Shia Labeouf-and-chilling with Shia Labeouf

I watched former Disney Channel star Shia Labeouf watch himself in all 27 of his own movies for three days straight and learned a valuable lesson — audiences endlessly consume content, good or bad, but provocative matter matters.

In his latest performance art piece — aptly named “#AllMyMovies” — Labeouf invited the public to participate by sitting in on a Shia Labeouf movie marathon in the Angelika Film Center with the actor-artist himself. Faintly reminiscent of Marina Abramović’s critically acclaimed piece “The Artist Is Present,” “#AllMyMovies” spun the concept of commercial consumerism on its axis by having Labeouf’s entire performance live-streamed.

“#AllMyMovies” could be seen as a self-indulgent mess, with a child star turned blockbuster A-lister turned media-proclaimed “bizarre” performance artist in the eye of the storm, but it’s not. If anything, it was an eye-opening reflection on how the modern world digests information. #deep.

The online public and I were shamelessly consuming a product — Labeouf himself — as he consumed 27 products over three days. It didn’t matter if the content was exceptional or cringe-worthy; Shia Labeouf sat through it and so did I.

Viewers winced as he covered his face while watching “Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They felt “at peace” as he chuckled during “Surf’s Up.” I might’ve even heard the slightest growl from my stomach as I watched him eat a late-night slice of pizza. The subject might not have been riveting, but Labeouf kept powering through and we continued to keep the browser window open.

Now that the three-day performance art piece is over, what can marketers take away from the interactive experience? Most of Labeouf’s performance was apathetic, but what the media lapped up was his more overt reactions. GIFs have been made of the celebrity-product’s fleeting glimpses of emotion. He was human, relatable. And as marketers, we should remember that although our consumers are constantly bombarded with information, it’s the captivating content that can trigger emotion, making the experience more memorable.