http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvpj3mvoaLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXWw1q5eOpw
Angry enough to punch a defenseless panda? Then come to New York.
Every week this winter, performance artist Nate Hill dons a panda suit, heads onto the streets, and challenges members of the public to take a swing.
"Hit me. Hit more hard," he urged passersby on a freezing afternoon at busy Union Square. "You know you're angry, you were angry this morning."
A towering figure in white panda paw gloves, bodysuit and a head the size of a prize-winning pumpkin, the panda hopped down the sidewalk like a boxer.
...
Many on Union Square rolled their eyes at the sight. Some confused Punch Me Panda with an advertising campaign. Others seemed horrified at the idea of punching anything. Or they might just not have been angry.
Then the idea started to catch. A woman gave a gentle jab. A young man fired a quick left-right. A group of men egged each other on, punching, kicking and shoulder charging the ever-patient victim.
Each time, the panda pugilists walked away, faces glowing.
"We both felt so good after," David Melman, a visiting 23-year-old farmer, enthused. "At the first punch I was kind of hesitant, but upon the first contact I could tell it enlivened the panda and I decided to go for it."
Tianna Robinson gave Punch Me Panda her best shot -- but she wasn't thinking of pandas as her knuckles landed.
"I'm dealing with relationship issues," Robinson said. "I envisioned the dude I'm dealing with and it felt damned good, it felt damned good."
Actress Chelsey Clime, 24, practiced her kick boxing skills on the uncomplaining beast. She looked radiant afterwards.
"It's great. Everybody needs to shake it out. You know, you can take a cue from dogs. Dogs, when they're going through something, it's cold or they're upset, they just shake it out," she said.
"If there's a panda to help us shake it out a little bit, I don't see any problem with that."
...
Some assailants take the moment seriously. One, a tall, nearly toothless man who'd clearly trained in boxing, unloaded a flurry of combinations until Punch Me Panda put his hands up in surrender.
"I just pretended I'd had enough," Hill explained later. "I wanted him to feel like he was doing something. That's part of the theatre."
Sometimes, though, the theatre gets a little too real.
"I got punched in the face twice today," Hill said. "When I took the head off, the first guy ran. The second one, I took the head off and he apologized profusely."
Hill says the project will continue for about another five months. Details of his work can be found on: http://natehillisnuts.com/
If there are any New York posters here, please make sure to punch this panda if you see him.
If you do something retarded, claim its performance art, and everyone will think its awesome.