LaBeouf's paper-bag art stunt draws curious crowd

After waiting in line for several hours, attendees were frisked by a security guard in a black suit and ushered inside the gallery. They were asked to choose among "implements" to bring into the space with LaBeouf. The items included a Transformers toy, a bowl of printed tweets, a bottle of cologne, a ukulele and a copy of Clowes' book. No photography was permitted.

During a visit by The Associated Press to the exhibit, the bag-clad LaBeouf stared forward with his tattooed hands on the table and remained silent when asked questions, his once-twinkly green eyes devoid of emotion. The only interaction from LaBeouf occurred during a pair of sweaty handshakes exchanged at the start and end of the encounter.

The stunt reached a new level of ridiculousness when Stand By Me and Piranha 3D actor Jerry O'Connell, in collaboration with the comedy site FunnyOrDie.com, began parodying LaBeouf at a gallery next door with "#IAMSORRYTOO" similarly plastered on the window. Inside, O'Connell donned a paper bag with the words "SUPER FAMOUS" on it.

The line to meet O'Connell was considerably shorter than LaBeouf's queue. O'Connell's one-day lampoon was particularly meta because many folks have drawn parallels between LaBeouf's #IAMSORRY display and artist Marina Abramovic's performance-art piece The Artist Is Present, which featured Abramovic sitting across from visitors at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2010.

Ultimately, several #IAMSORRY attendees said they were left scratching their heads, unsure if the grocery bag confessional they participated in was part of another meltdown from a former child star, a Joaquin Phoenix-like publicity stunt, an intellectual commentary on copycat culture or something in-between. However, no one queried said they regretted waiting in line.

"I grew up watching him on Evens Stevens, so I never thought I'd be sitting across from him as an adult with a paper bag on his head," says James Gianti, a 21-year-old student who waited in line two hours. "I didn't really know what to expect. It was way more depressing than I thought it would be. He's just sitting there. The whole thing was just really, really depressing."