What is urban life without a little excitement, spontaneity and strangeness? A popular article on unusually legal street art prompted some of our readers to inquire about organizing or attending flash mob events. The internet has, fortunately, made the organization of these urban events a whole lot easier. However, flash mobs aren’t just about gathering at a store to stare at a carpet.
Subway parties and subway installation art vary in terms of legality, but can add some color and interest to an otherwise uneventful ride. Of course, subway cars provide some interesting built-in features, such as poles for dancing, in addition to party favors brought on board. Some subway parties have themes, while others are simply named with the color or number of the train or line.
Believe it or not, a popular kind of spontaneous urban gathering is a pillow fight flash mob. These can have all kinds of interesting themes including Christmas, resulting in the Santa pillow-fighting squad seen above. Some of these affairs, such as a recent pillow fight on the streets of San Francisco, have even been caught on video.
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28 Comments
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:02 am
I always found these weird. I guess it shows a great example of group thinking and organization.
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:27 am
what a fun idea!!!
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:04 am
I have read and seen the spontaneous gatherings (mall and subway parties) before, but this is the first time I have seen pillow fight gatherings. Look like fun on the video.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:23 am
They’re called burst mobs or flash mobs. It’s basically a form of crowdsourcing using technology like cell phones, text messaging or email to attract a large gathering of people into some venue. They did it with the second last Harry Potter book release, where they got a whole bunch of people to show up at a book signing and all ask the same totally unrelated question to the author.
Others include the party on the subway, which was first done in New York - as seen in that movie Party Monster.
September 4th, 2007 at 1:19 am
Wot, no zombie flash mob? No “let’s all sing obscure ABBA B side cover” gatherings? No “taunt a developmentally challenged Angolan hyena” conventions?
–
The Banjo Players Must Die
September 4th, 2007 at 1:31 am
Forgot to mention the zombie flash mobs
September 4th, 2007 at 4:21 am
off the hook
September 4th, 2007 at 4:43 am
flashmobs are fun
i like the pillow fight club, and the stunts organised by improv everywhere.
theres a good documentary on them here http://www.kablam.tv/flashmob
September 4th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Hey, looked like a TON of fun, but how did all those feathers get cleaned up?!
September 4th, 2007 at 5:59 am
ya
September 4th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Now a water gun fight would be cool.
September 4th, 2007 at 7:12 am
i’ve attended a subway party in montreal organized by newmindspace, it was great, seeing people’s reactions who were waiting for the subway was half of the enjoyment
September 4th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Check out http://www.newmindspace.com/
They’ve been organizing this sort of stuff in Toronto for a few years now.
September 4th, 2007 at 9:09 am
I was fortunate enough to catch the flash mob pillow fight in Love Park in Philadelphia this year. It was a site to behold, to say the least. Pillow fighting strangers with befuddled tourists caught in the fray…
September 4th, 2007 at 9:40 am
My favorite are the Zombie flash mobs.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Seattle Recently held its first annual ZOMBIE MARCH!
On the 100th year anniversary of pike place market the zombies took over!
I encourage every major city to organize one of its own.
http://www.myspace.com/seattlezombiemarch for some excellent pics
September 5th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
love this. we had a giant pillow fight last year in union square new york city. was a great time and laugh. thanks for the photos.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
That pillow fight looks like FUN! That would be a great flash theme event for where I live. Except, must people here are afraid of urbanity. People here treasure the suburbs and distance and isolation.
Hell, I’m going to San Francisco to join a flash mob and party!
Adrienne Zurub
author,
‘Notes From the Mothership ~ The Naked Invisibles’
http://adriennezurub.typepad.com
March 16th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
looks fun!!! flashmobs most fun, i think :D
April 24th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I attended a pillow fight in Old Town Square in the middle of Prague this last winter and it was truly a site to behold, and the activity had quite a bit of viewers because of the site being one of the largest tourist areas in Prague. Tons of tourists were standing around watching, most likely thinking, why wasn’t I invited to this?
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 am
there’s a pillow fight every year on valentine’s day on the embarcadero in san francisco. always loads of fun!
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