David Blaine Spectacle

Source: NY Times, New York Report. p.28 May 7

FM-FM Comment:
Cultural malaise and domestic ennui are not without consequences. With revivals, retrospectives, and reality shows popping up frequently, one can expect to see growth in the spectacle industry. I saw David Blaine in London in 2003 suspended in a clear plastic case from a crane near the Thames. A small crowd stood looking in wonder at this man doing this odd thing. Three teens shouted "We love you David." He waved. Businessmen and women scurried along casting a brief glance in David's direction. The event was a non-event to Londoners. I had the feeling that I have when I trap a mouse in a Have A Heart plastic mouse trap. I must help it out as soon as possible or it will suffocate. In 2006 David is at it again in an 8 foot sphere of water for seven days near Lincoln Center's performing arts venues in New York City. Since Monday he has been living under water and breathing through an air tube and living on various liquid nutrients and disposing of them through an appartus described as a condum catheter. He plans to return to the sphere after the seven days in locked chains, hold his breath long enough to break the world record of 8 minutes and 58 seconds and escape. Our culture's current obsession with novelty or the wierd is a healthy sign that we might be somewhere along the way to some new art form or revolutiuon, or worse, even more bizarre events......say marathon dancing. Mr. Blaine clearly does well doing wierd. He recently purchased a $1.67 million apartment in TriBeCa and has been progammed on ABC five times. Liberace said of those who scorned him, " I cry all the way to the bank."