Elastic Man Appears in Yard

Cambridge natives and students alike might well have mistaken Harold Olejarz for any other middle-aged commuter passing through Harvard Square yesterday afternoon, if it weren't for the rubber suit.

Olejarz, whose black rubber outfit was spackled with thick white paint, perplexed onlookers as he struck mime-like poses on Mass. Ave. opposite Bartley's Burger Cottage.

In an interview, Olejarz said he was invited by the College to perform in the Pusey Library last night while materials were being donated to the University's theatre collection. But apparently no one bothered to inform Harvard police of Olejarz's visit.

Olejarz, who bills himself as a performance artist, said that he decided to take his act into the Yard, but was soon rebuffed. He said that, ten minutes after installing himself outside Pusey, he was "declared a disturbance" and forced to take his act into the Square.

"I thought that was funny," the Tenafly, N.J. artist said.

Olejarz said he was trained as a sculptor and turned to his present vocation five years ago to "make the art public."

"It's like being on the inside and looking through a peephole," he said. Olejarz's elastic art covers his entire body, from head to toe.

Instead of working with metal or wood or stone, Olejarz chooses to use the human body. He performs spontaneously, employing certain gestures to arouse amusement or excitement in his audience.

Is It Real?

He finds it humorous that so many people ask him, "Is it real?" as he models his stretchable suit. "The whole questioning of reality" is interesting, Olejarz said.

Olejarz has been busy in recent years. He has performed at the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as on various streets and benches across the country. He said he will be performing at First Night, Boston's annual New Year's Eve celebration.

Asked what message was behind his art, Olejarz said, "If I could say it in words, I'd probably be a writer."