Royal Roads University students plan to hold a flash-mob style protest at the intersection of Trans Canada Highway and McKenzie Avenue during evening rush hour next week.
Completing a final project in a professional communications class, the group of five hope to recruit at least 100 people to participate in their “Crawlture Jam,” crawling on their hands and knees through the intersection while the event is captured on video.
The RRU students will use the footage in a documentary about culture jamming, a form of activism that uses irony to inspire people to question the status quo.
“We hope drivers see us and make the connection between what we’re doing and what they’re doing everyday in the Colwood Crawl,” organizer Erin Richards said.
“If (drivers) think we look stupid, they can look in their rearview mirror and see all the people behind them crawling through traffic twice a day.”
On the pedestrian overpass west of the McKenzie intersection, the students will hang a banner that reads “Stop crawling and stand up” in hopes of encouraging people to change their commuter ways.
“We’re not attached to any particular cause — we’re not calling for an overpass or improved transit,” Richards said. “We’re just raising the issue, asking people to notice how absurd it is, and leaving them to find their own solution.”
The group plans to spend about 15 minutes at the intersection, crawling legally through the pedestrian crossings as the walk signal permits.
“We hope we don’t totally enrage any drivers,” Richards said. “We want to make them smile, and think.”
To participate in the event meet July 6 outside St. Joseph’s Church Hall (785 Burnside Rd) at 5 p.m. The group will start crawling the intersection at 5:30 p.m. sharp and disperse shortly afterward.
The finished documentary, about 10 minutes long, will include interviews with authorities on culture jamming and will be available free on YouTube.
For more information and updates, RSVP to the Facebook event “Crawlture Jam” or follow @crawlturejam on Twitter.
news@goldstreamgazette.com