Bravo! Now how do you make a video like this out of chat roulette?

This is pure genius. We need more artists like this doing performance are, pushing the boundaries and providing social commentary. Not to mention all the people who are featured reacting to it portrayed themselves as typical children of the digital generation: not knowing how to react to a real situation, only virtual. (Even though it was a simulation).

I can't believe that guy pulled out his 3D glasses! Crazy to see how people would react. Sad ending. Good thing this wasn't real but I bet this will get a lot of exposure towards the subject.

if you've ever been on chatroulette, you see a lot of weird things, and fake things. and not fake penises. so people are conditioned to think something like this is fake.

Agreed. The reaction of some of the people is shocking. However, as milowent mentioned, chatroulette users are conditioned that things are funny, fake or acted on chatroulette. Nobody takes chatroulette seriously. It is a Gaga-platform where people go bananas, which is why many people do not take seriosly either...

Not even the persons who are connected to the fake hang man are real. this whole performance is a construction. the reactions are fake, too.

welcome youtubers to what once was, uh, vimeo

I think part of the reasons for the reaction, as other people have stated, is due to being conditioned that this stuff on chatroulette is fake. Many people said how it was probably a picture at first but then noticed themselves on the webcam in the bottom right corner of the screen (no doubt set up by the people with the INTENTION of people seeing that it isnt a picture). But i think to react in that way is more deep seeded then that.

I think the reactions of it is fake stems from people not wanting it to be real. People dont want to think somebody just committed suicide and is hanging there. So they want to find ways to prove that it is fake, and prove to themselves that it is fake. Such as that guy eating the sandwich, instantly arriving that it is fake (probably because of a combination of it being on chatroulette, not wanting it to be real, and also so that if it IS fake he isnt duped by the "joke" that somebody might be trying to pull like other people on chatroulette.)

To me this video doesn't show how heartless people can be. It shows the opposite. It shows people wanting desperately for it to be fake, and trying to prove to themselves that it is. You can see their true feelings many times right in their eyes as they first look. It is almost like their eyes are saying "oh no..." like they feel sorry for the poor guy. The first girl really captured it well, the first thing she said was just "oh my- NO!" Like she was hoping that by saying no it was not true, or might convince the guy hanging to not continue with it and keep living.

Look at this for a deep insight on the video:
brooklynrail.org/2010/06/artseen/eva-and-franco-mattes-aka-0100101110101101org-reality-is-overrated

Given the fact that this isn't posted by the artists, I'm not sure it make sense to post a comment about the art work itself. By the way, I won't judge the work of the artists, but only this performance. In fact, the main problem with this performance is that it was done by artists. Maybe it could have been a good video if it had not show the guy hanging there, but only the reactions, I don't know. Because all the reactions are quite predictable, so I really can't think what they where expecting else. Another thing that bothers me a great deal is that the viewer becomes an hostage of a performance he can't understand, and that is artistically wrong, art should never in my point of view put the spectator in captivity, they're too many other realities that do this job. I'm not surprised that there are many references to Abramovic's work, which is quite fascist in a way. So they are using their spectators to say... what? That people don't believe, or want to believe what they're looking at? we already know that, it is inherent of the medium they use.

McCann Erickson Spain did something same:
..youtube.com/watch?v=8bsRDgFYMYo.

sorryyyy
youtube.com/watch?v=8bsRDgFYMYo

really great