The Gothenburg freeze

A few months after the zombie walk, it was apparently time for another event to invade Gothenburg again and confuse innocent civilians.

Last year I wrote about the “freeze” actions happening in cities around the world, where hundreds of people suddenly stopping dead in their tracks, remaining perfectly still for several minutes, then carrying on as if nothing had happened. The freeze at Grand Central Station in New York is still the gold standard. Hundreds of people turning one of the busiest places on Earth into a temporary museum of mildly disturbing human statues.

Today, Gothenburg got its turn. Around 500 of us descended on Nordstan, that crowded temple of shopping in the middle of the city, and at the appointed moment simply… stopped. For a few minutes, nothing moved. Shoppers slowed down. People stared. Confusion spread through the crowd. Five hundred perfectly ordinary people had suddenly become mannequins, except considerably less fashionable.

Frida and I can be spotted in the film, frozen in place while providing some shameless free advertising for a large coffee chain. Corporate sponsorship without the tedious business of actually getting paid.

Nordstan frozen in action.

The best part was watching everyone who had no idea what was happening. One small kid stood staring up at me for what seemed like ages, wearing that wonderful mixture of suspicion and confusion children reserve for adults behaving badly. He clearly knew something was wrong with this picture.

Then, at exactly the same moment, all 500 of us started moving again. The kid nearly jumped out of his skin. Worth it.