I Went To Shia LaBeouf's "He Will Not Divide Us" Art Installation And It Was Honestly A Blast

    He accepted my weird ball of lollipops.

    Erin Chack
    by Erin Chack

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Let me start off by saying that I think Shia LaBeouf is brilliant.

    Clemens Bilan / Getty Images

    As far as performance art goes, at least. I don't know his SAT scores.

    I loved when he watched all his movies in one sitting. I loved when he sat silently in a room with a bag over his head and invited strangers to hand him objects. I even loved his rattail (which, sure, probably wasn't performance art PER SE but it really made me THINK, you know?).

    So when I heard he was doing a piece just a short walk from my apartment, I was like, duh, I'm going to that.

    Shia LaBeouf @thecampaignbook

    https://t.co/7y83TPB4d1 NOW LIVE Museum of the Moving Image, New York

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    Shia is currently chanting "He will not divide us" into a camera mounted outside the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, in peaceful protest of Donald Trump's presidency. The camera will remain there for as long as Trump is president. I'm not sure how long Shia will be there, but based on the size of the coffee he was drinking, it could be a long time. Either way, you can watch the livestream here.

    Here's what the video looks like when you're watching at home.

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    Intimate.

    And here's what it looks like when you're there.

    video-cdn.buzzfeed.com / Via Sean Colello

    Also intimate! There are no lines or security or anything. Just Shia and some local teens talking to a camera in a wall on the street.

    When I showed up I was holding a styrofoam ball full of lollipops, which was a centerpiece at a 1-year-old's birthday I'd just come from.

    Erin Chack / BuzzFeed / Via Sean Colello

    When Shia came over to greet me I said, "Hi! I brought you this ball of lollipops." "Lollipops!" he yelled, accepting the gift and running it over to the camera. Later, a teen passed them out to the crowd and offered me one, so I took it and said "Thank you" even though I was the one who brought the lollipops in the first place and had already eaten four. Life comes at you fast.

    Lollipop balls aside, it was a blast bopping and chanting with Queens teens who have more art inside them than the museum* they're standing next to.

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    *No shade to the Museum of Moving Image. It's a beautiful museum. My friend Dan got married there. I cried.

    And I got to see some of the people I'd recognized from watching the livestream at my desk on the day of the inauguration, like Red Hair Girl.

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    She has a beautiful singing voice and really cool glasses.

    And Flower Boy, who gave me a flower!

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    I told him I saw him on the livestream three days earlier. He said, "Cool." And that's when I decided it was time to leave.

    If you live close to Astoria, you should go and chant and dance and sing with Red Hair Girl and Flower Boy and Shia LaBeouf and whatever is left of that lollipop ball. It's fun!

    hewillnotdivide.us

    The experience will make you feel connected and happy and full of love. The teens will make you feel super unstylish. I recommend it!!!