big believers in “organized fun”. Our missions are a fun source of entertainment for the participants, those who happen to see us live, and those who read this website. We get satisfaction from coming up with an awesome idea and making it come to life. In the process we bring excitement to otherwise unexciting locales and give strangers a story they can tell for the rest of their lives. We’re out to prove that a prank doesn’t have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them."

All of Improv Everywhere's projects are "fresh" - most missions aren't announced until 10 days before they're scheduled to be pulled off. Often times, participants aren't fully told what will happen. They'll be told to wear a certain color shirt based on a certain type of music, or do come dressed a certain way - but that's it. A series of missions in their "Mp3 expariment" series have involved people being told to download an Mp3 file onto their ipod or CD player, then showing up at a predetermined location, and all pressing "play" at the same time, then attempting to follow the instructions on the audio file - sometimes jumping or taking the stage in a theater, other times laying down on the grass in different patterns



Mp3 Experiment Four: Time Lapse from ImprovEverywhere on Vimeo.



A Feb. 2005 New York Times article on Improv Eveywhere ("When Checkov Meets Whoopee Cushion") quoted Dr. Harold Takooshian Ph.D., saying that "[Improv Everywhere is] Breaking the unwritten laws of everyday life in the city to get people to appreceate the moment."

Basically, these missions are just to see what happens. Pick a store. Gather agents. Go slo-mo shopping in a New York Home Depot. Do synchronized swimming in a fountain. Get people involved. Make people on the sidewalk stop and wonder whats going on. Get people to take a moment of their day, stop, and enjoy the abnormal for a while.


Interesting/Relivant Links :
Improv Everywhere - Www.ImprovEverywhere.Com
Boston's Urban Prankster group - http://www.misteriosos.org/

Improv everywhere

New Media - Defined

New Media :

-Uses "new" technologies for art purposes - new technology being emerging technology or trends before they become mainstream, or technology and trends designed for one thing, and purposely being used for something else in the name of art (Mass text messaging being used for a flash [art] mob instead of a disaster warning, etc.)

-Tests the boundaries between "art" and "non-art" - such as the people from 3Speed2000 getting on the mainstream media as "transportation pioneers" for the sake of art as actual transit pioneers, whereas (I don't think) they've ever actually been on any other transportation firsts.

-May lean towards being digitally-based, extensively using computers

-May have the potential to be mass-broadcast and displayed "in bulk" - like a video shown and distributed via Youtube, instead of a finished painting where only one physical work is created.



Ala Aspect :


Ignoring the warning, I went to the search page, and any text entered into the search field (with boxes for artist/work checked or not) still lead to a blank page with the "search" tab hidden again. The website doesn't seem to be too happy on Firefox 3.0.1.