HOLIDAY REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE FOR OwA

FYI: Occupy with Art [occupywithart.com], our OwA archive & nexus, is temporarily located HERE [at artforhumans.squarespace.com] while we do some needed maintenance.

Beckley, WV Christmas Parade [2003 by Paul McLean]

OAS Node #1/OWA: Update

Concept sketch by Lavinia Nannini for OAS Node 1

Over the past month, Occupy with Art has been down, primarily due to the impacts of Superstorm Sandy on our crew. When we've been posting, it's either been to the Occupational Art School tumblr or the OwA Facebook page. While posting to the websites hasn't been so much a priority over the past few few weeks - for some of us who've been without power, it wasn't even a possibility - we have focused our energies mainly on pre-visualization practice and organizational development. This hasn't been easy often, due to interruptions in our communication services. That said, we have several exciting new projects, events and alliances launching later this month that we'll be announcing in the next few days. 

This week [Oct14-20] at Occupational Art School Node 1

OASN1@BH Week 2 Review

[Novadic transmission from A, September 1, 2012]:

friends. 

this morning i received a sweet letter from a NYC occupier which raises important questions for the struggle. riding on its wave, would like to discuss a bit the Body-Without-Organs (BwO) notion and the hot possibility of mathematically modeling the movement through non-linearity.  

occupier letter.

"The key is in learning to embrace contradiction. It's the only way we can grow. Radical + reformist. Masculine + feminine. Rejecting the system + using the system to implode itself. Outreach + Inreach. The list is endless. I know it's personal for me, but I feel so strongly that if we blow up the binary, everything becomes so much more POSSIBLE. It's a pretty obvious thing that these divisions are created to keep us submissive. What do we do once we dissolve these imaginary lines?"

C.

this brings us to the exploration-experimentation that our collective has been conducting in the movement so far, namely with the use -and abuse, why not?- of pluripotential spaces. these zones are effectively TAZs elicited by organizers, whom "code" a given space with the right inscription (rules) and then present the instructions to the players; through this rune-like operator, trained organizers can optimize the emergence of flow (optimal experience) at any given loci, outdoor or indoor. the consequences are endless. 

         A.

time suspension.                    

~ "When you will have made him a body without organs,

then you will have delivered him from all his automatic reactions

and restored him to his true freedom." ~ 

                         A. Artaud (1947) 

Fibonaci Arena (FA) is any given space coded with instructions that elicit flow (e.g. Salon, Magic Mountain). FAs are intentionally unintentional vortexes, a spiral-eliciting accident, which draws its theoretical basis on anarchy and the notion of BwO that Deleuze & Guattari introduce in their collaborative work. in those instances where play is elicited time is abolished. 

play is flow & flow is play

"what is your name?" dialogues.

(...) existence means exposition to and adaptation of a full range of given norms, structures and boundaries (...)

(...) this does not lead to a loss of personality but to a construction of an artificial one: already before we are born we are categorized based on our genitals, which decide what kind of name is going to be imposed on us, Susan or Tom (...) 

(...) a stratification of our bodies, which is created through the hierarchical order of society (...) Thousand Plateaus (...) continuous power relations amongst members of society (...) power where those at the top oppress the others 

Mark

in illo tempore ~ "in that time" ,  or "once upon a time".

in order to break binaries, and thus promote a revolution in the logical framework that guides -- and ensnares -- Western thought it is suggested: 

(1) that instead of "breaking" boundaries, revolutionaries seek to "dissolve" them by eliciting phase transitions :: from solid to liquid :: liquid time, flow :: ~ this method of engaging Empire discussed by OccupySunTzu acts on the links, on the spaces in between.

(2) this phase transition may be elicited through flash ~ liberations, i.e. collective processes of emancipation in public streets & squares :: similar to ancient tribal hierophanies :: regression to the undifferentiated state of BwO :: 

(3) dissemination of Fibonaci Arenas. 

the resulting kaleidoscopes are #novad-like supernovas. 

occupyMathematics ~ "and they say you always hated math (...)"

to start thinking about how to mathematically model the movement, at this point of maturity and beyond, is probably the last thing that Empire wants us to do. from here on lies the suggestion that we OccupyMathematics. 

check out mathematical approaches to model complex emergent behavior (eg, central nervous system;; ant colony;; traffic jams ;;) and these links with tricks from the trickster: 

• %Cellular Automatta (Turing machine): http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/notabene/cellular-automata.html

• $Network Theory and associated cartographies: http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/download/1136/553

• #Singularities in Pluripotential Theory: http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~mattiasj/research/ppt1.pdf

Sent from my soul

Mapping the voyage of the Hippo.

∞

[NOTES]:

The dynamics that manifest as revelations in the material zone or phase only comprise a small fraction of the dynamics in play. Most of the dimensional arena is active with immaterial transpects demonstrating what can be described as multiplicity, resistant to epistemology or the recursive. The key for the lead artist is to encourage or facilitate the transiting of evidence, of life, through the spatial layers we designate as free and open to our pluripotential phenomena. 

In OAS we discovered in Week 2, for example, that a course need not exist to exist in substantiated iterations. We found, additionally, that timing can pronounce the extended, even epic, duration of a 4D artistic project, given a dedicated locus + chronos, as long as the witness(es) and presenter(s) share the space with a focal media array, including networked electronics attached to the web and database. As such, the spectacle is only activated by a combination of hard-, soft- + wetware [LOL], in the actual stage, with the virtual as both accompaniment and archive. In relation to experience, the transmission is conducted in a flux of casual and formal micro-environments. The environment has a time feature, and it is easily translated as "a moment" itself, although such a designation is incomplete. 

The technical evaluation of the phenomena is hardly encompassing of the experience. 

Another interesting anecdote involves the act of preparation for the transmission. Is such activity not also an invitation, or a calling? What if the calling IS the event? 

∞

Super Lucky Cat reappears to connect OASN1 & AFHGC.

{Imagining the Scenario (Coffee Painting)}:

1. Lead artist wears a "red dirt" shirt from Kauai, to initiate a discussion of source material for artistic, organic staining processes.

2. Today's business section of the NY Times is provided as a substrate, but also as an acknowledgment of timeliness, and other relevant considerations affecting (or not) the artistic enterprise. The subject of materials is expanded to include "non-artist" materials.

3. The lead artist displays a large set of many types of painting tools, mostly brushes. Students are encouraged to choose several for painting with the coffee. The brushes serve as the point of origin for a conversation about the "life" of the artist's tool, and/or the partnership between the artist and the tool + the history of making that may be thought of as embedded in the tool through usage and application. [Introduction to Techne, time, craft traditions... (+)]

4. Many types of papers are introduced. Experiments on viability as substrate for medium, "pigment" and expressive means.

5. An array of large format (mostly floral) photographs are mounted around the classroom. We will paint on the museum board cut into window mattes, enclosing the photos. Many considerations. One of the photos (a rose) is displayed on a nice Italian easel at the door.

6. "Final" exercise will be to paint on very fragile light paper (multi-hued), which will buckle and otherwise dramatically respond to the coffee-paint. 

7. Discussion about artists who use coffee as an important part of their exhibition practice (like Sara Sun, who has a show going currently at Governor's Island Art Fair - thanks for the heads-up Andrea; and Jayson Musson + Manning Williams). Discussion about coffee growing (political/economy). 

Clemens Poole + Shane Kennedy & other Hippo crew members talk story to a full Haus, Friday, August 31 at OASN1.∞

OASN1 reached an important marker with the "Voyage of the Hippo" program on Friday, August 31. The evening presentation, which consisted of a fantastic, compelling slideshow/movie sequence + Q&A + commentaries facilitated by Clemens Poole and long-time AFH anchor Shane Kennedy, realized our vision of how our "class" format would work in practice. At the conclusion of the talk, many of us walked to Tandem, a few blocks down Troutman in Bushwick, to continue the vibrant concourse over libations. 

∞

Interior shot of Pickthorn in Bushwick.

We continue to make friends in the neighborhood, like Jayson Musson, AKA Hennessy Youngman and the amazing ladies of Pickthorn. We are also beginning to establish strategic partnerships. OASN1 is now sponsored by both Wyckoff Starr and the vaunted Brooklyn Rail. JenJoy Roybal is already proving invaluable, as she begins the process of scanning the domain for artist-teachers and relevant organizational/mission comparisons to/for our enterprise. She sent Chris & I links that reveal possibilities neither of us had entertained prior. JenJoy is gifted with big vision. 

∞

The discourse that is percolating in the novad pool is providing us with tremendous inspiration and seed-thought, moving forward. Coming in multiple forms (poems, images, sounds, movies, links, texts, notations, forwarded correspondence, system schematics, references, citations, equations, juxtapositions... [+]) the novadic inputs are fueling some OAS movements, refining threads, introducing new seams, expanding horizons, shifting PoVs & frames of reference [+]. Thank you, gamers!

∞

The occupationalartschool [dot] com nexus is weekly undergoing facelifts, as we assess the proper format for that organ. For now, the preponderance of notices and documentation is being sited on the OAS Tumblr and in the OwA/OAS Facebook pages. The OAS Twitter, Pinterest and other social media are functional but rudimentary in our usage of them for a bit longer. The question at this point is whether to invent an entirely new framework for the virtual / actual interplay. 

∞

Finally, the ripple effect from DisciplineAriel [Event 1, August 25, 2012] has only begun to evidence itself in our secondary co-lab phase. Stay tuned.

OAS Node #1 @BAT HAUS [News & Updates]

The pre-launch festivities at Occupational Art School Node #1 at Bat Haus in Bushwick on Thursday, August 9 felt "historic," according to OwA co-organizer Chris Moylan, one of the attendees. The performative presentation by Bold Jez had the air of an incantation. Jez made a point of acknowledging in subtle ways all those who have already sling-shot into other worlds (we all thought of Alex Carvalho)[+], and their presence was present in the beautiful array of artifacts from the anarchives in various states of display and array in the excellent Bat Haus co-work space. For example, when pointing to the big Magic Mountain canvas installed just inside the front door, and the MoMA banner draped in the center of the main room, Jez invited everyone who had worked on these "living documents," to use the 60 Wall term, to identify themselves and recount the experience of participating in the actions of emergent creativity that produced the banners. The sense of intimate community was palpable, almost tribal, amongst the original Arts & Culture crew/revGamers/Magic Mountaineers/Novads. [+] One of the evening's highlights - there were many - involved #theShamanGeneral otherwise known as #theColonizedIndigenous reading his now-monumental ana-poem (link to the original performance at Liberty Square will be added here) from the Etherpad he had just built, as an anarchivist vehicle for documenting his life in time. Noting that the tool enabled novadic participation as communercise. The magnificent Direct Action Flaneurs anchored the program to the street, & built a fine, sturdy bridge between the World, USA, NYC BK/Bushwick - L stop Jefferson & our interior architecture (dimensional & the Bat Haus'). The neighborhood folded into our event, ran over it, typed it, and cheered it. It was a joyful dance!

Friday, Jez & I met for debriefing. We covered a lot of territory. One of the most fruitful turns is the clarification of our program practicum at OASN1@BH, which will develop directly from the example provided by #theShamanGeneral otherwise known as #theColonizedIndigenous. From here throughout the residency Phase 1 (end of October), we will cite an event that's happened, then in some manner translate it for OASN1, then add (N+1) a teaching/learning component to the transmission.

Tonight [Saturday], we follow #TITMOTA 1 with the second iteration of #TITMOTA.

Now, some news about the next two OASN1@BH events.

∞

Eric Leiser, "Aleph 2"

Friday, August 17 (9/17/2011 + 11 months), we will officially launch OASN1@BH with an evening "On Hologalactic." Eric Leiser will host a discussion about his recent show at All Things Project at Neighborhood Church of Greenwich Village, and his upcoming trip to Hiroshima, Japan, for the Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival. We'll be sharing more details between now & Friday. Here's Eric's impressive bio:

Eric Leiser is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, animator, puppeteer, writer, holographer and curator working in the LA, New York and London area. He has created 3 animated/live action feature films and 25 shorts as well as works that integrate painting, animation, puppetry, holography, sound and live performance/installation. Leiser is interested in how animation transforms perception when it is combined with live action space creating a fantastical/spiritually surrealistic quality.  

Eric's solo work has exhibited at  MASS MoCA,  Istanbul Modern Museum of Art,  Thessaloniki Center for Contemporary Art,   Ruben H. Fleet Space Center^[2] in San Diego, California , (V & A) Victoria and Albert Museum, The MIT Museum,(BFI) British Film Institute, Anthology Film Archives, LA Film Forum, San Francisco Film Society, Fringe Exhibitions^[4] in Los Angeles, California; Goldsmiths, University of London;^[5] School of the Arts Institute of Chicago;^[5] Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China, Live With Animals in New York City^[6], Bourne Hall in Hastings, East Sussex, England along with international group shows. His holograms have been featured in in such publications such as a National Geographic Magazine.

His films have screened at film festivals worldwide such as the Annecy International Film Festival, Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival, The Istanbul International Animated Film Festival, The San Francisco International Animated Film Festival, EXIS Experimental Film Festival, Seoul, Korea among others. 

 He has made 25 short films, eight of which appear in the DVD release Eclectic Shorts by Eric Leiser, and three features: Faustbook, released April 25, 2006 by Vanguard Cinema, and Imagination, released theatrically in the US and Internationally in summer 2007 and February 2008 on DVD by Vanguard Cinema.  Imagination was featured in the May 2008 issue of Animation Magazine.^[8] "Glitch in the Grid" was released theatrically in the US and Internationally on October 2011 and February 2012 on DVD through Vangaurd Cinema. 

He is the founding member of Albino Fawn Productions along with his brother and collaborator musician Jeffrey Leiser.

Eric is an alumni of CalArt's Experimental Animation program.

For updates www.albinofawn.com

National Geographic article on Eric's hologram:

http://tvblogs.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/28/holographic-universe/

∞

On Wednesday August 22 OAS has confirmed Jeff Sugg as our first guest. We will discuss the ways Digital has altered theater, and theatrical production, its hierarchies, rehearsal patterns, selection processes [+]; as well as the possible new forms that may emerge from the phenomena in play. Here is Jeff's bio:

Jeff Sugg is a New York based artist, designer, and technical advisor. He is a co-founding member of the performance group, Accinosco, with Cynthia Hopkins and Jim Findlay and has co-designed their two critically acclaimed pieces, Accidental Nostalgia and Must Don't Whip 'Um.33 Variations (projections: Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse), The Slugbearers of Kayrol Island (co-set & projections: The Vineyard Theater), ¡El Conquistador!The Thomashefsky Project & Let Them Eat Cake/Of Thee I Sing (projections: San Francisco Symphony), Trece Días (sets & projections: San Francisco Mime Troupe) He has also worked as designer for multiple works with theater companies including: The Colllapsable Giraffe, Pig Iron Theater Company, DASS Dance, Transmission Projects. Music design: Natalie Cole (lights), and Natalie Merchant (lights). Other theater designs include: (lights: New York Theater Workshop) [+]

In addition to his work as a designer, Mr. Sugg is regarded as a premiere technical consultant and system designer. Some credits include: The Wooster Group (technical artist), Laurie Anderson (video system design), Richard Foreman (video system design), Mikel Rouse (video system design), GAle GAtes et al. (effects designer/engineer), and The Baseball Music Project (video system design). Mr. Sugg has also taught Media and Technology at Swarthmore College. He has led several workshop/intensive courses in media technology at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), Rude Mechanicals Theater Company, and others.

For his work on Must Don’t Whip ‘Um, Mr. Sugg received a 2007 Bessie Award and was nominated for a 2007 Hewes Design Award. He was also nominated for a 2007 Hewes Design Award for his work on ¡El Conquistador!.

For his work on The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, he received a 2008 Henry Hewes Award, 2008 Obie, and a 2008 Lucille Lortel Award. [+]

Must Don't Whip 'Um [Jeff Sugg: co-Set, Video, & Production Design]Next week the Occupational Art School Node #1 will launch its new website, post our sign-up forms and terms, and build out our social media array a bit. A lot to do! Let us know if you have any questions.

WS2MS: April 28-9

This project would not be possible without the support of the Catskill Arts Initiative.  Thank you to the participating artists for their powerful work. Thank you to Catskill's generous building owners, merchants, the Village of Catskill, artists and neighbors. Immense thanks to the Hudson Valley's best digital printers; Frank Cuthbert, BRIK Gallery; Richard Edelman for Woodstock Graphics Studio; Chad Kleitsch Rhinecliff Printing Studio; Danette Koke Fine Art; Gilbert Plantinga Photo Graphics.  Thanks to the hardworking Jane Toby, Jenjoy Roybal, Ruth Leonard, Kico Govantes, Taha Awadallah, Adam Price, Sarah Barker and Paul Smart. Endless gratitude to interns, Chris Lannes, Sarah Brady and Kathleen Mentzer. The "It Takes a Village" prize goes to Pat Ruck, Laura Morgan, Nina Sklansky, Norma Tan, Ann Forbes Cooper and David Chmura.  We are grateful for grants from Art Is My Occupation and the Puffin Foundation. 

Extra special super duper thanks to the Wall Street to Main Street curators Geno Rodriguez, Paul McLean, Fawn Potash, Kate Menconeri, Jacqueline Weaver, Imani Brown, Boo Lynn Walsh, Sam Truitt and Arthur Polendo. 

Click here for a preview of next week's events...

Curators are available for group tours and special appointments.  Call Fawn Potash, Director, Masters on Main Street to reserve at 518/943-3400.

Download your Catskill Main Street Tour here or pick one up at the GCCA Catskill Gallery, 398 Main Street.

Check out the Wall Street to Main Street Message, a news guide to exhibits and events.

Check out our photo album.



WS2MS: Update!

Updated on Monday, March 26, 2012 at 06:46PM by admin

In the wake of Occupy Wall Street’s six month anniversary, small town America’s continuing struggle provides the backdrop for a unique art activist project, Wall Street to Main Street.  At the March 17^th premier, curious locals and out-of-towners enjoyed a perfect spring day visiting the 20 pop-up exhibit sites along the Main Street in Catskill, NY.  Walking along four compact blocks, visitors had time to talk and digest ideas in between installations.  This ten week expo features over 50 exhibitors, performances, workshops and seminars with a newspaper that serves as the project’s guide, The Wall Street to Main Street Message.   The day culminated in a party with poetry, prose and protest songs at BRIK Gallery where a comprehensive exhibition introduces the movement’s historical and global context. Artists and organizers celebrated at the local Thai restaurant with laptops open to a live webcast as Michael Moore held a press conference announcing a fresh wave of protesters flooding into Zuccotti and Union Square Parks. 

Click to read more ...

Update: Activist Technology Demo Day & Other Occupy Art News

At EYEBEAM, on Saturday [j28], Occupy with Art participated in the Activist Technology Demo Day, along with other occupiers like the OWS Tech Ops, and the folks who McGyvered the bicycle-driven generators at Zuccotti Part during the occupation last fall. Some amazing apps were on display, with the app-makers on-hand to answer questions and bandy around new ideas for collaborations and exchange. It was a really great event! OwA co-organizers Chris Cobb, Paul McLean and Seth Wulsin passed out Yoko Ono/OWS Wish Tree cards to the many attendees packing the workshop/presentation space, and talked about the projects we're working on for 2012. Paul Talbot came by to photograph the event (we'll post those when they're processed), and CO-OP/Occuburbs/-fest coordinator Chris Moylan came by as well. Quite a few folks from OWS and Arts & Culture supported, too, including Owen, who's working with Rachel Shragis on translations of the Declaration Flow Chart, and Jez of Archive WG, who was still wearing the (fake) bloody shirt he'd worn for his kickoff performance at the previous evening's Occupy Museums intervention at MoMA. We displayed the new blanks of the Declaration with the finished print at our table (see photos), along with handmade signs by Chris Cobb, some flyers from the occupation, relevant texts, and Adrian Rocchio's GA hand signal prints. An informal panel inspired some passionate conversation about technology's impact on activist praxis, at one point almost switching to People's Mic mode, when the wireless microphones glitched out.

Some notable activist tech people/projects:

• Vibe app: a new GeoSocial App with which users send Mini-Blogs with Anonymous and Self-Destruct options.  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vibe/id433067417?mt=8

• Augmented Reality Activists: an archive, a meeting place, and a  knowledge center for activists working with augmented reality  http://augmentedrealityactivists.blogspot.com/

• Signal Strength:  It consists of modules for ad-hoc social networking that let people in an urban area interact offline, leveraging their mobile phones for untraceable communications. http://www.ameliamarzec.com/signalstrength.html

We were able to meet-up with these folks to talk about their participating in some of our 2012 programs, like Wall Street to Main Street and CO-OP, and the Space Team residency at Hyperallergic (which starts on Wednesday - more details soon).

>>

Other Occupy Art News:

• Occupy Museums is on a tear! Check out the latest news, photos and video HERE.
• Occupy Town Square is happening right now at Washington Square Park! Get on over there!
• The Novads' Salon IV was, we heard, "loads of wild fun - think all the freedoms we enjoyed in the park this Fall, but indoors :)" - kudos to the Revolutionary Gamers and all who joined in on another memorable occupy-fun happening!
• The Tax Dodgers hit one out of the park last week & are planning a doubleheader for next week. Stay tuned for details!

Posted to East Village Arts Blog, January 13, 2012

[Link to EVA blog HERE.]

Happy New Year! Occupy with Art, ringing in 2012, has several projects we'd like to share with East Village Arts.

First, OwA is launching our collaboration with Yoko Ono this Saturday at 1PM in Liberty Square. If you are familiar with Ms. Ono's Imagine Peace Tower and Wish Tree Projects, then you will have a general idea of this project. We will hold a brief press conference announcing the distribution of 10,000 cards with a Wish message from Ms. Ono in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, after which OwA will be facilitating the free dissemination of these unique conceptual text-artworks here in New York City and beyond. We would like to send a few cards to every Occupation in the world, if that's possible. http://www.occupywithart.com/press-release-1_14_2012/

Second, we are working on "Wall Street to Main Street," a 3-month arts and culture project located in Catskill, NY. We are partnering with a team of coordinators in the Hudson River Valley, headed by Fawn Potash, artist and faculty member at New York City's School of the Visual Arts, and Geno Rodriquez, formerly the director of the Alternative Museum in New York City. Our project is supported by the Greene County Council on the Arts, in conjunction with their program Masters on Main Street (administered and curated by Potash). Wall Street to Main Street will consist of exhibits, installations, performances, panel discussions, projections, screenings, radio broadcasts, music and more, taking place in storefront spaces on Catskill's Main Street, and in satellite venues nearby. OwA just released an international Call for Entries and Proposals (see links below), and 99%/Occupy artists are especially encouraged to submit. The deadline for submissions is February 1. Wall Street to Main Street will open March 17 and run through May.

http://www.greenearts.org/call-for-entries
http://www.occupywithart.com/ws2ms-call-for-entries/
[DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: FEBRUARY 1]

Third, Occupy with Art is partnering with the Hemispheric Institute of NYU to present Low Lives: Occupy!, a special event featuring livestreaming video and performance, slated for March 3rd. Low Lives (you can check out their website at LowLives.net) is an innovative new media platform that for the past 3 years has worked with dozens of artists and venues around the world to produce compelling 99% art. The Low Lives selection team (Jorge Rojas, Christina deRoos and Juan Obando) is committed to diverse voices and an international cultural community, making the partnership with the Hemispheric Institute a natural fit. Just last week we learned that Mark Read of N17 "99% Bat Signal" fame has signed on to participate in LL:O as both a performer and presenter. The OwA site will serve as a clearinghouse for info and documentation on the project as it evolves. We are soliciting Calls for Entries and Proposals from performance artists and presenters right now, which, is available on the OwA websites, and also on the Low Lives and Hemispheric Institute sites.

hemisphericinstitute.org
lowlives.net
http://www.occupywithart.com/owslow-lives/2012/1/5/official-call-for-entriespresenters-for-low-lives-occupy.html
[DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: FEBRUARY 6]

Finally, a brief mention of a 4th project: CO-OP/Occuburbs, which will be situated in Huntington, NY (Long Island), and is being coordinated by Christopher Moylan there. We are establishing programming for screenings and exhibits with the Cinema Arts Center and BJ Spoke Gallery, and others. At this point, the impetus of this project is to develop an alternate 99% art economy modeled on and inspired by the co-op food and small farm networks, and integrated directly with them. Chris has penned two great essays, soon to be published in the Brooklyn Rail, now posted on the OwA site, which we're using as a platform or point of origin for an exciting exploration of what it means to Occupy in the suburbs and how the linking of beautiful 99% food and art might offer a brighter future for our communities.

It's our hope that East Village artists and art organizations will join with us to create great 99% art in 2012! Please contact us at occupywithartNY@gmail.com, if you'd like to learn more about how we can work together.

- Paul McLean, co-organizer of Occupy with Art (formerly Occupennial)

Occupy with Art is an affinity group of the Arts & Culture Working Group of the NYCGA for Occupy Wall Street. 

OwA Update [Christmas Day, 2011]

Photo by Paul Talbot

Dear Occupiers!

Santa's elves have been helping us with OwA this Holiday Season, because we've been such good 99%ers!

We've added some new social media sites to our OwA platform:

• Occupy with Art Twitter
• Occupy with Art Facebook [Community Page]
• Occupy with Art Facebook [Profile]

We've added two new Active Project Proposals to that section:

• Wall Street to Main Street, with my essay and a "Suggestion Box" - more about the Suggestion Box concept soon; expect more WS2MS project info in the next week, as we prepare to launch the international call for entries, and include more details on the initiatives we're planning for this substantial and exciting production.
• CO-OP|occuburbs, with Chris Moylan's awesome essay serving as the start-point; the second part of Chris' "Occuburbs" will soon be posted, along with outlines of this program

You'll be hearing about developments in two other OwA projects, "Low Lives: Occupy" and another TBA, in the next week or two.

We've added many more links with other Occupy websites, online sources and resources in our site tree, including:

• Off-site photo galleries
• A blog roll in the OwA Journal
• New Occupy links

Other sections (like OWS Stories, the Poetry/Music section in the art database, AH Journal, etc.), have been updated with links to outside sites dedicated to the subjects in our archives and listings. OwA is hoping to continue to serve as a comprehensive nexus for occupant art in 2012.

OwA co-organizer Chris Cobb has launched Occupy Publishing and is moving forward with an outstanding and important project for February (see his site for more details). Photographer Paul Talbot continues to expand our OwA Photos section with galleries covering occupations, actions and the 99% who make them happen. You can expect more beautiful and compelling camera work from Steve O, Monty and new team members in the coming year, contributing images that capture the power and vision of Occupy.

There's much more, but I'll stop there, and get back to the egg nog and candy canes, leaving you with a link to a December 25 poem I wrote for the occasion.

Onwards!

co-organizer p

WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

By Occupennial Co-organizer Paul McLean

Since late September, Occupennial has provided artists with the opportunity to share art inspired by the occupation of Zuccotti Park in the financial district of lower Manhattan, and satellite occupations that have sprung up around the country and the world. Occupennial has opened a virtual space in which documentation of #OWS and other occupations can be catalogued and revisited. We have created areas for memorializing the artist actions that have helped shape and empower #OWS, and we have built the architecture for occupant artist community and production, including listings, proposal throughputs, resource exchanges and a growing network of organizations and venues dedicated to supporting 99% expression in all its peaceful, artist forms. Occupennial has also initiated a program of actualization for occupation-generated artist projects, starting with our successful collaboration with Printed Matter in Chelsea, with other amazing ventures currently in process.

The police action and clearance of Liberty Square in the early morning hours of November 15 remind us of the tremendous importance of establishing and maintaining an archive of the Occupy art that is inspiring the 99% to stand up and displace the 1% choke-hold on our commonwealth, and democracy. The urgency of your contributing to our database, chronicling this historic moment couldn't be greater. It would be a tragic cultural loss to let the memory of #OccupyWallStreet, and the hundreds of occupations that have occurred in communities of every description, spanning the globe, to fade away. Therefore, we at Occupennial once more ask you to please send us your photos, videos, poems, songs, paintings, drawings, cartoons, ideas, texts and art-action documentation, so we can continue to grow a communal archive for the occupation.

Contact us:
Use the CONTACT button at the top of the page or send your content via email to occupennial@gmail.com

Send us your Occupy art, etc., and occupation documentation:
Use the CONTACT button at the top of the page or send your content via email to occupennial@gmail.com; or use the Drop Box in the sidebar.

Sweeping away the encampment at Liberty Square will not stop the Occupation. It's too late for that, now. ...But it's up to us, the 99%, to insist on our own survival as a movement, and as free people. To ensure our cause doesn't disappear we must commit to preserve the shared memory of what we've done individually and together, what we've expressed, to continue our actions in support of #OWS and all the occupations, and to create new expressions of 99% solidarity every day, wherever we are.

With love and appreciation,
Paul

Occupennial Update, November 7

Week in Review:
Over the past week Sally has been working on a draft for an outreach letter that will be widely distributed through artist/art-org networks in the NYC area asking for volunteers to work on the Occupennial website as admins on team-task production for populating the databases and the content areas of Occupennial.org. The next phase immediately following our staffing measures (and to some degree simultaneous with it) will involve actually adding Occupant art content to all the areas of our website. Yaelle will be presenting the ready-to-vet iteration of the letter at tonight's Occupennial meeting at 6PM at 60 Wall St.

Also noteworthy is the Occupennial's inaugural project, the storefront installation at Printed Matter, which launched over the weekend in the Chelsea PM location. Kudos to Adrian for coordinating the expo with Max Schumann of PM, Occupy artists and Colab alumni. We will post photos as soon as they come in.

The forms feature of Occupennial, facilitating direct communications from artist wishing to participate in AC/Occupennial art actions/website functions has launched (thanks Monty), and the Performance Guild was the first (and only, so far) to submit a proposal form, which has been posted on the Occupennial site, here: http://www.occupennial.org/performance-guild/ .. Please, Guild folk, use this opportunity to send us a brief introductory/contact form for artists/arts activists who want to get involved, so we can immediately do our part to streamline the processing of inquiries.

The Occupennial calendar has been abandoned in favor of a direct link to NYCGA's event calendar. All are encouraged to populate the NYCGA calendar with AC-originating actions/events. Contact Antonio to do so.

Over the past couple weeks we've been staying aware of the ever-changing topology of Liberty Square/#OWS. The winterizing measures happening have dramatically altered the environment at the movement epicenter. Art has taken a back seat to preparations to make the protest site safe for occupants. A number of expositions focused on the occupation have engendered wide-ranging discussions about how best to proceed, with Occupennial, Arts & Culture, the NYCGA website and more. Occupennial has generated several proposals that are in process, that were temporarily tabled while we considered the emerging inter-group relationships and structures.

These proposals include:

• - OWS/Low Lives
• - Wall Exhibition (Madrid)
• - Line of Sight
• - Eviction
• - The 99% Artist March
• - Artist-led tours at Liberty Square

At tonight's meeting we'll give updates on the status of these projects, and what are next steps will be in their actualization.

Monty Stilson has been developing the Occupennial photo project offline for the past week, after having completed a restructuring of that area last weekend. He will be at the meeting tonight to discuss the new gallery set-up, Occupeyes.org and the Occupeyes Facebook page, and his findings emerging from research done to survey what photographers of the now-global occupation have been doing with their images, and our vision to make Occupennial the clearinghouse/database archive for occupant photography. He has proposed that we create an Occupennial business card with the contact info for the website/admin, that we can distribute when we're out and about at marches, openings and other Occupy-related activities. It's a great idea and perfect timing for our outreach campaign!

Chris Reitz has just completed writing/uploading the introductory entry to our new Occupennial Art History section, which is visible here: http://www.occupennial.org/occupant-ah-journal/ .. We are still refining the formatting a bit. Alan W. Moore contacted Chris and, judging from his initial rough-note, this area of our site shows tremendous promise for generating an art-historical context-based conversation on #OWS, in art historical terms.

In a response to Blithe Riley's efforts to start the already amazing Art & Labor working group, Occupennial is contemplating how we can create an area for databasing relevant info for those of us focused on art-as-occupation issues. Yaelle and I discussed folding Art History/Art & Labor/99% Art Models into a new zine format. We'll discuss that at the meetings, as well.

In case you haven't noticed -- She's a subtle operator -- Yaelle has made some more structural tweaks to the site layout over the past few days, to highlight/prioritize sections that are getting the most usage. We have a bit of a back-up of submitted content, but hopefully by the end of this week, we'll be all caught up.

The primary agenda for tonight's meeting will include the following points of discussion:

• -defining the occupennial as a post- sept 17 database/community of artists.
• -the new outreach letter (!)
• -Monty will present on the Occupennial photo section
• -how to populate the nycga calendar
• -how proposals are streamlined
• -occupennial group supporting autonomous projects

Again, please take the time to contribute to the content-sections of your Occupennial website. If you would like to/have the time to work on a section you're enthusiastic about, please let us know!

Guess that's it for now,
best,
p


[PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LISTS/CONTACTS/NETWORKS!!!!!!]
The Occupennial Outreach Letter:

Calling all creative activists! The Wall Street Occupennial seeks enthusiastic participants to work with artists producing projects, performances, and actions within the #Occupywallstreet movement. Artists who already have a project in mind, but NEED participants/assistance, this call is for you too!

The Wall Street Occupennial, a working group of the Arts and Culture Committee, is an urgent call for artists to contribute to the ongoing #OccupyWallStreet (#OWS) movement in New York City and beyond. The Occupennial database (www.occupennial.org) serves to document and archive ongoing artist efforts that are in solidarity with the movement in Zuccotti park, as well as nationally and internationally. It also hosts a forum on 99% and occupation art, lists available spaces and resources, and strives to connect like minded and creative people together to build momentum and really make things happen!

Like the movement as a whole, many of the projects being developed cannot become a reality or be sustained at the hand of one person working alone. It has also become clear in the weeks since the occupation began, that a number of individuals, groups, classes, etc want to join in the movement, especially through creative actions, but are unsure of how to get involved in a movement that is already so developed.

If you are someone who would like to participate in the movement through creative action please reply immediately to occupennial.volunteers@gmail.com with the information requested below and The Wall Street Occupennial will connect you to an artist or team of artists that need your help!

1. Your name and contact information (email and telephone number)

2. Days/times you are available to volunteer.
[This could be more general availability like: Mondays and Thursdays from 1-6 PM, or more specific: Monday 11/7 from 4-10PM, Thursday 11/10 from 3-7 PM, and Friday 11/18 all day. You can be as open or specific as your schedule allows, but keep in mind that the more flexible you are, the more likely we will be able to link you up with a project. If you do not hear from us immediately, don't worry, more and more artists are coming to us every day and that means soon there will be no shortage of projects to dive into!]

3. (Optional) Specific skills/resources you have to offer a project and/or types of projects you are most excited about working on (see www.occupennial.org for examples of all the incredible projects that have happened so far.)

**If you are an artist in need of volunteers/participants to make your project happen:**

Send us a description of your idea, any applicable supporting imagery, and as much information as you have and we will work to connect you with volunteers to help you make it happen! If you have a specific date/time in mind for your project to happen, we will work to find participants for that date, but even better, if you are flexible with the timing, we can direct you to a time that already has a group of eager participants lined up and ready to go!

Please send all replies and inquiries to: occupennial.volunteers@gmail.com

The time is now. We can't wait to meet you!

@OCCUPYALERT

Tell others to join via SMS by texting:

@occupyalert to 23559

• Attached is a QR code that will load the message into people's phones.  

• Please hit social media: post this number/info to Facebook and Twitter 



Occupennial Update - 10.30.11

Hey all. Lots of progress on numerous fronts.

Yaelle spearheaded a major overhaul/streamlining organizational restructuring of the Occupennial website, spending a lot of hours adding/shifting content to make the site more usable. If you take a peek at Occupennial.org, you'll see the sidebars (right and left) contain a lot fewer sections. The subsections are more sensible. I won't spend a lot of time going thru the details, since we'll be discussing this at tomorrow's meeting. Great job Yaelle!

Monty Stilson took on admin role for the photography section and massively streamlined that area. For now, there are just three individual galleries online. We will be adding the general galleries (protests, protesters, signs) in the next several days. Monty purchased the domain Occupeyes.org so we can have a direct link site to migrate the individual photog galleries offsite after a period where each is featured (as they come in). All will be added to the 3 databases, which can be expanded, if we need more categories down the line. Monty also set up a facebook site for Occupeyes, so we can offer users the option of data-dumping/direct uploading their images (from protests, in real time), it that's their preference/immediate need. We can discuss more the photo archives/galleries at tomorrow's meeting.

The big news is the upgrade. Thanks to Monty for doing the purchase up-front! The Occupennial site is now capable of having forms, so we can set up our throughputs like so:

Project-proposals, guild/AC/Occupennial inquiries
> through Occupennial forms
> Guilds
> back to Occupennial for documentation/bundling
> AC for approval
> if AC approved, to GA for approval/funding if necessary
> funds to the artists/projects if approved by GA
> actualization
> evaluation by all parties
> documentation at Occupennial and/or the AC site (to be), as well as in the various guild sites

I sent an email to all the guild folk letting them know about the forms.

Since our Monday meeting will be a quickie, focused on site structure, and because two of the bundled projects are still in process of revision, I'm holding off on listing here in any detail what we'll be bringing to AC later in the week for approval. Here's the list in brief:

    •    OWS/Low Lives
    •    Pop-UP/Zuccotti
    •    Printed Matter Storefront Window Display for November
    •    Joy Behar (artist tour of Liberty Sq)

The outreach letter is in process. Sally is hacking at that today/tomorrow. Tamara of Fab wrote over the weekend she's looking forward to working with us to get the word out. I attended a Communications/Outreach meeting last Wednesday, during which the Outreach guy mentioned they have a very large list of people who want to get involved. I'll be contacting the OR peeps this week to see if they can help with our efforts. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll be able to begin our campaign to build teams for tasks/attracting content/submissions.

Last, Chris is planning on developing an OWS art history section for the site, and I reached out to Blithe, asking if she wanted to facilitate a similar section for artist/work issues.

Think that's it for now..
p