Shawyer dissertation May 2008 final version - The University of ...

freshly-shorn young men in army uniforms or suburban matrons returning home after aday of shopping and theatre—but instead an eclectic crowd of long-haired youths. Theycarry small radios, drums, and flutes, and bring jellybeans and popcorn. They sing anddance, their voices and music echoing through the marble hall. Colored balloons, confetti,and marijuana smoke rise in the air to cloud the painted zodiac above. Every now andthen an anti-war placard waves above the crowd. A phalanx of New York City Policeobserves nervously from the perimeter of the main hall, unsure of what to do. Confusedcommuters stumble into the fray, and are offered popcorn, or a hug, or a toke. Some getswallowed up by the party; others edge to the side to watch the wild bacchanal. Is it afestival, a demonstration, or a performance? The crowd doesn’t seem to care. Celebratorycries of “Yippie!” float above the revelry. A firecracker explodes. Chaos reigns.This chapter investigates how the Yippies put their participatory performanceform into practice at the Grand Central Station Yip-In performance of March, 1968. 42Specifically, I address how the Yippies used concepts of the Happening and everyday lifeperformance to create a mass performance at New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Forthis performance meant to publicize the Yippie movement and expand the Yippienetwork beyond the founding Yippies’ Lower East Side world, the Yippies drew on aconcept popular in the avant-garde art and performance world at the time: the Happening,an abstract performance art form that emphasized process over product and explored therelationship between artist and audience. Because Happenings focused on the aesthetics42 The station is officially named Grand Central Terminal, however, since the Yippies favored thecommonly-used term Grand Central Station, I will follow their lead as I discuss the Yip-In.99