CHRISTMAS MALL FOOD COURT FLASH MOB

This is brilliant! Shoppers in a food court can't believe their eyes and ears when a talented flash mob pops up unannounced to sing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. This unsponsored act of art reminds us--even when we're mind-dulled with consumerism, worn out from routine, and trapped in the lock-step of daily life--that anything is possible. In this context, singing the Hallelujah Chorus can be a subversive act. Thanks to these operatic guerrillas, obviously talented and well-trained, we're blindsided by a magical moment and forced to look up from our ruts. Here is ART, without warning, where we least expect it, far from the galleries and museums and concert halls, with no explanation, no wall-text, no hand-out or guide telling us how to feel, giving us the proper response. This can't be right. It just doesn't fit. Some might feel confused or inconvenienced or even cynical, but some will feel the thrill. The axe cuts through the ice. We're suddenly outside the box.

Thanks to these operatic guerrillas for making it happen. Good show! And thanks to Wendy, our resident opera fan, for finding this clip. Now before you go back to your normal programming, make a plan to create something beautiful and unexpected. And give it to someone. Merry Christmas!