Revolutionary Convergences: History and Symbolism in Anonymous and OWS Art

By Jason Huff

[Originally published by Rhizome, November 22, 2011]

Left: Anonymous logo, Right: Greek coin from 271-191 BC

[LINK]

[EXCERPT]:

Anonymous operates under a well-designed logo. Does it belie their dispersed identity or siphon power from historical symbols to disrupt our own associations to them? The aesthetics of past revolutionary movements point more toward the second possibility. We see this link to history in the poster designs of Occupy Wall Street—new digital tools under visual constraints produce an early 20th century screen printer's aesthetic with formal motifs of the same era.

New technology and historical technique are converging, and so are the symbols being used to deliver the message. The visual traces of current aesthetics draw on the deep roots of history and the powerful associations images and symbols therefore possess, allowing us to make quick associations to the power of the Roman Empire or the strength of the Greek Gods all in a glance at a tiny logo. Turning back to Anonymous—What can we learn by systematically decoding their symbolism? And how do their aesthetics relate to their actions as international and anonymous activists?

Searching for these convergences online often reveals infinite Platonic shades of nearly identical images. But occasionally, if you sift past the first helping of results, you can uncover some remarkable connections.

How art propels Occupy Wall Street

By Michele Elam

November 4, 2011

[LINK]

[EXCERPT]:

In addition to news this week that street art from Occupy Wall Street and Occupy D.C. was being collected by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the movement's Arts and Culture Committee showcased spoken word performances and poetry readings in Manhattan's Zuccotti Park.

Elsewhere in the city, a group known as Occupy Museums demonstrated at New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Frick Collection and the New Museum protesting the corporatization of art, and the "No Comment" pop-up exhibition similarly represented itself as art inspired by the movement. Then there's the sudden popularity of anti-establishment Guy Fawkes masks, distant kin to the masked protests of the Guerrilla Girls, a collective of anonymous artists who wear Gorilla masks to protest sexism.

Liar's Poker

Liar's Poker

Representation of Politics/Politics of Representation

By Brian Holmes

[05.09.04]

[Link to post on 16 Beaver Group site HERE.]

[EXCERPT]:

Basically, what I have to say here is simple: when people talk about politics in an artistic frame, they're lying. Indeed, the lies they tell are often painfully obvious, and worse is the moment when you realize that some will go forever unchallenged and take on, not the semblance of truth, but the reliability of convention. In a period like ours when the relationship to politics is one of the legitimating arguments for the very existence of public art, the tissue of lies that surrounds one when entering a museum can become so dense that it's like falling into an ancient cellar full of spider webs, and choking on them as you struggle to breathe. Now, the mere mention of this reality will make even my friends and allies in the artistic establishment rather nervous; but it is a reality nonetheless. And like most of the political realities in our democratic age, it has directly to do with the question of representation.