Through the lens
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN you gather over 700 hundred people to a picnic? Although organizers of Harvest Noir would disagree, you just get a really large picnic.
Harvest Noir was a grand-scale, black-tie, secret event. Tickets cost a steep $37 plus tax and participants were only informed of the time and place a mere four hours beforehand. In typical flash-mob form, attendees were asked to keep the details of the event hush hush. As enticing as a little mystery can be, this all begs the question: What’s the point?
Ottawa’s Harvest Noir may seem senseless, but it is popular. Inspired by its annual Parisian counterpart, Dîner en Blanc, their popularity has grown throughout the years—the Parisian pique-nique had over 10,000 attendees last spring. Still, it is a little absurd to pay so much for something being touted as a “flash mob.”
The whole idea of a flash mob is a tad ridiculous. What began as an anti-conformity, hipster movement has now become the ultimate capitalist, conventional, and unoriginal social experiment. Flash mobs were created because a group of people in New York City wanted to demonstrate their power and “take over” a public space, but if you’ve seen one flash mob, you’ve seen them all.
Also, isn’t the point of a flash mob to be a spontaneous gathering of people in a public space, performing some act? The secrecy of the time and place are usual components, but these picnics are meticulously planned out. They’re an annual flash mob that happens around the same time every year. Doesn’t knowing when it’s going to happen defeat the purpose? Sorry Harvest Noir, your secret’s out for next year.
Why watch a bunch of people in fancy clothes eat dinner? Is this art? Can this even be considered a performance? Is this supposed to be creative, innovative, or methodic? Maybe people want to feel as if they’re a part of something that has some artistic merit—even if it doesn’t.
Everyone loves to be in on a secret. Althoug the flash-mob picnic attendees come across as an elitist group of people who want to have an expensive dinner and party the night away. Once you’re paying for something, I think that nullifies the idea of it being a flash mob; it’s just an event to attend.
If people really want to be a part of a movement with strangers, why not rally for something with cause? Head on over to Occupy Ottawa and protest for change you want to see happen. At least protesting doesn’t cost you $37.
Sofia Hashi
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(613) 562-5931
