Zombies are so over-done in our popular culture that they’ve begun to lose their zip. The concept of armies of “undead” has been used in the past to make comments on society, as in the movie where all the mindless hordes descended on a shopping mall. Now they are more of a parody of themselves than anything else. Yet some artists in Germany decided to revisit the concept for a performance art piece, one that would reclaim the zombie as a statement. The context was the recent G20 Summit held in Hamburg, Germany. We have all become accustomed to seeing the usual protests that happen around these events. Kudos to the creative minds who came up with 1,000 Gestalten (1000 Figures).

According to the creators of the performance piece, 1000 Gestalten was intended to criticize politically apathy in our world today and as a call to “more political participation for a society where change doesn’t come from above, but from each and every individual,” according to the performance’s official website.

I’ve included a video of the event take from the Daily Beast. Art comes in all shapes, colors, sizes and voices. In Hamburg on July 5, 2017, it came in a horde of grey who spoke little but communicated volumes.