What We've Done So Far
Products (including but not limited to):
Insanity
Curiosity
Confusion
Magic
Welcome to our new site. We feel very computer-savvy. If you take a look at our Facebook page, you can follow a detailed account of every action we've taken in the St. Louis area since this lovely autumn. From this point forward, we shall be doing that here as well.
Our first operation was at the beautiful Mad Art gallery near the ol' Lemp Brewery. Have you ever been to Mad Art? Go. It's an awesome building, originally a police station - even equipped with mint-colored jail cells. The month-long event in November '10 was called MoneyBags; a commentary on, you guessed it, money.
Here's a lucrative example of the art at the event. (art by Stan Chrisholm; photo by Ryan Powell)
Here's another, luminous, example. This was inside one of the jail cells. [we would *love* to tag the artist! Please send us a message if you know who it is!] (photo by Ryan Powell)
STL IA sees great importance - and fun - in site specific art. So we sauntered in as the "security" for the event, tying law enforcement, fines, confines, and convicts into the mess that is money. We walked around in uniform with hand cuffs, notepads, walkie-talkies, and suspicious glares. We asked people strange questions, apprehended "contriband" goods, and enforced a lot of arbitrary rules. People were generally confused and amused as to who we were - which, by our standards, is a huge success.
This is one of our officers enforcing the hopscotch we laid in the hall the to restrooms. Those apprehended in non-compliance with the hopscotch were asked to pay a $5.34 fine. (photo by Mallory Nezam)
Here is our collection of officers for the event, pre-show. (photo by Emanuel Taranu)
We were ready to play hard ball. (photo by Emanuel Taranu)
After MoneyBags, we performed a small-scale operation at the Galleria. Mall walkers? Extra enthusiastic. Here's a video of us dancing to the music and men's cologne in Hollister.
Since then we've excited and enticed the St. Louis public with our No Pants Metro Ride on 1/11/11. The inspirer of our group, New York's Improv Everywhere, started the absurd, gleefully hedonistic, and admittedly chilly tradition of the Pantless Subway Ride every January. Since they started it ten years ago, it's spread all over the world, major cities taking part in the glorious quasi-indecent exposure and surprising subway riders from all walks of life. St. Louis had to make its shout-out, right? Since we don't have a subway (ahem), and nobody really rides the metro (ahem), we went on a night when we knew it would crowded - the Monday night Blues game.
First we added a little spice to the Kaldi's at Skinker and Forest Park Parkway. We made it a point to walk by a lot of tables and hang around a little longer than necessary. And those people thought their lattes were hot. (photo by Mallory Nezam)
On the scene, waiting for our train. (photo by Mallory Nezam)
And leaving the Blues game. A lot of people took pictures and videos of us on their cell phones. We expect a meme soon enough. (photo by Mallory Nezam)
In the same week, we participated in a Christmas party of sorts, the annual post-holiday party at El Leñador on Cherokee. We came as a shoddy hired crew of "Christmas cheer" staff, bearing a tray of really questionable cookies, a dinky Christmas tree, and bored expressions. "Larry," the guy who hires us out every year, had of course failed to show up; we were rolling our eyes, getting drunk, texting on the job, complaining about the same sh*t as every year, etc. We had a very sleezy, flask-bearing Santa in a onesie for picture-taking. The best part about this event was that the crowd really wasn't sure who we were or what we were doing there. Excluding folks who knew our agents from outside IA, we think a number of people thought we were real - therefore, this was by far our most bizarre and awkward night yet. Perrrrrrfect.
Here's a group of us posing, not happy about it. Santa's beard may have fallen a little askew. (photo by Kate Morrissey)
A few brave souls really did get into it, and sat on Santa's lap. As you can see, our other two members of the Christmas cheer staff are not quality employees, simply put. We think the Leñador should hire out through a different company next year. (photo by Kate Morrissey)
You know, there's always that one guy who does his job right and gets into it, even when nobody else will. Greg the "elf" is that guy. (photo by Kate Morrissey)
And last but nowhere near least, our most recent event was a rhythmic, percussive event at the Pulitzer for the Stylus exhibition by Anne Hamilton with Shahrokh Yadegari. Stylus was a beautifully sensory experience, bringing sound and sight and texture together as one sense. We wanted to be auditory as well - we dispersed agents, each equipped with a different, seemingly unobtrusive object that produced a sound that would carry through the open, elegance of the Pulitzer's architecture - a bottle of Tylenol, a folded newspaper, a collection of keys and key chains, a pair of boots with particularly loud heels. We set our alarms to all go off at once, and then for three minutes, we layered in sounds. Every gallery-goer watched us, shocked at first, then interested or delighted - some joined in. Hamilton really appreciated our presence as well, which meant a lot to us.
So there you have it - we've been at it since November, and we're going to keep popping up in these public spaces, jolting and delighting and mixing up your average St. Louisan's day. Keep an eye out for strange behavior. Want to join in?