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Flashmobs as Performance and the Re-emergence of Creative Communities

Flashmobs comme Performance: la réémergence de communautés créatives

ABSTRACT

In spite of their very brief history - the first modern flashmob took place at Macy's in NY, on the evening of 17th of June 2003 - flashmobs have rapidly spread throughout the Western world, developing in recent years into a particularly novel mode of performance that stimulates the re-emergence - even if temporary and fleeting - of creative communities, whilst responding to a range of topics of societal currency: political, cultural, artistic, everyday life etc. Flashmobs become visible within the public sphere via short, exciting performative acts perceived as playful and liberating. In processual terms, flashmobs as performances pertaining to a globalized, neo-liberal cultural economy, hybridize conventions and practices from live, online, and mobile media in novel, unprecedented ways.

Keywords:
Flashmobs; Performance; Hybridization; Creative Communities; Active Spectatorship

RÉSUMÉ

En dépit de leur très courte histoire - le premier flashmob moderne a eu lieu chez Macy à New York, le 17 Juin 2003 au soir - les flashmobs se sont répandus rapidement dans tout le monde occidental et se sont transformés dans les dernières années en ce qui peut sans doute être défini comme une manière nouvelle et contemporaine de performance qui vise à stimuler la réémergence - même si temporaire et éphémère - de communautés créatives. En tant que performances, elles répondent à un éventail de sujets de société (politique, culturel, artistique, quotidien etc.). Les Flashmobs deviennent visibles dans la sphère publique par de courtes interventions publiques, performatives et poignantes, perçues comme ludiques et libératrices. En termes de processus, les flashmobs, envisagés en tant que spectacles se rapportant à une culture mondialisée, néolibérale, mélangent des conventions esthétiques et médiatiques et engagent le spectateur dans le processus créatif de manière nouvelle et inattendue.

Mots-clés:
Flashmobs; Performance; Hybridation; Communautés Créatives; Spectateur Actif

RESUMO

Apesar de terem surgido há pouco tempo - o primeiro flashmob moderno ocorreu na loja Macy's de Nova York, na noite de 17 de junho de 2003 -, os flashmobs espalharam-se rapidamente por todo o mundo ocidental, tornando-se, nos últimos anos, uma forma inovadora de performance que estimula o reaparecimento - ainda que passageiro e evanescente - de comunidades criativas, ao passo que respondem a uma gama de tópicos de relevância social, sendo eles políticos, culturais, artísticos, cotidianos e assim por diante. Os flashmobs tornam-se visíveis dentro da esfera pública por intermédio de atos performativos breves e chamativos, percebidos como lúdicos e libertadores. Em termos de processo, os flashmobs como performances pertencem a uma economia cultural neoliberal globalizada. Eles hibridizam convenções e práticas das mídias ao vivo, on-line e móveis de maneiras inovadoras e inéditas.

Palavras-chave:
Flashmobs; Performance; Hibridização; Comunidades Criativas; Espectador Ativo

Full text available only in PDF format.

References

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  • 1
    See info: Flash Mob (2013a, 2013b); Flash Mob (2013a); Flash Mob (2013b); Use of The Term Flash Mob (2013); Cheesebikini Blog (2013); Flashmob Italia (2013); Flashmob Romania (2013); Flashmob UK (2013); Flashmob (2013); Improv Everywhere (2013); Michael Jackson Tribute Bucharest (2013); Michael Jackson Tribute Flash Mob (2013); Michael Jackson Tribute Stockholm (2013); Occupy Taksim/Stockholm Flashmob (2013); Official Michael Jackson Tribute Seattle Flash Mob (2013); Satanslaundromat (2013); The T-Mobile Dance (2013).
  • 2
    For a list of resourcese, see the references.
  • 3
    Online accounts name Harper's Magazine sènior editor Bill Wasik as the secret inventor of the modern flashmob. Wasik confirms himself as the instigator of the first modern flashmob, one year after the mob craze started, and provides a detailed account and analysis of flashmobs' occurence as a particular cultural phenomenon: characterizied by Luddism, related to deindividuation, demonstrating the abilities of mobile and online based tecnologies to enhance cooperation, and constituting itself as a metaphor of hipsters' culture, especially within American culture (Wasik, 2006).
  • 4
    For more details, see: <http://www.cheesebikini.com/category/flash-mobs/page/1 and 3.
  • 5
    For more details related to the original entry, see Savage's comments on the cheesebikini? blog. Available at: <http://www.cheesebikini.com/2004/07/09/flash-mob-in-the-oxford-english-dictionary/#more-132>.
  • 6
    For more details, see: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob>. Accessed on: 10 aug. 2013.
  • 7
    Wikipedia draws on Howard Rheingold' s theory of the smart mobs, that makes the difference between flashmobs, which Rheingold defines as "self organised entertainment", focused on pranks, and "smart mobs", as public actions more clearly focused towards political or social issues. For more details, see: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashmobs>.
  • 8
    See Occupy Taksim / Stockholm Flashmob on YouTube. Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L50_PCtbedI>.
  • 9
    Flashmob rules circulated online in the past decade in many guises. A more recent and comprehensive Romanian version that abides by the rules of the flashmob in discussion was published on the site Flashmob Romania on 21st January, 2012. Available at: <http://www.flashmob-romania.ro/?p=371>.
  • 10
    See selected list in the references section for more details.
  • 11
    The T-Mobile Dance flashmob took place at Liverpool train station in London at 11h on 15th of January 2009. For more details, see reference.

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    Apr 2014

History

  • Received
    10 Aug 2013
  • Accepted
    22 Oct 2013
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