Shia LaBeoufs Art Exhibit Shut Down for Public Safety

[Coventina]

A museum in Queens has shut down an online art installation by the actor Shia LaBeouf, calling it a “serious and ongoing public safety hazard” after Mr. LaBeouf was arrested and the exhibit became a target for threats of violence.

The participatory exhibit, “He Will Not Divide Us,” was a collaboration between Mr. LaBeouf and the artists Luke Turner and Nastja Sade Ronkko. Intended as a rebuke to President Trump, the exhibit hinged on a video camera mounted on the outside of the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, into which passers-by were invited to repeat the phrase “he will not divide us.”

The aim was to stream online images of people repeating those words throughout Mr. Trump’s time in office.

After it began on Jan. 20, the exhibition quickly became a hot spot for politically charged confrontations, and the video camera caught it all. Mr. LaBeouf himself made several appearances. In one, he squared off against a man who made reference to white supremacist ideologies. In another, he was arrested and led away from the scene by police officers.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/arts/shia-labeouf-museum-exhibit.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170211&nlid=73531149&tntemail0=y&_r=0

Censorship? Or truly Public Safety?

[rug]

1. Censorship.

The disorderly conduct was not caused by the art but by the morans who can not process free speech. Police powers should not be used to silence speech. They should be used to protect it from assholes who break the law.

[spanone]

5. 👍🏼

[Coventina]

2. Kicking as I consider this a troubling story

[JI7]

3. so it's not the exhibit itself that has safety concerns but the people reacting to it and what they

might do ? meaning the racist supporters of Trump........

[Coventina]

4. Exactly!

It is a fairly understated piece, I don't get why it needs to be shut down.

I think someone is leaning on the museum.

[Coventina]

6. kicking for the morning crowd

This is an important story!

[Coventina]

7. One last kick for maximum exposure.....

[hunter]

8. I read the article, I went to the museum site...

... what exactly happened?

This is the youtube posted:

Heh. Not to condone the pushing and shoving and yelling, but emboldened Trump supporters are a sad, sad lot.

LaBeouf ought to have stood aside and let them shit themselves for all the world to see.

[Henry Krinkle]

9. WTF was he expecting to happen?

Either he was naive not to think the thing would backfire on him, last very long, or it was intentional knowing
full well that it would turn into a cluster fuck.

This one guy loosing his shit...

I took a peek at the site every now and then. At least early on, sometimes there was a small crowd present
from both sides, but as it got to be boring old news (this is NYC, after all), more often than not, it was either
vacant, or the same 3-4 people milling around.

[Coventina]

10. There is a long history of pieces like this, that require the participation of an audience.

I don't find anything about it that predisposes that it become a "cluster fuck."

Even aside from that, shutting the piece down is censorship, and shows a lack of moral fortitude on the part of the museum.

[Henry Krinkle]

11. How is it "censorship"?

The article makes it sound like the museum made the decision; not the city and/or police.
If they made the decision due to intimidation and/or warnings from either/or, I'm certain they would
have made that information public.

There is a long history of pieces like this, that require the participation of an audience.
I don't find anything about it that predisposes that it become a "cluster fuck."

How many public participation pieces are you aware of that necessitated a 24/7 police detail?
Who was paying for that detail? The city, or the museum? If it wasn't a "cluster fuck", there
would have been no need for a detail to begin with.

Every museum that I'm aware of has wide latitude regarding can and cannot be exhibited, where and how
it would be exhibited, how long it would be exhibited, etc.

Hey, I'm all for the guy and anyone else with a desire to express themselves in a non-violent way...
regardless of the person(s), or organizations politics and/or belief, but LaBeouf is playing himself as the victim here .

[Coventina]

12. It's censorship because the piece was shut down (allegedly) because of other's activity. n/t

[Henry Krinkle]

13. Where do you get that from?

What "activity" exactly?

Is it only the one side to blame for the shut down?

LaBeouf himself was arrested and charged with assault at the site

He's not exactly a happy camper, and has shown violent tendencies in the past.
By all rights, he either needs to serve a bit of prison time, or at least seek mental health
treatment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_LaBeouf#Legal_troubles_and_controversy

Himself and others might consider him a rebel, or free spirit of sorts, but in reality, he's just
another asshole with a chip on his shoulder.

If he's a hero to the left, then we have problems.

Regardless... it's not "censorship" unless it's the government is the one that's shutting you down

[Coventina]

14. So when parents get Harry Potter pulled from school libraries, that's not censorship?

When the Pope threatened Madonna with excommunication from the Catholic Church over her stage performances, that wasn't (attempted) censorship?

Censorship is when ANY party attempts to shut down another's speech.

In this case, it was a pice DESIGNED to encourage speech. Now, it's been shut down.
Probably because either a) the museum lost their nerve or b) someone is leaning on them.

Trying to lay this on the artist is like saying that Jackson Pollock's work shouldn't be shown because he was a violent, abusive alcoholic.