What Shia LaBeouf Actually Did at the Sydney Opera House's Inaugural Bingefest

Whether you wanted to know the innermost thoughts of Shia LaBeouf's fans or not, the actor/performance artist made sure they were pretty hard to miss at the inaugural Bingefest this year.

"And in the end, all rappers sucked until Steven came along, transformed, and made it even."

If you were anywhere near the Sydney Opera House at 1.30am on Sunday morning, you may well have seen this bold prediction pop up on the side of the building in huge red letters. Despite reading like the work of a teenage hacker, the statement, coupled with hundreds of other mental tidbits offered up by fans, was actually part of Shia LaBeouf's latest performance art piece, And in the End.

LaBeouf, perhaps best known for his role in Michael Bay's Transformer films, also enjoys the odd foray into less conventional performance. Two years ago, he arrived at a film premiere wearing a paper bag on his head and last year he filmed himself watching a three-day marathon of all of his movies. Edgy.

And in the End, a free event hosted by Bingefest and live-streamed around the world, invited fans to come and meet LaBeouf and share a statement which had to begin with the words, 'And in the end…' Working with long-time collaborators Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner in an empty Joan Sutherland Theatre, attendees went in one at a time from midnight until six in the morning to share whatever profundities they could muster. Contributions were pared down to a sentence and displayed on a 60-metre-long screen on the side of the Opera House.

LaBeouf said the project asks, "Where are we headed? What might it all mean? And what is important in the end?"

Although LaBeouf has yet to comment on the finished piece, And in the End clearly resonated with participants. Just before 4am on Sunday morning this gem briefly adorned the side of the Opera House:

"And in the end all I could think was that there had to be a catch to getting to see Shia LaBeouf for free, I just didn't think it would be an existential crisis."

Watch the five-hour stream here:

Images: Daniel Boud.