Newmindspace is interactive public art, creative cultural interventions and urban bliss dissemination based in New York and Toronto. "
"All over the world, groups like Newmindspace organize free, fun, all ages, non-commercial public events. From a massive Mobile Clubbing event in a London train station to a giant pillow fight near the Eiffel Tower in Paris to a subway party beneath the streets of Toronto, it is clear that the urban playground is growing around the world, leaving more public and more social cities in its wake. This is the urban playground movement, a playful part of the larger public space movement.
One of our goals at Newmindspace is to make these unique happenings in public space become a significant part of popular culture, partially replacing passive, non-social, branded consumption experiences like watching television. The result, we hope, will be a global community of participants in a world where people are constantly organizing and attending these happenings in every major city in the world."
Their latest event was Night Lights: Higher
Tomorrow night, we will attempt to create an art installation that is higher than the CN Tower. Over the course of four hours, we will slowly raise a glowing string by balloons, attaching brightly coloured LEDs every foot or so. Throughout the event, the dazzling string will reach dizzying heights and drift gently in the wind.
Below is a video:
I wish something like that would happen in Montreal. There some events that happen, and I have attended quite a few (scavenger hunts, pillow fights, metro parties and manhunt), but these dudes manage to assemble A LOT more people (I'm talking about hundreds, for their pillow fights, light sabre battles and capture the flag for example) to their events than anything that happens here.
I'm not sure why it is exactly that, at least so far, in Montreal we are unable to mobilize as many people. There was one time (unforuntately I wasn't there), the first metro party, which happened to be organized by newmindspace in March 30, 2007. The car was absolutely packed and they managed to go from Henri Bourrassa to Cote Vertu and back to Cote-Ste-Catherine.
For the most part, attendance ranges from about 25-40 people, sometimes more if lucky (like at the pillow fight ~ 85). Hopefully it'll change in the future. If not, I guess I'll try coincide my Toronto visits with their events :P
1 comments:
Thanks for the kind words :) We have had up to 5,000 people pillow fighting. It's all a matter of understanding social epidemiology, or how to make an idea popular. There are lots of good books on it!
I would love to visit Montreal again and bring some events there, but budgets are pretty tight at an organization that runs free events ;)
We have no special skills, though: people will flock to free events as free becomes the new model for everything :)
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