Less than a month ago, Shia LaBeouf used his hipster-performance-art-powers for good, with his video project, HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US. But in the past few days, the installation has reached a (very) premature end.

The idea started out simply enough: Anyone was invited to go up to a wall outside of the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. Participants would say “He will not divide us” as many times as they liked. The camera was hooked up to a live stream, set to run continuously until Trump is no longer president.

At first, the installation was the stuff of inspirational clickbait, it attracted the likes of Jaden Smith, and ordinary folks from high school students performing the mantra as a rap to people holding vigils in the middle of the night. But there were also early signs of trouble. Within days, the white supremacists started showing up to troll, and LaBeouf himself shouted one down.

The project grew more hectic; one protestor may have said something anti-Semitic to LaBeouf, who responded by shoving the harasser, and was arrested (though not jailed) as a result.

Even though that incident was weeks ago, the Museum cited it as a primary example for why it had to shut the project down on Friday. Its statement read in part:

The installation created a serious and ongoing public safety hazard for the Museum, its visitors, staff, local residents, and businesses. While the installation began constructively, it deteriorated markedly after one of the artists was arrested on the site of the installation and ultimately necessitated this action. Over the course of the installation, there have been dozens of threats of violence and numerous arrests, such that police felt compelled to be stationed outside the installation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

LaBeouf, and his co-artists Luke Turner and Nastja Säde Rönkkö are obviously not happy about the turn of the events. The live stream website is still up, but the video only displays the words “THE MUSEUM HAS ABANDONED US.” The artists’ statement on the site has been updated:

“On February 10, 2017, the Museum of the Moving Image abandoned the project.

The artists, however, have not.”

Keep your eyes peeled, folks. This story doesn’t seem to be over yet.

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In case you were eagerly awaiting Shia LaBeouf’s next durational art installation, know that the wait is over! The actor, recent husband, potential Christian convert, and Louis Stevens, has released perhaps his most political work yet: HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US.

HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US is fairly straightforward; there’s a camera outside of the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. You walk up to the camera, and say the words “He will not divide us.” If you like you can say it again— and again, and again, until you feel you have done your part and you let someone else take a turn. Lather, rinse, repeat until Donald Trump is no longer president.

No, really, the camera is streaming 24/7, for as long as Trump is in office. That’s the “he” in question, here.

According to LaBeouf and his collaborators Luke Turner and Nastja Säde Rönkkö, “the mantra ‘he will not divide us’ acts as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community.”

Actually, so far it’s rather compelling.The first performer, on Inauguration Day, was Jaden Smith (because of course he was), so there’s always that Marina Abramović-esque “Who’ll show up next?” factor. And in only a few short days, and lots of interest, several tiny dramas have played out, from singing the mantra as a duet to the stream freezing up (OK, less dramatic, and more the way of all technology).

Most notably, considering that the point of the project is to not divide us, multiple fights have already ensued, when white supremacists, having gotten wind of the thing, have shown up to be trolls. Shia used the mantra to shout one of them down himself (rock on, Shia!), and one woman left her bed in Brooklyn in the middle of the night to come support a man holding vigil despite harassment. Aw!

Can’t make it to New York to participate yourself? You can still view the project; the camera live stream is on HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US.

Image via Twitter.

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