Flash mob phenomenon lights up lives
Published 18 September, 2008, 05:49
In the past people rallied only to protest or celebrate. But today there's another reason – flash mobbing. A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief time, and then quickly disperse.
Although flash mobs started in the United States, they are becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the world, including Russia.
What started as a prank is now growing into a real social movement for people eager to add a bit of excitement to their lives.
Charlie Todd is the founder of Improv Everywhere, an organisation which attracts hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people to flash mob events.
“I wound up performing these pranks, like a rockstar,” Todd says.
Todd moved to New York in 2001 to pursue a career in acting and comedy, but the street became his stage.
To date, Improv Everywhere has staged more than 70 ‘missions’, as Todd calls them, including the annual ‘No-Pants subway ride’ that attracted 900 people last year.
Although flash mobs began as a form of performance art, they can share similarities with political demonstrations.
But Todd tries to stay apolitical, although he does get handcuffed once in a while – like when he staged a flash mob version of an infamous U2 concert on top of a building in New York.
Most of all, he tries to squeeze as much fun from life as possible.
The birth of flash mobs
Flash mobs are one of the fruits of the electronic communication age. Mobile phones and the internet have made it possible for large groups of people who don't necessarily know each other to arrange to meet at a certain time at a certain place.
The first known flash mob was scheduled for June 3, 2003 in New York. But it failed to materialise because of police intervention. Since then, however, the trend has gone from strength to strength.
One of the most famous flash mob events took place recently in New York's Grand Central, when 207 people gathered at the station. They all froze in different poses at a fixed time. The view stunned commuters, some of whom began taking photos and even touching the statue-like figures. To see this celebrated flash mob event, follow the link.
In another celebrated flash-mob stunt in New York, participants created a wave of light across the Brooklyn Bridge. Seven hundred people gathered on a rainy evening on May 16, 2008, to walk across the bridge, taking photos. The camera flashes created the effect of a stream of light. To see it, follow the link.
Russian mobbers have proved to be just as enthusiastic and creative as their American counterparts. Along with flash mobbers all over the world, they have their internet communities where they share ideas and coordinate events.
Russians have organised and performed a number of stunts. One saw young couples converge on Red Square, where they began cuddling and kissing at exactly the same time on February, 14 2008 – Valentine’s Day.
A recent pyjama party at Chistie Prudi (Clean Pond) in Moscow had mobbers spreading sheets and pillows on the grass and pretending to sleep.
But the most celebrated Russian flash-mob event to date, according to flashmob.ru, saw a huge crowd gather at Leningradsky station in Moscow. At 20.55, as train number 23 approached the platform from St Petersburg, the crowd began cheering while throwing their hats in the air. The happening was an enactment of a scene from “Gore ot uma” – a comedy by the classic Russian writer Griboedov. The lines from the work read: “The women were shouting ”hurray“ and sending caps into the air”. This saying is also used by Russians as a metaphor for periods of social unrest.
However, flash mobbers around the world have distanced themselves from either political or social protest.
Addressing the philosophy behind the phenomenon, one mobber said the intention “is to create a situation… It brings a lot of emotions to the participants and food for thought to the unwilling spectators.”
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