Wednesday, February 29, 2012

LBJ by Santiago Alvarez

DJ Spooky's Birth of a Nation



"the birth of a nation set the tone for the portrayal of history." Birth of a Nation (1915, film by DW Griffith)

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Yes Men and other activists spied on by corporations

Feb. 27, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MASSIVE LEAK REVEALS CRIMINALITY, PARANOIA AMONG CORPORATE TITANS
Dow pays "strategic intelligence" firm to spy on Yes Men and grassroots activists. Takeaway: movement is on the right track!

WikiLeaks begins to publish today over five million e-mails obtained by Anonymous from "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails, which reveal everything from sinister spy tactics to an insider trading scheme with Goldman Sachs (see below), also include several discussions of the Yes Men and Bhopal activists. (Bhopal activists seek redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India, that led to thousands of deaths, injuries in more than half a million people, and lasting environmental damage.)

Many of the Bhopal-related emails, addressed from Stratfor to Dow and Union Carbide public relations directors, reveal concern that, in the lead-up to the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, the Bhopal issue might be expanded into an effective systemic critique of corporate rule, and speculate at length about why this hasn't yet happened—providing a fascinating window onto what at least some corporate types fear most from activists.

"[Bhopal activists] have made a slight nod toward expanded activity, but never followed through on it—the idea of 'other Bhopals' that were the fault of Dow or others," mused Joseph de Feo, who is listed in one online source as a "Briefer" for Stratfor.

"Maybe the Yes Men were the pinnacle. They made an argument in their way on their terms—that this is a corporate problem and a part of the a [sic] larger whole," wrote Kathleen Morson, Stratfor's Director of Policy Analysis. More

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Gran Fury and Act Up -- show currently in NY

this is a link to the review. The writer is also active with one of the art arms of occupy wall street.
When Acting Up Meant Arting Up
By MARTHA SCHWENDENER
Published: February 2, 2012 The American art world has never gotten over its first love, Europe. And so, when the Occupy movement heated up last year, many art types reached instinctively for European theory and precedents. But in recent decades examples of direct action and a sustained movement made of small affinity groups have flourished in New York. An exhibition devoted to one such group, Gran Fury, is on view at New York University. continue here



IMAGE: Gran Fury: Read My Lips "Welcome to America," left, a billboard sponsored by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1989, is in this show about the art collective Gran Fury, at New York University's 80WSE gallery. (The Keith Haring sign is not related.)

Friday, February 24, 2012


Here's the link for the book I was telling you all about on Thursday.  The author has licensed the book under creative commons, and has listed all different formats for free download if you prefer that to buying the book.  I hope you guys check it out.  If you do, let me know what you think!
about the book
Little Brother is a scarily realistic adventure about how homeland security technology could be abused to wrongfully imprison innocent Americans. A teenage hacker-turned-hero pits himself against the government to fight for his basic freedoms. This book is action-packed with tales of courage, technology, and demonstrations of digital disobedience as the technophile’s civil protest.

Jenny

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The People Speak: Film - Mon Feb. 20 6-9 pm

The People Speak
a film by Occupy Discussion and Film Presentation–in the Student Center Auditorium from 6 pm til 9 pm. The film is a documentary based on A People’s History, a book by Howard Zinn.

"From the moment that we had any kind of influence in this town, we were trying to get this project off the ground. - Matt Damon
Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday people, the documentary feature film THE PEOPLE SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice.
Narrated by acclaimed historian Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling books A People's History of the United States and, with Anthony Arnove, Voices of a People's History of the United States, THE PEOPLE SPEAK illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted
THE PEOPLE SPEAK is produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn, co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn, and features dramatic and musical performances by Allison Moorer, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Robinson, Christina Kirk, Danny Glover, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, David Strathairn, Don Cheadle, Eddie Vedder, Harris Yulin, Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Josh Brolin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Lupe Fiasco, Marisa Tomei, Martín Espada, Matt Damon, Michael Ealy, Mike O'Malley, Morgan Freeman, P!nk, Q'orianka Kilcher, Reg E. Cathey, Rich Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Staceyann Chin, and Viggo Mortensen."

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

James T Hong and CHEN Yin-Ju

Suprematist Kapital

The Form of the Good

A Rough Poster Idea

Here's the basic concept I'm going for with my poster.  I realize it's a bit sparse but I'm hoping others in the class will be willing to help me flesh it out.

I was inspired to create this poster because of the political rhetoric that tends to surround any kind of social justice action.  I get very frustrated when things like marriage equality or equal pay are referred to as part of the "homosexual agenda" or the "feminist agenda."  Why does equal rights for everyone have to sound like an evil plot?

Sandpaper Shoes

Sandpaper shoes by Chris Velan

Gen Why

Generation Why Interlude by Domino Effect

Antioch Confidential

Spectres of Liberty

Spectres of Liberty

and The Ghost of LIberty Street

The Ghost of the Liberty Street Church from Spectres of Liberty on Vimeo.


ABOUT THE GHOST OF THE LIBERTY STREET CHURCH
Beginning with a sense of loss about the changing built environment of Troy, New York, we set out imagining ghosts of demolished buildings and structures. Through imagining inflatable sculptural extensions to buildings whose facades have been destroyed to thinking about recreating vanished historic sites, we decided on creating a ghost of the Liberty Street Church.
The Liberty Street Church is not only significant as a vanished part of Troy's architectural history, but also for its value as a historic site in the fight to abolish slavery. From old photos of the site provided by the Rensselaer Historical Society, we created an inflatable 1:1 scale reproduction of the church and installed it at the former site of the church, which is now a parking lot. We animated this ghost church through video projections that call forth the history of the site, as well as through the social context of a cultural event that brought community members to the site to think more deeply about the space and its history.
Through our research we learned more about Henry Highland Garnet, the pastor of Liberty Street Church from 1843-1848. He was known around the world for his militant orations and publications calling on people to actively participate in the fight to end slavery. When we read Henry Highland Garnet's words from the 1840's: "Let your motto be resistance! resistance! resistance! No oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance," we do not think they are dead words from a forgotten time - but a call, an urging, to participate in transforming our world now.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Lautreamont sez..

Plagiarism is necessary. It is implied in the idea of progress. It clasps the author's sentence tight, uses his expressions, eliminates a false idea, replaces it with the right idea.
Among the works plagiarized were Blaise Pascal's Pensées and La Rochefoucauld's Maximes, as well as the work of Jean de La Bruyère, Marquis de Vauvenargues, Dante, Kant and La Fontaine. It even included an improvement of his own Les Chants de Maldoror. The brochures of aphoristic prose did not have a price; each customer could decide which sum they wanted to pay for it.(from Wikipedia Comte de Lautreamont

Military recruitment guide: keeping out of the trap

The guide can be downloaded here

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Collette Gaiter article

CULTURESTRIKE: DESIGN ACTIVISM TO IMPACT IMMIGRATION REFORM by Collette Gaiter




"Starting in Tunisia, spreading to Egypt and eventually everywhere, resistance to dictators, government policies and economic inequalities had such a global impact that Time magazine declared “The Protester” person of the year for 2011. In the United States, the Occupy Wall Street movement, an idea conceived by the Canadian activists of Adbusters, mobilized on September 17, inspired by the Arab Spring protests." more linked

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Husni's "DeMarkus Watson"

Hey, this is Peter, uploading "DeMarkus Watson" on behalf of Husni. He isn't an author yet.

http://vimeo.com/36397126

T.R.U.T.H.


Interrupting this spectacle


star acad 3 (intermittents du spectacle) by seb-du59
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6oxhk_manipulation-merdiatique-2-2_news

This ad ran right after the Super Bowl

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/randall-terry-pro-life-super-bowl-ad


This ad ran nationally (although, some markets decided against it) right after the Giants won the Super Bowl. Regardless of your views/ideology, how can the FCC allow this, but then fine NBC and others for the notorious "nipple slip" of Janet Jackson a few years ago.

fanzui Xiangfa (music)

http://www.myspace.com/fanzuixiangfa/radio

Fanzui Xiangfa is a hardcore-punk band from Beijing, China. Formed in 2006, they came together with a common desire to do something in a scene where "do nothing" has become a constant mantra. The members, all deeply involved in China's music scene, are sick of the apathy and despair so present around them and instead believe in empowering people to take control of their own lives and to actively create the world they dream of. Fanzui Xiangfa relentlessly embodies the DIY ethic in an atmosphere of creative fun and a roar of hardcore-punk.




Fanzui Xiangfa "Peasant Uprise


I am not like you!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

I'm linking my latest "blog entry" as it were:




It is a greatly expanded artists' statement from my last show....

All the best, Adam

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Posters

Posters for the CNT-FAI and Spanish Revolution:



pyramids of the capitalist system, old and new


Here is a 1911 poster that provides a visual interpretation of the capitalist economic system. Capitalism sustains itself, in large measure, by "naturalizing" itself; by convincing us that it is the natural order of the world. The pyramids attempt to illustrate the all-too-human hierarchy that this system rests upon, and invite us to imagine the possibility of knocking the whole edifice over.

For the artist a description of the poster, click here.




Below is an attempt at updating the poster for today. Capitalism has undergone significant changes in the last century, but the basic structure of exploitation, domination, and suppression of revolt has persisted. It was produced by Crimethinc. ex-workers collective. Their website has a number of other posters and written works that are very influential in contemporary anarchist circles.

And... here are a few more.  They are not necessarily all related, so don't read into the order and grouping much.




I love both the message and the curb appeal of this particular poster. 
Barbara Kruger, 1997 

                                                 These graphics are really quite catching.

Faith Ringgold, 1971


I am an artist poster.


I love both the message behind this that ties in nicely with some recent art and commercialism theory I have been reading as of late.  I also have a great appreciation for the sketching that went into this.. just beautiful. 

Continuity and (un)Originality: appropriating stubs of projects and taking them forward

In looking around for more about the exhibition on reproductive health representations by women,I found a website titled the Groundswell collective LINKED HERE. There is a link from 2009 to a project called Imagine Peace, but all I can find online is more of the same stub. What happened to the project? Sometimes people abandon them, or groups break up, or they never get around to posting, or they are co-opted by opportunities to exhibit in more private spheres: (such as the gallery or museum). Nice idea; what happened to the project? Why not pick up stubs of other abandoned projects and reproduce them?

EveryBody

An exhibition curated by Bonnie Fortune; a great collection of historic and contemporary documents on women's reproductive health. for further investigation HERE
Article about exhibition.
Christa Donner


OWS occupies World War II propaganda aesthetic

It's been said that World War II was, for better or worse, one of the U.S.'s richest periods for visual rhetoric thanks in part to the widespread use of propaganda posters. Xenophobia, racist caricature, suggesting a direct correlation between saving hamburger grease for multiple use and the probability of an Allied victory:  the Greatest Generation()'s visual artists were doing things that would make Roger Ailes and Frank Luntz blush. 

If you're not familiar with the WWII propaganda aesthetic, I invite you to Google "world war 2 propaganda" or something like that: the web's loaded with unforgettable stuff that nobody in their right mind would say or print today (okay, Michele Bachmann excluded).

For now, though, I thought it would be interesting to share a few instances of the OWS movement appropriating the WWII aesthetic for its amorphous agenda. I've attached a few here: my favorite (and the most direct parody) is the Uncle Sam poster, which plays on the WWII propaganda SILENCE trope, which insisted that "loose lips" would result in soldier casualties. 

With the exception of Uncle Sam, these are close but don't quite hit the WWII nail on the head (the terrorist chart one isn't really in the same aesthetic; I just like it). If I were to do my own poster, I'd probably go for full-on style parody: big, bold, sassy, and brassy.

Enjoy! Buy bonds! Go about your daily routine! Everything is fine!





(images borrowed from a blog titled "Maximum Advantage in Pictures": http://chumpfish3.blogspot.com/)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Gasland Director Josh Fox arrested while attempting to film in Congress


His statement:
"I was arrested today for exercising my First Amendment rights to freedom of the press on Capitol Hill. I was not expecting to be arrested for practicing journalism. Today's hearing in the House Energy and Environment subcommittee was called to examine EPAs findings that hydraulic fracturing fluids had contaminated groundwater in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming. I have a long history with the town of Pavillion and its residents who have maintained since 2008 that fracking has contaminated their water supply. I featured the stories of residents John Fenton, Louis Meeks and Jeff Locker in GASLAND and I have continued to document the catastrophic water contamination in Pavillion for the upcoming sequel GASLAND 2. It would seem that the Republican leadership was using this hearing to attack the three year Region 8 EPA investigation involving hundreds of samples and extensive water testing which ruled that Pavillion's groundwater was a health hazard, contaminated by benzene at 50x the safe level and numerous other contaminants associated with gas drilling. Most importantly, EPA stated in this case that fracking was the likely cause." MORE

Days of the Commune: Reading Brecht's play in public space

Days of the Commune. A project by Zoe Beloff

Posters