Artist Man Bartlett was born in Philadelphia, his bio says. The young artist performed a 24-hour endurance art piece in New York’s Best Buy store the other night. Here’s the report.
I went to Best Buy (this location is in fact the only Best Buy 24-hour store)
It used to be a Circuit City, but the Best Buy looks better -
Brighter and “more friendly” if that is possible.
I got there around 7:30 and left around 8:45 -
I didnt recognize the guy and didn’t notice him, so not much to say -
I did however think about how small the store is
And how being there for 24 hours, he could probably touch everything
In the place -
I went back to see if he finished and found this write-up.
4 Comments
I guess you didn’t notice me taking pictures? Sad.
Funny. Also loved Hrag’s post! Cate, love that you ventured where the art was invisible.
i liked your post about the “event” – especially about how absurd it was – absurd, but almost sweet in real time – i spent time on Thursday evening
at the beginning of his stay and almost went back on Friday –
it was better than any “reality show” since it lived in my head,
not frozen in the edited footage of a serialized event –
i don’t use twitter so i missed those parts of his performance, but it stayed live in my head – he was more like a character in a book therefore more compelling than watching. When i went to his site and saw his post that a “$700 pledge” would allow him to end it early, it was so human, so full of real trepidation – i think thats what hooked me on it – the real rather than the scripted experience of time.
i went back to the store today and i looked around again and it seemed like a friendlier spot – and the security guy who came over to answer someone’s question about headphones was really nuanced – the customer clearly lived on the street and didn’t really need headphones, but he received help and a gentle hint to move on.
At the end of the day i wanted to but something here – i had just spent more exciting hours in Best Buy Theatre than I had wasted anywhere else in the past week. i found a pair of headphones that I decided to invest in – this was now “my place” and i wanted to thank them for their good will.
Man Bartlett is Bo Bartlett’s son, by the way.