A first year St John’s student was slapped by Shia LaBeouf upon request during the 29-year-old Transformers star’s #ELEVATE performance art piece, which involved LaBeouf standing in a lift for 24 hours talking to various members of the public.
The student claimed to be a performance artist himself before asking LaBeouf, “can you help me with the completion of my next piece by punching me in the face?”
The student told Cherwell that the reason behind his request was motivated by the fact that LaBeouf was probably “bored”.
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In response to the St. John’s student’s Facebook post in a closed group designed “to sell streetwear as well as provide general discussion” in which he asked for suggestions on what to ask LaBeouf, another student commented, “Say, ‘Hi, I am an artist who specialises in performance art, can you help me complete my next piece by punching me in the face”.
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Upon hearing the request, LaBeouf expressed concern, saying “I don’t want to punch you very hard.”
The student, who was in the lift with four other members of the public, responded by telling LaBeouf not to be “a p***y”. A slap can be heard from behind the closed doors of the lift after the student asked to be slapped instead.
In the build-up to the event, the Union wrote about the piece, “Visitors will be able to join LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner inside the elevator during this time, and are invited to address the artists, the debating chamber, and the internet, so that their collective voices may form an extended, expansive and egalitarian Oxford Union address.”
LaBeouf was in the lift with Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner from 9am on Friday until 9am on Saturday, leavng only to use the toilet and talk in the Union Chamber at 8pm on Friday.
