The head shaving is a gesture of unity or, as they've said, to give them the appearance of monks or mannequins or babies or maybe aliens. They will not be able to leave what they call the Urban Dream Capsule during their two weeks on display, but can communicate with watchers via fax, e-mail or a dry erase board. A small, specially sealed window will allow them to receive presents. It's non-stop, totally interactive between us and the audience. It becomes kind of a soap opera in which people get to know us and come back day after day to see what we're up to.
Reality TV is based on exclusion, voting people out, becoming the winner.
At first, people feel uncomfortable and voyeuristic watching us, but it soon becomes a communion. Susan Lipman noticed that fact when she saw later installations of Urban Dream Capsule in Montreal and London. They'll dance, they'll do routines based on cooking meals, they'll do the minutiae of life. Thomas relishes waking up in the morning to a crowd of onlookers who generally gasp when his eyes open. Sometimes the boundaries are blurred.