Public Performance: Free Compliments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7TYU7Lj6M0
First thing first: this did not go as we planned. At all. We ventured to figure out how people would react to strangers - us - holding up signs with the offers of "Free Compliments" or "Free Insults"; we expected people to be receptive to the compliments rather than the insults, but both fell flat. People were not receptive to our offerings; however, we summarized it was for a couple of reasons. One of the biggest factors for the lack of reception can be relayed to technology. Most of the people we crossed paths with we're either talking to people who were on cell phones or on their own cell phones. They were disinterested in the performance, which then led to our eventual dissatisfaction and loss of energy for the project. Technology's impact on our performance cannot be understated.
The next factor that led to our poor performance was the fact that we were two men. At first, we believed women would not be receptive to it because simply: women do not want to come up to random men and be complimented or insulted. They deal with that on a daily basis, unwillingly; why would they want to willingly? Every woman we asked to participate either looked away, said they were busy, or completely dismissed our existence. That was to be expected. However, for men, the same exact thing occurred; we were a bit perturbed by this. We assumed that men would be receptive to receiving an insult, more than a compliment, solely due to the fact that the insult would come across as comedy. But, nope. That did not happen either. But, if we had to do the project all over again, we would do one man and one woman offering an insult or a compliment to see the difference in reception and attention.
Another factor to our poor performance could be due to our presentation and location. We were standing up holding up signs. People could have seen us as sketchy or just unapproachable. If we had sat down at a table with chairs, had a more colorful set up, and dressed business casual - people would have been more likely to listen to us. I do not think race was a factor in this since there white and latino were represented; just due to the way we were dressed, how we were calling out our offers, and crowd we were attempting to appeal to. We chose to set up shop at Whole Foods and Target, not because of convenience, but due the amount of people. We did the performance at peak lunch rush - where people are doing their grocery shopping during a lunch break, finding lunch for themselves. Perhaps people were truly in a rush, but my instinct tells me it was people just did not want to participate in something involving strangers not offering anything worthwhile to them.
However, at the heart of the project, we set out to see how humans react to a simple offer: free compliments or free insults. Everybody loves a compliment; however, it depends where/who that compliment is coming from. A person is much more susceptible to accepting and believing a compliment that comes from someone they know. However, a compliment from a stranger - who is unbiased by nature - should have more weight to it simply due to the fact that they have no stakes in complimenting you. They are doing it purely out of human experience. The opposite comes from insults. If someone insults you that you personally know, it is inflammatory and almost heartbreaking; on the flip side, if someone who you don't know insults you, you are more likely to brush it off and take it for face value because they don't know the "real you". The human experience is a technology in itself for that reason. As time has progressed, the interaction between human beings has shifted; the human experience innovates as technology innovates. The smart phone was introduced and the world and the way the world works changed; the same can be said when the car was created - the car altered how people interacted by simply allowing people who did not interact regularly to interact any time they would like. At the heart of this experience, the public will never do what you want. The public does what they want - no matter how much you pander to them, no matter what you offer, no matter the occasion - the public will do what they want. We just needed to captivate them more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7TYU7Lj6M0
First thing first: this did not go as we planned. At all. We ventured to figure out how people would react to strangers - us - holding up signs with the offers of "Free Compliments" or "Free Insults"; we expected people to be receptive to the compliments rather than the insults, but both fell flat. People were not receptive to our offerings; however, we summarized it was for a couple of reasons. One of the biggest factors for the lack of reception can be relayed to technology. Most of the people we crossed paths with we're either talking to people who were on cell phones or on their own cell phones. They were disinterested in the performance, which then led to our eventual dissatisfaction and loss of energy for the project. Technology's impact on our performance cannot be understated.
The next factor that led to our poor performance was the fact that we were two men. At first, we believed women would not be receptive to it because simply: women do not want to come up to random men and be complimented or insulted. They deal with that on a daily basis, unwillingly; why would they want to willingly? Every woman we asked to participate either looked away, said they were busy, or completely dismissed our existence. That was to be expected. However, for men, the same exact thing occurred; we were a bit perturbed by this. We assumed that men would be receptive to receiving an insult, more than a compliment, solely due to the fact that the insult would come across as comedy. But, nope. That did not happen either. But, if we had to do the project all over again, we would do one man and one woman offering an insult or a compliment to see the difference in reception and attention.
Another factor to our poor performance could be due to our presentation and location. We were standing up holding up signs. People could have seen us as sketchy or just unapproachable. If we had sat down at a table with chairs, had a more colorful set up, and dressed business casual - people would have been more likely to listen to us. I do not think race was a factor in this since there white and latino were represented; just due to the way we were dressed, how we were calling out our offers, and crowd we were attempting to appeal to. We chose to set up shop at Whole Foods and Target, not because of convenience, but due the amount of people. We did the performance at peak lunch rush - where people are doing their grocery shopping during a lunch break, finding lunch for themselves. Perhaps people were truly in a rush, but my instinct tells me it was people just did not want to participate in something involving strangers not offering anything worthwhile to them.
However, at the heart of the project, we set out to see how humans react to a simple offer: free compliments or free insults. Everybody loves a compliment; however, it depends where/who that compliment is coming from. A person is much more susceptible to accepting and believing a compliment that comes from someone they know. However, a compliment from a stranger - who is unbiased by nature - should have more weight to it simply due to the fact that they have no stakes in complimenting you. They are doing it purely out of human experience. The opposite comes from insults. If someone insults you that you personally know, it is inflammatory and almost heartbreaking; on the flip side, if someone who you don't know insults you, you are more likely to brush it off and take it for face value because they don't know the "real you". The human experience is a technology in itself for that reason. As time has progressed, the interaction between human beings has shifted; the human experience innovates as technology innovates. The smart phone was introduced and the world and the way the world works changed; the same can be said when the car was created - the car altered how people interacted by simply allowing people who did not interact regularly to interact any time they would like. At the heart of this experience, the public will never do what you want. The public does what they want - no matter how much you pander to them, no matter what you offer, no matter the occasion - the public will do what they want. We just needed to captivate them more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7TYU7Lj6M0
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