Shia LaBeouf in full flow
Photo: Central St. Martins

Last week the Internet was introduced to actor Shia LaBeouf’s latest project #INTRODUCTIONS, where the celebrity filmed over three dozen 30-second film clips presenting the work of this year’s Central Saint Martins fine art undergraduates (see Watch Shia LaBeouf Collaborate with Grad Students To Make Video Art).

Joshua Parker, a 2015 graduate, produced a particularly bizarre motivational video featuring LaBeouf shouting “JUST DO IT! MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!” while doing what appears to be his best Hulk Hogan imitation.

Other choice catchphrases in the speech that will surely be picked up (if not already branded by Nike), include “Don’t let your dreams be dreams”; “Yesterday you said tomorrow”; “Some people dream of success while you wake up and work hard at it”; “You should get to the point where anyone else would quit and you’re not going to stop there”; and, last, but not least, “If you’re tired or starting over, stop giving up.”

Of course, home-edited clips are quickly being uploaded to YouTube, including a version of LaBeouf presenting his communiqué on a TED stage or accompanied by a series of explosions.

The video collaboration follows the actor’s line of controversial, headline-grabbing performance art, which began in 2013 after the graphic novelist Daniel Clowes accused LaBeouf of plagiarism. After what the actor called a “genuine existential crisis,” LaBeouf started to collaborate with the artists Nastja Rönkkö and Luke Turner on a variety of projects (see Shia LaBeouf Completes Conceptual Art Marathon; Shia LaBeouf Will Jog Around the Stedelijk Museum for Art; Shia LaBeouf Sexually Assaulted During Performance At Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles, and The Ego-Centric Art World is Killing Art).

In a previous interview with Dazed, Rönkkö said, “Whereas in the past everyone wanted to become celebrities, today everyone wants to be an artist.”