Shia LaBeouf's latest performance piece/publicity stunt got super meta this weekend, when a fan and fellow performance artist asked the actor to punch him in the face for his own personal project.
Sometime during LaBeouf's 24-hour elevator ride, a performance he titled "#ELEVATE," an Oxford University student walked in and made his special request.
The exchange, which was recorded behind closed elevator doors, went something like this:
Student: "I'm a performance artist. Can you help me with completion of my next piece by punching me in the face?"
LaBeouf: "Oh man, you want me to punch you in the face? I don’t want to punch you very hard!"
Student: "OK, that's fine."
In a video clip of the encounter posted on YouTube Friday, the actor can be heard telling the student "I don't like doing it, though ... I just met you."
Eventually, after a little taunting -- the student tells LaBeouf not to be a "pussy" -- a slap can be heard through the elevator doors. (Some are reporting that LaBeouf punched the student, but since we can't actually see what happens, we've reached out to LaBeouf's camp for confirmation.)
LaBeouf completed the performance piece with fellow artists Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner. The trio also gave an accompanying talk about the piece at the Oxford Union, where LaBeouf noted such highlights as: "one guy pulled his dick out" and "some people ordered us pizza."
#Art.
You can watch a 4-hour highlight reel of #ELEVATE here, or see the trio talk about the experience here.
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