He Will Not Divide Us
“He Will Not Divide Us” is an online performance art project created by Shia Lebeouf, Luke Turner, and Nastja Rönko. Commencing at 9am on January 20th, 2017, the Inauguration Date of Donald Trump, the project was intended to run as a twenty-four hour, seven day a week live stream for the duration of Trump’s presidency. The live stream took place through a camera mounted on a wall outside of the Museum of Moving Image, in Astoria, Queens, New York, where the public was invited to deliver the words “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US” into the camera. The website states that this mantra “acts as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community.” On February 10th, 2017, the Museum of Moving Image quickly abandoned the controversial piece due to it becoming a public safety hazard, and the arrest of Shia Lebeouf. On February 18th, 2017, the project was relocated to a wall outside of the El Rey Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then again quickly relocated on March 8th , 2017, to an unknown location due to gunshots being heard in the area, where the project changed. The public live performance was replaced with a live stream of a flag with the phrase “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US,” with intention to fly for the duration of Trump’s presidency. More recently, on March 22nd, 2017, the project was taken up by the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) Gallery in Liverpool, United Kingdom.