This is totally awesome. Over 200 people, participating in an Improv Everywhere project freeze in the same instant in the middle of Grand Central Station. Check out a post detailing the whole thing (h/t: Boing Boing).
In some ways it almost feels like the mirror image of something I posted on last year: world-famous violinist Joshua Bell plying his trade for an hour as a street musician in DC and the reactions (or lack thereof) of the passerbys. There, hundreds of people simply rushed past some of the finest music they’re ever likely to hear…
Not to imply they were wrong to do so. Beauty is such a subjective thing – it depends not only on the observer, but also on mood, time, location, and many other indecipherables. Part of what I enjoy so much about the Bell story is how much the moment meant for the few who did notice – to find something like that in the middle of a normal day, and just for a second to feel a strange and perfect intimacy.
And, while I’m on the subject of found beauty, here’s a song that makes me think of every perfect sunrise since time began:
Sympathy For Vengeance – Flowers of Hell