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This New York Performance Art Piece Is Very Annoying, Brilliant


February 18, 2013 | Marina Galperina

You’re about to watch a group of perfectly average-looking New Yorkers struggle with several rolling bags, interconnected with tubes. Watch them drag their “baggage” into some high traffic intersections and rattle over sidewalk grates.

Because [performance] art. Specifically, Movable Carts by Miryana Todorova.

Movable Carts’ aims to expand the boundaries of personal space and explores themes of migration, flexibility, awkwardness in the everyday life, and the overlapping of public and private spheres.

People and objects engaged in this moving occupation can be endlessly transformed and reconstructed based on the principles of expansion and contraction. In New York City, where space is at a premium, this video explores moments and scenarios that deal with negotiations of territories. Walking down a crowded city street, how much is one allowed to carry? How large can your suitcase and belongings be in shared public spaces?

The participants in this action move together, staying close to each other, supporting their luggage and building temporary structures to surround them. The carts and vehicles supported and pushed forward by the group are the foundation of their moving space of interdependency, transforming a singular gesture into a radical utopian proposition.

You know, that actually makes sense and honestly, I dig it. But then again, it feels a little bit like that hot fresh Portlandia skit where everything happens because [performance] art…

I can’t do this anymore you guys. I’ve already explained the difference between making art and being an asshole.

Take it away, Hennessy Youngman. This is all you now. ALL YOU, bb.