MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE SHUTS DOWN SHIA LABEOUF INSTALLATION, CALLING IT A “FLASHPOINT FOR VIOLENCE”

The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York, canceled actor and performance artist Shia LaBeouf’s public installation HeWillNotDivide.Us, after it became a “serious and ongoing public safety hazard,” Jacey Fortin of the New York Times reports.

The anti-Trump work, a collaboration between LaBeouf and artists Luke Turner and Nastja Sade Ronkko, consisted of a camera located outside the museum into which visitors and passersby were invited to say, “He will not divide us,” over the course of the next four years. The footage was being streamed in real-time at hewillnotdivide.us.

Shortly after the installation opened on January 20, it became “a flashpoint for violence,” the museum said in a statement. The institution received numerous threats of violence and said that the work led to politically charged confrontations resulting in several arrests. LaBeouf was also arrested after quarreling with a man and allegedly scratching his face on Thursday, January 26.

The museum said, “We are proud to have launched this engaging and thought-provoking digital art installation which was experienced by millions of online viewers worldwide. Until public safety concerns overrode the intent of the installation, HeWillNotDivide.Us generated an important conversation allowing interaction among people from many backgrounds and with different viewpoints. However, ending our engagement with the installation is the most prudent path forward to restore public safety to the museum, its visitors, staff, and the community.”