As promised, I got my hair cut by a kid over the weekend at Mammalian Diving Reflex’s Haircuts by Children: Ten year old Brittney was quite poised and confident, and did a decent job (I won’t be running to Bishops for a re-trim or anything). I realized something while I was sitting in that chair, sweating and petrified and trying to look like I hadn’t just heard Brittney quietly say “oops”: While this project is ostensibly “for the kids,” in a way the whole thing is an elaborate prank on the grownups. “Sure, I’m laid back, I like kids, I like art, I’ll get a haircut…” But holy shit! It’s really intense and unnerving, sitting there while some little kid snips away at your hair as tons of press and folks with cellphone cameras click away at you. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was that uncomfortable. Why was I so uncomfortable? Because I was afraid I was going to look ridiculous; I was afraid the kid was going to fuck it up; I was uncomfortable with the cameras; I was questioning my motives for doing it in the first place. In that sense, it was a really, really effective piece of performance art—I’ll remember it long after the haircut has grown out, anyway.

Photos of my haircut after the jump. And check out the further TBA-related adventures of your intrepid Mercury arts team over at our TBA blog.

There's no before, but here's a during and after:

Thanks to the PICA blogger who helped me snap some photos.