MP3 Experiment IV
On August 18th, on the north end of North Cove in lower Manhattan, at precisely 4pm my mother and I became a part of Improv Everywhere's MP3 Experiment IV. We arrived wearing blue shirts. Others came in red, green, or yellow, as instructed. She and I pressed play at the appointed hour and listened to the music and instructions that followed. Our first instruction was to stand on whatever we'd been sitting on. We did so along with more than 820 others. For the next half hour we played a massive game of Twister on the plaza, followed a German tourist, pretended to walk imaginary dogs, high-fived total strangers, undertook a photography assignment (below), created a human dartboard and played freeze-tag. Mom said she felt like a kid again. It was a giddy afternoon. See the full coverage here including videos. If you look closely, you can see Mom and me lying on the grass at the bottom left of the fifth picture from the bottom. We're also just to the upper left of the purple-haired girl in an earlier photo.
Here is the self-portrait we were instructed to take:
Steve, our "omnipotent voice from above," told us to take a picture exactly one red shirt and one blue shirt.
Another of as many cameras as possible.
And then, of no cameras at all. This guy's eyes never left his book in spite of the silently boisterous and mirthful mass about him.
After the experiment ended, we had a refreshing beverage at a nearby cafe.
We made the acquaintance of a terrifically large dog named Taylor.
We wound down with a stroll through the lovely Rockefeller Park which has a whole section populated by Tom Otterness' little creatures.
Late afternoon over the Hudson River.
We wrapped up our adventure with dinner, right where we'd started, on the north side of North Cove.
