It's amazing how John Carpenter's They Live has found a new life. When I saw the film in '88, I was hard-pressed to find anyone who embraced it like I did and would want to talk about it. Now? It has officially gained cult status and has become the subject of fan art, t-shirts and masks. That speaks to the power of Carpenter's message in the film. It's just as relevant today as it was in '88.
Now the film has served as the inspiration for an "art installation" – meaning, artists Stephen Zeigler and Calder Greenwood took one of those aforementioned The Live masks, slapped it on a dude in a suit and embedded him in the business district of downtown L.A. for a photo shoot in which a bus bench and newspaper stand ad were replaced with some familiar, straight-forward commands.
What's next? They Live flash mobs? Imagine an army of folks in alien masks descending on Wall Street…
In They Live, Roddy Piper plays a drifter who blows into Los Angeles and takes a job working at a construction site. He soon discovers a pair of sunglasses that reveal an alien presence is living among us.
Click below for more photos from the "installation"!
