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The Occupy with Art blog provides updates on projects in progress, opinion articles about art-related issues and OWS, useful tools built by artists for the movement, new features on the website, and requests for assistance. To submit a post, contact us at occupationalartschool(at)gmail(dot)com .

Entries in occupations (10)

Tuesday
Aug282012

NOVADIC TRANSMISSIONS No.01∞ [OASN1@BH]

Novadic Transmissions [09.2012]

1.

[From OASN1 embodied spirit, Ambrose Curry: artist, surf guru + poet]

[Part 1][Progression]

You mean this?

when is a participle hanging,...?

when there is wall space .
when is a participle dangling...,?
whenever ee cummings 
says So... Ho.
...ambrose...
never met
 the man.
altho I have been
 arrested.
Ambrose's shop.
SEE THE new OwA ABROSE CURRY PHOTO GALLERY HERE.

 

 

[PART 2] [I WAS SO INSPIRED BY YOUR LETTER]

 

i went out in the yard

and turned on the

prosthetic device...

 

and now having survived

 building a fire

at the blue campfire,

 

who builds a fire at

10:30 am,I will now                                              

set to sweating in

the tropical summer heat.

 

what would Gauguin do?

he certainly wouldn't have to

 look up the spelling of his name

yet he wouldn't have such a fine

prosthetic memory.

Yes he would probaly pop a bottle

of absenthe to forget how to spell

his name to free his creative mind

from worries of the world.

 

 

...ambrose...

and then I found this movie set...wow!

 

Ambrose's movie set.

2.

[From novadic poet & transpershamaformist Richard Machado]

Commons like rivers are hands of love, 
flow transient in the dance of new comrades


Badasses, rads and wholly new beings
emerge from the sensations of home


Amazing tchru native with a living death abated
Now has the rest of the infiniTime Nov-A-d'd


#<---<<O
The Colonized Indigenous

3.

[From Alexandre Carvalho, occupier of both Borges + Cervantes Chairs @OASN1]

Alex at his Liberty Square birthday / bon voyage novadic festival.

 

∞...

Have been wondering a lot about how we can start a whole new civilization.  Imagine if we started a WikiPedia entry of a mysterious people know as Rovers >>> they have a whole different Architecture, Art, (A)narchives, Ethos, Libraries, Political Frameworks, Direct Actions e.g. Rio+20 "They Don't Represent Us", Housing experiments (Magic Mountain); some crazy shit. good shit. following the flow;;; 

Eliade mentions a concept called "in ilo tempore", a mythological time for humanity where space was relative and time absolute. absent. when archetypes enacted the creation of the cosmos. The anarchical Communa:: an arquipelago-constellation of communes founded on the principles of trust, proximity and solidarity:: interdependent, autonomous and interlinked, they form a fluid network of communes:: the Communa is never static // hence the name communa mobilis. never stops asking questions or changing, acquiring history, becoming... and then it wakes up Communa Fluens:: the Sunflower of the Garden:: 

let's #playtogether with what Luis Borges suggests. Borges  was the author of "Labyrinths", a book that collects many of his short fantastic lit stories. in one of them called Tlon, Uqbar & Orbius Tertiurus, Borges have his two characters in pursuit of a disquieting truth: they must discover if this legendary place called Tlon exists or is a bad joke of a bibliotec prankster. the characters find a strange yellowish copy of a 1907 Encyclopedia Brittanica which contais this weird article about Tlon: it contains its demographics, art, architecture, music, language, history, political configuration, religion, juris, its schools (OAS, e.g.), ethical beliefs, games played, publications (Novad zine) etc etc etc. 

describing Tlon could be an elegant literary license to unleash our best radical dreams publicly; to ooze #poiesis revgamers.   

Tlon - wikipedia. crazy experiment. let me know what you think.

Me and Rafa started writing what the Rovers would probably have economically and in politik. Nicole could do geometry by hoola hooping her spirals?, mitch pour architecture/urbanist rad ideas? #jez3prez, the Anarchives a way rovers write history? 

thoughts?

A.

(#braingasm)

...∞

 

 

4.

[From anarchivist, dimensional filmmaker + metatronic mechanic, Bold Jez]:

 

<draft> The state of nature as a state of play

There is no pure "state of nature"... except for, perhaps, in the invitation to play.  The invitation to play is an opportunity to re-invent the World, not necessarily in its entirety, but certainly some important aspects of its specificity: in its Object(s), Purpose(s) or Rules. These aspects represent the magic circle of Play, the state of a game, and a world that is open to all agents, infinitely beyond and underneath the boundaries of the State.

When Hobbes postulates that prior to the invention of Sovereigns & States existed a natural "state of war," he is inviting us to consider the world in terms of a particular political game. This game is based in fear, power, and security; and for those of us well-educated in the history of Western states, this portrayal of politics should not seem so very strange. (This version of politics, well illustrated in Shakespeare's royal courts, could have informed Hobbes of this well if he did not learn it from his birth; born prematurely when his mother heard of the approach of the Spanish Armada, he remarked that he was born "a twin with fear."

What **IS** strange to us is the possibility of a *return* to anarchy as it were: we feel discomfort at the mere suggestion of returning to nature, the uncertainty of a world w/o governors, the insecurity of our responsibility for maintaining the environment we live in.

 

Saturday
Aug112012

[CO-OP]: The Occupied Artist [BETA][Draft]

American Artist by Paul McLean [48" x 36" mixed media on canvas 2007]The Occupied Artist*

By Christopher Moylan

1. Cultural Citizenship

The Occupied Artist is engaged in carving out a space of creative detachment from conventional social structures without necessarily ceding the material advantages of middle class life, so far as it is possible for an artist to acquire a middle class life. In effect, the Occupied Artist is a citizen of two domains: the ordinary world of late capitalism, globalization, the two-party system, etc., and a cultural milieu of Occupied and other non-capitalist arrangements of actual and virtual resources designed to provide some relief from the limitations of corporate discourse. The artist pioneers affiliations and community structures that encourage non-commercial, non-judgmental, supportive and welcoming approaches to creative exploration. Magic Mountain, Occupy with Art, Hyperallergenic, Poet Activist Community Extension, The Agit-Truth Collective: collaborative communities have proliferated in recent years, often bringing in artists of different media. The groups come and go; they are not intended to be permanent. The determination to grow another cultural milieu is permanent, however, and growing.

Such structures develop parallel to the usual forms of social engagement and not, so far as is practical, in conflict with them. Everyone has to make a living, and so long as corporate America continues to control our political and financial systems there is no contradiction in maintaining some balance of conventional and alternative ways of life. Nonetheless, the eventual goal is clear: to leave the world of rigged competition, financial decadence and political and not look back.

2. Development of an Alternative Art Economy


The Occupied Artist is part of an economic vanguard engaged in developing and applying an art economy from the structures of the so-called art world: white cube galleries; international art fairs; rich collectors; art media and fashion. In this world, money circulates among collectors, journals, advertising agencies, and artists, not to mention the low paid writers and support staff that keep the system in operation. It would be simplistic to claim that the art world is about money, but money is certainly very important. The role of the public in all this is negligible: mainly, supporting economies at several removes from the art world in the form of off the rack fashion and secondary businesses (restaurants and bars in gallery districts, art publications) and providing numbers at receptions and the like to generate buzz. Their opinions and their market force are dismissed; they, we, really don’t matter. The Occupied Artist explores ways to do the reverse: include the %99, marginalize the billionaire collectors, develop monetized and non-monetized forms of art support, create new configurations and dimensions for art exhibition, and nurture forms of discourse and cultural exchange that work within and for the community, however that community is defined—it could an online community, a neighborhood, a group affiliated with Occupy. Sometimes acquisition of given work will involve barter, labor exchange, work in kind, or co-op transactions. Sometimes there will be no need for a transaction, as in work placed on public walls or billboards, or inscribed on cans or boxes in a grocery store and left just to surprise people… Money is necessary of course: money for rent, utilities, phones, supplies… If you have some money, please donate (really, please donate). If you don’t want to donate, come to a rent party and drop a few dollars in the jar at the door. There are all kinds of ways to raise money…Art work in this alternative economy can be rigorous and challenging or fun or silly, but it will not be extremely, scarily expensive, unless the community really wants it to be.

3. Spatial and Dimensional De-Limitation


The Occupied Artist resists the market considerations that restrict exhibition to certain spaces and the financial and logistical obligations that come with them. Art fairs, traditional galleries, auctions and private sales contain art and artist in a spatial and economic matrix, the matrix of global capitalism. Virtual spaces, squats, occupations, fugitive exhibitions, and communal organizations break out of that market and spatial limitation. They appear in places the traditional art world shuns: poor neighborhoods, uncool neighborhoods, bodegas, farmhouses, barns…By doing so, they encourage people, all kinds of people, to take part, often as participants in the making of a piece. None of this is easy, although it can seem like a fugitive show in an old gas station or someone’s apartment just happens spontaneously. Quite the opposite; without the usual supports of financing and media drawing power, it takes a lot of planning, networking and organizing to move within this de-limited art world.

4. Humbly Occupied

Who wove the Bayeux Tapestry? Who turned and painted the urn that inspired Keats to write his ode? Who made most of the Native American art in museum collections around the country? In another world, the world envisioned by Occupy artists, it would be a simple matter to give up any prospect of celebrity for the chance to help weave something as wonderful as the Bayeux Tapestry. The Occupied art world would have no place for an Andy Warhol, as Andy Warhol, much as any Occupied artist admires him and values his critique of the postmodern image world. The Occupied artist is a revolutionary, not a celebrity. Attention, if it comes, is just a peripheral distraction. People have lost their homes, their jobs, and their pride. The climate is shifting alarmingly, unions are being outlawed, women assaulted in the media, anti-Gay bigotry celebrated in fast food chains and pulpits, young people impaled by college loans, banks and giant corporations are raping our constitution and demeaning our elected officials by paying for their votes. There is work to do. Cultural workers, Occupied artists, will do their part.

*NOTE: The impetus for this essay was a discussion with members of b.j. spoke gallery, during which the questions emerged (& this is somewhat simplifying): "What is an Occupy artist; what is Occupy art?" I would suggest that Chris has made a great beginning here, and that it would be great and important, should others continue this discussion, and add their ideas on the subject. - PJM

Tuesday
Jul032012

Monday
May282012

Occufest, Part II: Spread the News

By Christopher Moylan

The contraction of Occupy Wall Street after the police stormed Liberty Square was to be expected, but with the return of longer days and warmer weather something peculiar happened. The movement remained in a dark chill while everyone else walked about in shorts and short sleeves complaining of the unnatural heat. Activists came back to the streets, the energy at demonstrations returned, yet little of this was reported in the news. For all anyone in the greater world knew, Occupy was dead.

To those who took part in the Million Hoodie March or the demonstration against police brutality, it was obvious that this media silence resulted from the collusion of forces more imposing than those of the editorial staff of Eyewitness News or, for that matter, The New York Times.  The police mobilizations at each protest were too large, the disruptions of traffic and business the protesters caused were too widespread and dramatic, the arrests too violent and arbitrary for all this to be too trivial for comment. If thousands marching down Fifth Avenue on a Tuesday evening rush hour could not draw attention, then what would it take?



Perhaps this is the wrong question. For one thing, it is obvious what it would take to grab the attention of corporate news: mass arrests, violence, smashed shop windows and burning cars. If Occupy activists allow the police and their corporate/political sponsors to write the narrative that would discredit the movement, then the narrative would receive plenty of attention. That could happen, but let’s hope it doesn’t.  So, isn’t this the question; if one could write an Occupy-related lead story for The Times, what would it say? Better yet, if it were possible to hold the attention of one disinterested person for a while—half an hour or an hour—what would one say? What would one hope to accomplish?

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Jan292012

THE Most Important Occupation in the World Right Now.

Tuesday
Dec062011

COURAGE & REPRESSION

Grindcore Violinist protests 1st amendment violations at Lincoln Center

On December 3, 2011, I was again removed from the city-owned plaza of Lincoln Center for holding a sign, two days after a general assembly including Philip Glass, Lou Reed, and Laurie Anderson came to celebrate Glass's opera about nonviolence, "Satyagraha" only to find the plaza entirely barricaded and inaccessible.

As is the case in most "public-private" situations, the private security wanted more.  They wanted me off the city sidewalk which was not their jurisdiction.  Thanks to one real NYPD officer who chose not to order me off the sidewalk (the old, "blocking the wide-open sidewalk" trick), I was able to finish my set and address the crowd.

Thursday
Nov242011

Die Neue Elite ist das Volk

CLICK THE IMAGE TO VIEW MORE IMAGES.

Andreas Maria Jacobs

Die Neue Elite ist das Volk

Ephemeral Visual Graffiti

Digital projection of a series of red & black stencil type-faced lettering on a white background constituting of various subjective, erratic political - sometimes poetical - statements & slogans

Perceived and written during the final stages of the economical and financial downfall of Empyre in the years 2010-2011

Screened live at Beursplein, Amsterdam during Occupy Amsterdam November 10 2011

Photos by Belle Phromchanya



Saturday
Nov192011

SUNDAY, 11/20: Yes Men lab drum circle at Bloomberg's personal townhouse: 17 East 79th Street.

Massive 24-hour DRUM CIRCLE and JAM SESSION party starting tomorrow, Sunday at 2pm, outside Mayor Bloomberg's personal townhouse: 17 East 79th Street.

Tie-dye, didgeridoo, hackeysack welcome! No shirt, no shoes, no problem! And if you don't have talent, don't worry: FREE DRUM LESSONS offered! Also on offer: collaborative drumming with the police!

Even though this is a 24-hour drum circle, don't be late! The mayor loves evictions. Who knows what'll happen? In any case, there'll be an afterparty in world-famous Central Park right afterwards.

Please spread this announcement (www.yeslab.org/drumcircle) as far and fast as you can!

Saturday
Nov192011

Occupy Printed Matter - November 19, 12-5PM

this Saturday (11/19) from noon to 5pm, we will be continuing our Occupy Printed Matter action.

We will be decorating their window with a new display of Occupy Wall Street art and occupying the sidewalk in front of their store with art…perhaps silkscreening this week, perhaps sign-making, perhaps life drawing, perhaps a visit from Occupy Legoland.

If anyone would like to contribute work–work small enough to be hung in a living collage in a store window, or from part of the adjoining ceiling space, or sculptures with a small enough footprint to fit on a relatively narrow sill–we will be evaluating and striving to accept as many submissions as possible at Printed Matter, 195 Tenth Avenue between 22nd & 23rd, from 12-5pm tomorrow.

Tuesday
Nov082011

A Message from Dallas

Subject: Occupy Dallas Culture - Culture Committee - Creative Factory Occupy Dallas

Hello, my name is Goran Maric.

I am an artist, creative cultural producer, and am a member of Cultural Committee and Outreach committee at OccupyDallas.org

Creative Factory Occupy Dallas
http://www.creativefactoryoccupydallas.com/

Occupy Culture
http://occupydallasculture.tumblr.com/

Well, ever since the beginning of Occupy Wall Street, I and few other creative souls have been deeply moved by your organizational capabilities to get artists and other creative cultural producers engaged with Occupy movement.  And not just that, but your ability to present it in a quite intelligent and organized manner is what I find extremely appealing.

Here, in Dallas, TX, we, creative cultural producers and visionaries are working hard to get our creative brothers and sisters organized, so that all of us, 99%, together, can utilize our creative potentials for the advancement of our causes, while at the same time work on cultural enrichment of people directly involved at the site of OccupyDallas, as well as of people in the city of Dallas.

We, creative cultural producers and visionaries at Cultural Committee of OccupyDallas believe that the creativity of people involved in these Occupy movements is what has made these movements thrives in the face of all obstacles that are coming toward us on a daily basis.

Also in cultural production, it is the creativity, we believe, that makes works of art excited and ultimately successful.  In this analogy we believe that, ultimately, Occupy Movements throughout the world are the best works of art that are out there, and the people involved are the best artists for that matter, for it is people's, 99ers', creativity that makes these movements strive.

For that reason Cultural Committee created Creative Factory Occupy Dallas, an output of creative cultural producers, for we, creative cultural producers and visionaries, from Cultural Committee at OccupyDallas believe that each and every person is a creative factory whose output, the product has contributed to the ongoing struggle we, the 99%, are engaged in on a daily basis.

http://www.creativefactoryoccupydallas.com/

We hope an truly looking forward to further interaction with Occupennial.

For now our big Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street that is going on hand in hand with its creative cultural producers...

Solidarity