Status Report 1.1

Because Occupy with Art is in production on Low Lives: Occupy, Ingrid Burrington's exhibit for the Spatial Occupation @Hyperallergic, Wall Street to Main Street and CO-OP/Occuburbs, we will be meeting via email, phone, and in small breakout groups in Spring 2012. For more information on the latest developments, check the blog or our social media, which are updated daily, or contact us directly (button at top of this page).

2.8

[MEETING BRIEF]

OwA outreach/meet-up with OWS Tech Ops in lieu of regular scheduled meeting (at 60 Wall Street). Points of discussion (informal):

• Hyperallergic residency
  • workstations
  • teach-ins
  • calendar tool
  • brainstorming about possible art interventions
    • audio environments/3D sound mapping
    • video sampling (mobile)
    • light systems (interior & exterior)
    • encompassing sensory environments
    • improvisational theater
    • political cutouts
    • installations
    • painting and drawing
• Artist materials available (ML)
• Other available resources

Also met with Alex to discuss the Bed-in

[Co-organizer report back next week; brief overview]:

• WS2MS & LL:O CFE Deadlines passed - many exciting submissions
• Meeting @Hyperallergic with Mark Read/Chris deRoos (LL:O)
• CO-OP/Occuburbs - progress made in several areas of project, including game scenario, site acquisition, CAC
• WS2MS "The People's Collection: Off Our Walls" CFE to be disseminated soon (BETA text complete)
• Meeting w/JenJoy Roybal of Buckminster Fuller Institute (Project Mgr/BFChallenge)

Occupy With Art Minutes

60 Wall Street 7:00pm – 8:30pm        February 1, 2012 Minutes: Chris Cobb

Chris Cobb, Owen, Paul Talbot, Paul McLean, Al Conner, Julio

The conversation was very casual and floated between topics with a lot of informal discussion.

Pauls's Talbot's site www.nerephotography.com (New England real estate photography)

Paul TAlbot expressed his interest in trying to find a way to get photos printed for artists who submit their work

Paul M expressed interest in hand made stretches and both wants to submit a proposal
some discussion about black bloc

Owen came to discuss sending off the blanks to his contact in Japan he just started penciling in the Japanese translation of the flow chart in coordination with Rachel Schragis  to present the blank as something between translation as a collaborative artwork and and he is looking to create a website that can be a resource for other translators

Paul T suggested using etherpad to create collaborative documents 

Owen indicated his group - translation - might not use it because they don’t know how.
Some discussion about Spokes Council and GA impotence
Katherine Gressel's occupy art stuff essay was discussed by Chris and people all said they wanted to read it. Chris noted how good it was her piece is HERE.

Paul T observed that OWA & Arts & Culture OWS (compared to other groups) seem to have their stuff together better

Paul M  said that Hrag Vortania from Hyperallergic who has been trying to write on the arts has. Had trouble trying to figure out who is who in OWS arts and has had a hard time getting through All the conflicting information

Chris suggested we print some pamphlets or something to explain our process and maybe communicate what our aims are as an affinity group and also to promote art opportunities to occupy movement folks. He said at some point Occupypublishing.org will be interested int doing this sort of thing on a regular basis once a funding source is secured, since funding through the GA and Spokes Council is unreliable and subject to constant rule changes.

Paul M expressed his theoretical basis for OWS that OWS is not philosophy…elaborated on  concentricity and how nobody has sat down to map that out to see what it really looks like

Paul T mentioned that he is going to set up relationships with local coffee roasters and get between 50 and 100 brown burlap bags and use them to make signs to place around Manhattan. Hopefully he can get groups to participate and everyone would put their own sign on the bags. He explained he'd gotten one at the anti-Monsanto event and it struck him that the bags contained beans from organic/sustainable farmers and so they would be a great material to further repurpose for the signs as it seemed congruent with their ethos, further noting at the anti-Monsanto rally and had noticed that the bags noted something like "these seeds are from your  ancestors" and thought that it made sense to use such bags to make the signs.

Paul T also mentioned he had submitted a proposal to fawn for the Wall Street to Main Street

General discussion about communities and what various people in the group had done before coming to OWS

Al said he had studied shi ru karate. Al also said he had once lived in Iceland for 8 months and did a one man play there and wondered out loud about performance opportunities. He suggested we produce some kind of book with All of the mission statements He also reminded us to contribute our mission statement to the NYCGA so we can comply with their rules in case there is some kind of new rule change out of the blue we can say that we have been complying all along…he also mentioned that he doesn’t use a computer so it’s been hard for him to apply. Al does however, and make hats and Chris encouraged him to bring them to meetings and maybe we can put photos online for him. Al seemed ambivalent to the idea and said he has already had them photographed….
 
From the discussion it was clear that it would be a good for OWA to produce some print materials ASAP on whatever topics - perhaps in conjunction with the HyperAllergic space or another institution.

Julio came at the end of the meeting and let us know that he is part of a new group called Occupy Sunset Park and that they are all from that neighborhood and have been given a  building a local church to use for Occupy work. It was unclear what the exact details/timeline or  restrictions were with the space but he noted it was a large space. He promised to update us on what they do. 

1.18

Occupy With Art Minutes

January 18^th, 2012 60 Wall Street 7:00 – 9:15pm  

Antonio, Vanessa, Chris, Paul, Katherine  

Chris reported that Yoko Ono cards were distributed to several groups: Occupy Town Square, Sustainability, Tech, Visions & Goals, National Lawyers Guild, End Corporate Personhood group. More will be distributed next week. Of three full boxes of cards we still have two left, or about 5-6,000 cards.


REPORT BACKS

Paul: Treehugger.com wants to contact us for a story on the Ono card project

Chris said he would contact the person

Paul: FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française) wants to do a conference and include us. Paul said he would contact them and try to set up a meeting with them for next week. (update -they got back and said they could not meet until Jan.30 or Feb.6)

Eye Beam in Chelsea wants to give us a table at an upcoming event they are doing. Since Eye Beam is all about art and technology, Chris suggested trying to highlight the innovative technology used at Zuccotti park such as the bicycle generators, etc. Maybe we should create some literature and or reach out to Tech to ask their input.

Paul suggested adding Low Lives to the mix.

Someone suggested contacting Jake DeGroot and/or someone named drew in Tech Ops

The Eye Beam event is on Jan. 28th -so it is soon.

Paul: Wall Street to Main Street - Paul said that only he and Imani & a few others showed up and it kind of disappointed off Gino, who is a famous curator - Paul added the meeting was happening at the same time as Occupy Museums action at MOMA.

Imani was there but Geno insisted he would not curate by committee nor would fawn, the other person organizing it. Geno is 70 years old.

Paul said he hadn't intended on curating but that they really wanted him to and Imani was initially against it but then seemed to change her mind at the end and seemed open to it. My take was that we are their guests and it is their space we are being invited into. Chris explained that he had reached out to various OWS groups and several institutions about the petition project to get permanent signage placed on the site of New York's first slave market, which was located on Wall Street. The Schomburg Center might do an event or talk about it in the next month or so. That said, only about 170 signatures have been added to the online petition so far. Paul suggested contacting FAB and asking them to send out a link to their mail list because they have 12,000 people on their list.

Antonio mentioned that he got A7C to approve his syndication project which is designed to be a website where OWS groups can come to share their various resources, designs, art, writing, etc for free use within OWS. He announced he is now working on it and for now it will be a sub page on arts &culture website.

Vanessa is a photographer doing a portrait series of OWS people. She mentioned that there is an annual social media week event that they need panelists of r. Paul said he would like to be on the panel. They are curating an OWS themed week. It starts on February 16th.

Vanessa also mentioned that the south seaport museum was doing an OWS-themed show Feb. 25th but had not reached out to OWS for some reason. Everyone was skeptical about that and she mentioned that she had been invited to show some of her portraits but couldn't tell if any other OWS folks had been invited. Chris speculated that many organizations might have had negative experiences when they have tried to reach out to OWS. It’s very easy to get bad information or inadvertently contact someone who is just exploiting OWS or just someone who doesn't have a clue. Thereby giving OWS a bad image in their eyes. Even when all they want to do is reach out.

Katherine mentioned that the show she is curating hasn't gotten as many responses as shed hoped and the deadline to apply is on Monday. It is about Brooklyn Utopias and rethinking the space and land use in Brooklyn.

It will be at the Stone House space in Brooklyn and she is very excited about the project.

Discussion about the relative roles of A&C and OwA and what they're doing. No conclusions but just talking aloud about overlap and identity and participation. Antonio mentioned that Imani and some others are planning a monthly mixer on either March 10 or 11 th. Paul said DJspooky would come play at the event. Antonio also mentioned that his “OWS sharing” project passed A&C & will get its own page on the A&C mini-site. His concept is that it can be a hub where those within the movement can pool their intellectual property/resources and share text, images, art, photographs, writing, etc, for free within the community. He is working on building it out.

1.11

Occupy With Art - January 11, 2012
Minutes

Stacey, Seth, Gilbert, Sophia, Yaelle, Chris C., Imani, Paul,
Christina, Chris M., Paula

Agenda

* Report Backs:
- Ono
- Proposal Gilbert
- Stacey art education
- Paul - Low Lives
- Paul - conference call
* Structure:
- Group structure/Policies

Yoko Ono

-       Chris: the Ono cards came back from the printer - 10,000 copies.
-       On Sat. we're holding a press conference at 1pm in Zuccotti. Ono is
out of the country, but members from her studio may be there.
-       Liza from Hypperallergic is publishing a blurb tonight about the
project
-       The project is posted on the group's website, FB, Twitter
-       please send the PR out to any press contacts.
-       Invite A&C members.
-       Good to have projects like this - makes OWS look organized
-       How to distribute the cards: will be a waste to give them out all at
once or to random people. The artwork is the act of giving the card to
someone else, not the card itself.
We shouldn't just put stacks of this in a place
Paul: in the conference call Paul will announce to have other cities
get the cards
-       Imani: share the cards with other working groups. 140 WGs - if we
give a bunch of cards to each WG, that already gets it out.
-       It's designed to be mailed - they can go all over the world
-       Seth - it makes sense to distribute them via OWS
-       Chris C: the original Wish Tree project is having a physical tree to
hang wishes on. Then her studio would collect the wishes and stores
them in a big sculpture in Iceland
In this iteration, because of the state of Zuccotti, it's a postcard.
It is more of a prompt to have a conversation. Trees communicate with
other trees.
-       CC: this is the kind of project that could be a long of different
things for different people.
-       Imani: can tie it in to Occupy Gardens - would be interesting to use
the cards in that campaign (beautifying communities and food
sustainability).
-       CC: there's no stipulation on how this project is used
-       Chris M.: seems like a child would relate to this well. Distribute
this to community garden groups, particular ones that involve children
and deliberately consider how a child would perceive this.
-       CC: this is meant to have a life of its own. It's an art piece that
is meant to open a conversation
-       Imani: how to we bring all these ideas to schools? This project
could be a starting point to have that discussion. Use it as a
starting point as a conversation piece to open the movement up to
people and communities beyond
-       CC: this is a great way to educate people about the movement through
art.
-       Chris M: is OWS oppositional?
-       CC: I think it's for things
-       Seth: it has both impulses
-       CM: the cards ask us to communicate through nature. I worry about
how this card will be perceived in the "outside" world. The card
expresses a naivete - we may want to acknowledge the oppositional
nature of OWS
-       CC: it's easy to over-think a lot of the things happening in OWS
-       Stacey: the card has a beauty and positivity to it to be an ice
breaker. It should be distributed in places like wishing fountains.
Should we gather as a group in specific places where people go to
dream and imagine and distribute the cards there?
-       Christina: there's the Imagine spot in the Central Park
-       Stacey: too precious
-       Chris M: Central Park duck pond where the Alice and Wonderland
fountain is
-       Seth: Zuccotti.
-       Stacey: yes, but it's the same people. We should go where people
wonder and dream and reflect.
-       Chris M: should go to boroughs
-       YA: MLK weekend - the dreamer!
-       CC: in touch with the Occupy MLK day group
-       Dates: 1/14 - 1pm at Zuccotti; 1/15 (#J15) - MLK actions
-       YA: put on OWA website if someone wants a stack of cards to
distribute, contact OWA gmail account
-       Paula: encourage a dialogue, exchange, to actually have the wish
heard.
-       Paul: have a gallery on the website with people holding the card in
different locations
-       CC: we should roll out in phases. First distribute to working group
-       Sophia: if there is no direction coming from OWA, then it will get
lost
-       Paul: should we have a timeline? The next two weeks we'll make sure
that the cards are distributed to the working groups. Then the next
phase is to expand it - take suggestions through website and direct
contact.
-       Imani: in the press conference we should articulate what the
postcard is meant to prompt.
-       Paul: there's a PR that explains this and we'll make it available.
-       Christina: will take it to Occupy Detroit that she's going to visit
next week. Also to Occupy San Juan Island (organized by her parents!)
-       Paul: it's a good acknowledgement to fringe occupations to send them
something like this postcard - connects occupations
-       CC: can we get postage money from A&C?
-       Imani: will request it from A&C
-       YA: do we have addresses?
-       CC: we can brainstorm this in the A&C meeting
-       Paul: this list will be valuable in general (contact list for other
occupy encampments)
-       Paul: will announce this on the conference call group tonight or the
next call - 1/25
-       Imani: we'll announce this in the press conference.
-       Paul: send people to occupywithart.com
-       CC: since we're a small group, it's easier to streamline the
communication

Chris M:
-       Paul: from Huntington, NY. Owner of a co-op upstate. Conceptualizing
a different art economy.
-       Chris M: secured a cinema and a gallery (BJ Spoke) in Huntington for
occupy projects. Cinema - June and the gallery is available in
September (Sept 5 opening). The concept is an arts festival.
The groups out in LI are very fractured - it's huge and diverse. The
occupy groups on LI are finding it difficult to communicate with OWS
and each other. CM is trying to find a way to Occupy the suburbs.
Finding it difficult to communicate the projct he's working on with
OWA to other groups.
-       CM: businesses in Huntington are closing one after the other. Trying
to find ways to generate money to rent these empty spaces. Possibly a
subscription method - everyone contributes what they can and run this
hub space to organize a space for occupy Huntington. If it works once,
they will push it to other spaces.
-       CM: Co-Op in basement of the house. Once a month people converge and
meet at the Co-Op to exchange things they've ordered online. The
energy there is a hub of communication to discuss sustainability. It
is the most active political engagement in the area.
-       Paul & CM: have a work of art intervene in the co-op. "Art for
human's sake."
-       Stacey: where does OWA come in?
-       CM: looking for films and artists for the cinema and gallery
presentations - both local and NY.
-       Paul: gone to Occupy Cinema, 99% films. Will put out a CFP.
-       YA: need to be aware that using the occupy "brand" waters down both
occupy and the exhibition. Need to take the ideas we're learning from
the movement and organizing shows/projects surrounding these concepts
rather than under the 'occupy' umbrella
-       Seth: the saturation of occupy is different geographically
-       CM: there is a meagerness of occupy in Huntington
-       CM: timeline - Cinema Art Center is looking over ideas now. Would
like to add a layer to what OWS means to Huntington - discourse (about
blue collar, art, economy, etc.)

Christina (Low Lives):
-        presented the open call - individuals can screen the videos on
their own, connected to the Hemispheric Institute, and are connected
to those who did the bat signal.
-       Deadline for proposals: 2/6. Happening on 3/3.
-       the open call is open to anyone - not necessarily a visual artist or
a filmmaker. Whatever can be performed/screened live. There is
technical support from LL.
-       Will be available also after 3/3 online - can stream it anywhere.
-       The way people are using the technology for this can be used for
actual political actions.
-       3 people going over proposals to make sure it's cohesive and diverse
-       asking to post the CFP to specific pages internationally to generate
enthusiasim in diverse communities beyond NY.

Gilbert:
-       would like to offer a structure to become a group of self employed
artists. If we want to develop artistically, we have to have a way to
develop financially.
-       Started a company: Where Workers are Owners - renovations, cleaning
services, web design. Would like to include teaching artists - any way
to supplement finances to artistic endeavors.
-       Anyone who is interested in being a part of this should get in touch
with Gilbert. Would like to put the focus on the artistic work
(musicians, designers, etc.).
-        Money comes in for jobs for each group and it is distributed
according to a person's productivity, after a percentage put aside for
expenses. The expenses are shared so the profit is higher.
-       Will give support and financial footing to the art we created.
-       Paula: there are a lot of groups that are working towards this
model. Would be very empowering for Gilbert to join them because they
are working specifically with this structure: get in touch with
SolidarityNYC (many of these are artists) and Occupy Working Place:
gilbertgambucci(at)aol.com

Stacey:
-       organizing an art workshop with kids by art educators in communities
- hang the art projects in communities to raise awareness to cuts to
art funding.

Seth:
-       Occupy Gardens: one of the main ideas working on with the Food
Justice Group is to take abandoned lots around the city and foster the
kind of activity that will turn them into gardens. In end of winter -
wheat paste the spaces to images of gardens. One idea was to create
them via workshops with kids and wheat paste their creations.
-       Could there be a way to combine these two ideas (art education cuts
and gardens)
-       Sophia: can start separately and then combine the two ideas

Stacey:
-       we should begin meetings on time
-       begin next meeting as a first agenda item
-       Seth: begin to have a time-keeper for each topic