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 .
Evaluating the GA
Friday, June 29, 2012 at 08:37PM NEW YORK, June 23. 2012--Tonight's discussion of the General Assembly, held at Liberty Plaza, aka Zuccotti Park, was intended to analyse the working of GA over the past six months and to try to fix its flaws-- through break-out groups. Proceedings took off at 6pm sharp with a detailed report of last week's meeting. Excerpts from transcript: "If some people at the GA are well fed [but others] are thinking about where their next meal is coming from, that's not really equal". . ."we wanted to check in with other occupations to analyse how they've acted and what their GAs have done so we can learn the lessons of their mistakes, not just the lessons of our own..."We want to bring back the community, that's kind of a hard thing" . . ."We also wanted to take personality [ego] out of the decision-making. We want to get the right answer, not 'my' answer. The group by discussion should find the right answer"...."We talked about rebuilding the squandered good will and trying to bring back the people who left because they couldn't put up with the b.s. the longest ...finding some way to fix our process so that it's not so inhuman and leads to fist fights. Maybe some way to have a more human conversation, instead of the point of process fight. Perhaps this could suggest some break out groups we want to work on." Video of other speakers at the meeting continues on Part 11. Filmed by Squaring Off.
+
NEW YORK, June 23, 2012--In Part II , individual occupiers get on stack and nail down aspects of General Assembly that have proved particularly irksome and make suggestions for fixes.
Excerpt, first speaker:" One, GA became too centralized. People began to feel it was gatekeeping for the movement and that some people were using GA to restrict people's activities in ways that were not empowering and not horizontal."
Excerpt, Second speaker: " From September 17th ...I watched something I loved a lot come under accumulating abuse with no one there to defend it."
NB filmmaker's note: while this re-evaluation of the GA is taking place on a weekly basis, the activities of other working groups continue and are open for participation.
Transcript and more speakers TK.
OWS General Assembly, liza bear, occupy wall street in activism, meeting ENOUGH [BASTA][Field Scan, Illustrations & Notes][Draft/BETA]
Monday, June 25, 2012 at 10:52AM
Updated on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 10:38AM by
admin
Painting by Manning Williams (d. 2012)
ENOUGH [BASTA][Field Scan, Illustrations & Notes][Draft/BETA]
By Paul McLean
Homemade guillotine (see links below).<[PLATFORM]: TIME IS THE ONLY OBJECT. EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE (A) SUBJECT.
Ale at the G20 conference
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Way to go, Ale! I can't read everything but I do like the idea that the appearance of an analog object in digital time is what people need to awaken their poetic sensibilities.
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- Jez Bold [response to Ale's revGames/DA Flaneurs performance at the G20]
Installation View, 1995
Chema Alvagonzalez, SITE Santa Fe
Available
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SITE Santa Fe lies on the edge of town by the railroad tracks, at a welcome distance from the schlock art malls of Canyon Road and the tourist-friendly museums in the town center. It’s a relief to enter a white box environment and discover some challenging art. As the title of the current exhibition suggests, Time-Lapse showcases pieces that either address the subjective experience of time or rely expressly on the passage of time to achieve full realization. Works accrue gradually, offering visitors a unique viewing experience every day, if not every minute. Despite the variety of media employed and the evolving nature of the work, many of these individual pieces gather in force to represent some of the paradoxical concerns of our collective human existence.
...
Time-Lapse achieves its goal of deconstructing the notion of artwork as static and immutable. Along the way, it highlights how some thoughtful artists search for an understanding of global forces while others elect to deal with the mundane physical and emotional needs that shape daily life. Still other artists investigate the elastic and subjective nature of time, asking the viewer to participate in the exploration. The work on view here is revealing, both in its methods and in its conclusions about humanity, individual, and universal.
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- "Time-Lapse" by Corina Larkin [review of SITE Santa Fe for Brooklyn Rail]
"Red Canvas" by Richard Tuttle
[INSTRUCTIONS]: Over the next few days I'll be correcting/modifying the following field scan, editing for content, grammar, typos, all the usual imperfection crap, and revisioning, continuing the linking process, etc. Initially, a small team of collaborators will be helping, reviewing, critiquing, etc. These include Chris Moylan, Jez Bold, Alex and a few others. The meta--text we're going to think of as a wireframe, an armature, a skeleton, a trunk (as in, of a tree)... that resolves with time. [Stopping here for tonight - PJM/6-27-2012]
Flyers for Guitarmy
Monday, June 25, 2012 at 02:01AM 
Click the image to download the flyer.
Click the image to download the flyer.
Posters by Paul McLean
CO-OP/Occuburbs Kick-off, with Films by Liza Bear, and More: Save the Date!
Friday, June 22, 2012 at 10:33PM [Save the date: July 25, 2012]
Occupy with Art and Cinema Arts Center present a selection of short films by Liza Bear, + an evening of discussion, poetry, music and more -- to kick off CO-OP/Occuburbs in Huntington, Long Island.
Occupy: Corporations Can’t Cry
- Date:
- July 25, 2012
- Showtime
- Wednesday, July 25 at 7:30pm
Film / Discussion / Public Forum / Music / Poetry
Co-Presented by Occupy with Art and Cinema Arts Center
Join us for a lively and illuminating evening about Occupy Wall Street, featuring the films of Liza Béar (who has been at OWS since the first day of the occupation), music, poetry, and information about numerous Long Island activist organizations
- In Person: Filmmaker Liza Béar
- Music by Brian O’Haire
- Poetry by Christopher Moylan
$10 Members / $15 Public
(includes reception)
Tickets also available by calling 800-838-3006, or at the CAC Box Office
Scholarship Tickets are available for those unable to pay – Contact Charlotte Sky at 631-423-7610 x22
Since Day One, September 17, 2011, Liza Béar has filmed the modus operandi of Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park and at other New York locales. Shot over a 7 month period, these 65 minidocs or situationist videos combine dialogue between–and with—an eclectic range of OWS participants, members of the community and the security forces. The style is a mixture of verité filmmaking and a more proactive, direct cinema approach. The aim has been to dispel mass media stereotyping and facile judgments. To be screened tonight: OWS Day 5: “Corporations Can’t Cry”; “Zuccotti Gets Surreal”; “Occupy the SEC: Enforce the Volcker Rule,” “Occupy the Courts: Foley Square Rally to End Corporate Personhood”; OWSJ29: “Murder By SpreadSheet; Health Care for the 99%”; OWS M28 “The Trap of Violence” and others.
Liza Béar is a New York-based writer, filmmaker and media activist. After arriving in New York in 1968, she cofounded the avant-garde artists’ magazine Avalanche 1970-1976 with Willoughby Sharp and was a co-producer of Communications Update, a public access artists’ tv show that also dealt with information politics. Her films have been shown at The Museum of Modern Art, the Edinburgh Film Festival, the Sao Paulo Biennial, and most recently at Torpedo Kunsthalle, Oslo, Macka Art Gallery, Istanbul and the ICA London. She is the author of “Beyond the Frame: Dialogues with World Filmmakers” (Praeger, 2007). Learn more at http://lizabearmakingbook.blogspot.com and http://communicationsupdate.blogspot.com
cinema arts center, co-op, liza bear, occuburbs in discussion, music, poetry, screening Married To Corporate America
Friday, June 22, 2012 at 10:10PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT: Leon Pease| leon.pease@gmail.com| 917-855-0285
B.S. Productions and Leon Pease Presents
Married To Corporate America:
A New Political Experiment To Test the Limits of Corporate Personhood in America
Married To Corporate America is a new political/social experiment meant to shine a light on the bizarre idea of corporate personhood and to question its very validity. The primary question posed by this project is that if corporations are people then should they be allowed to legally marry. In the following video I invite any American corporation to propose for my hand in marriage by sending me an email at
It is my goal to become legal married to an American corporation sometime with in the coming year. Any corporation, large and small may apply. Here is the link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d7yyP0C03Y
And this is a link to the projects blog
http://marriedtocorporateamerica.wordpress.com/
Leon Pease (Project Creator/Playwright/Actor) Leon Pease is a NYC based actor/writer. His many projects include working with the OWS group the Tax Dodgers as well as being the founder and artistic director of Theatre in a VAN! His writing credits with Theatre in a VAN! include, The Big Spill: A 10-Minute Musical about the BP Oil Spill, Gilgord, King of the Moontopians, The Subatomic Solution: A 10-Minute Musical Solution to the Conflict in the Middle East, and a new adaption of Bertolt Brecht’s The Elephant Calf. Last September he premiered his first full-length play Luminescent Blues at Theatre for the New City’s Dream Up festival. He also recently directed and produced a short play of his titled It’s A Wonder Anyone Gets Anything Done Anymore… for the Manhattan Repertory Theatre’s Spring One Act Competition. Leon has also co-written for projects with the Glass Bandits Theatre Company, which include In Memoriam: A Recession Play in 13 Acts, Hecuba the Bitch of Cynossema and The Best Laid Plans of Seamen.
concept, corporate personhood, marriage in interventions, projects Media Consolidation: The Illusion of Choice (Infographic)
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 12:27AM 
Source: Frugal dad
Infographics, media monopoly in graphics Flamenco for Justice
Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 12:42PM Flamenco flashmob by flo6x8 inside a bank in Sevilla Spain to protest against the finacial system.
dance, protest in interventions STATE OF REVOLUTION
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 02:33PM documentary, new york, occupy wall street in CINEMA ALERT! Google disabled the OwA e-mail account!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 10:32AM 
[NOTICE!]
Yesterday, I attempted to log into the Occupy with Art gmail account, and got a message-page indicating the account had been disabled. I haven't checked that account in several weeks, which is unusual, so I am not sure at this point exactly how long the email has been down. I have contacted Google to request information on the action Google took, but have to date received no reply. The terms of service allow Google to terminate any gmail account without cause - not sure how many of us know that. I did. Still, I will pursue the matter to the extent possible. The structure of OwA was developed over time and has changed significantly since September 2011. The Google mail account was opened to permit all in our group access to administrative functions. We have not changed the password, or done anything to prevent open access. Now, most of the core OwA group has moved on, and we will begin a new phase for the collective, beginning in July, with CO-OP/Occuburbs. Between now and then we will clarify new contact inputs and propose a new structure for Occupy with Art. Til then, please don't hesitate to contact us at artforhumans [at] gmail [dot] com.
- Paul McLean
Occupy with Art co-organizer
ALERT, oOccupy with Art 2012 in ALERTS ENOUGH! [BASTA][Draft/BETA][Introduction]
Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 08:59AM 
9 Biggest Banks' Derivative Exposure - $228.72 Trillion
ENOUGH! [BASTA][Draft/BETA][Introduction]
By Paul McLean
[NOTE]: The following text is the next installment of the series ENOUGH! - which is being developed as a resource for CO-OP/Occuburbs, an OwA production for Huntington, LI. This draft is open to revision, refinement and is introduced for the purposes of community review.
Humanity? Yes, it's OK – some great talks, some great arts. Concrete people? No, 99% are boring idiots.
- Slavoj Žižek (http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jun/10/slavoj-zizek-humanity-ok-people-boring)
The feeling of humiliation is nothing but the feeling of being an object. Once understood as such, it becomes the basis for a combative lucidity in which the critique of the organization of life cannot be separated from the immediate inception of the project of living differently. Construction can begin only on the foundation of individual despair and its transcendence; the efforts made to disguise this despair and pass it off under another wrapper are proof enough of this, if proof were needed. What is the illusion which stops us seeing the disintegration of values, the ruin of the world, inauthenticity, non-totality?
- Raoul Vaneigem, The Revolution of Everyday Life ("Humiliation," p. 21)
To all those who still wish to talk about man, about his reign or his liberation, to all those who still ask themselves questions about what man is in his essence, to all those who wish to take him as their starting-point in their attempts to reach the truth, to all those who, on the other hand, refer all knowledge back to the truths of man himself, to all those who refuse to formalize without anthropologizing, who refuse to mythologize without demystifying, who refuse to think without immediately thinking that it is man who is thinking, to all these warped and twisted forms of reflection we can answer only with a philosophical laugh - which means, to a certain extent, a silent one.
- Michel Foucault, LES MOTS ET LES CHOSES [Trans., The Order of Things, ("Man and His Doubles," p. 343)]
Why do critics thus periodically proclaim their helplessness or their lack of understanding? It is certainly not out of modesty...All this means in fact that one believes oneself to have such sureness of intelligence that acknowledging an inability to understand calls in question the clarity of the author and not that of one's own mind. One mimics silliness in order to make the public protest in one's favour, and thus carry it along advantageously from complicity in helplessness to complicity in intelligence.
- Roland Barthes, Mythologies ("Blind and Dumb Criticism," p. 34)
Ambrose in his shop.
thank you.
I am a fan of never leaving a stone unturned.
after gluing and shaping three boards
I just couldn't in all concience finish
with glass withoutgetting the weight down.
I've got the band saw. I need to re-split the boards
had I comitted to chambering at the outset,yes,
life would be a whole lot different... and easier.
when I get more wood I will be more coherent.
no greater learning than doing things the hard way.
...ambrose...
now I will check c-list for the beam saw...
- ambrose m.curry III
ENOUGH! [BASTA!]
1
Derivatives
Illusion
Corruption
2
Origins
Truth
Innocence
Watch the whole program HERE.
[INTRODUCTION]:
When art is called "derivative" as a critique, the artwork so labeled is generally not being complemented. The term can migrate and serve as a label for an artist, again, as a pejorative. The critic is usually pointing out where in a vertical hierarchy, usually tied to chronology, an artwork or artist fits on the basis of originality. Anti-originality, keep in mind, has been a darling of the anti-art factions for nearly a century. The "traditional" art world is keen on its own version of "trickle down theory," elevating inventors and innovators to the pinnacles of a creative pyramid schema. It's a fairly pervasive formula for assigning value in crafts, like fashion. Think of the scene in "The Devil Wears Prada," when Meryl Streep's character credits herself with playing a big part in determining the outfit the young heroine of the movie is wearing. Each iteration removed from the original is thought to be corrupted by being so situated, but the architecture is holistically maintained as a given, and relies on the B, C, D+ lines for the legitimacy of the top end. Such is the realm of Style, and it is an appendix of the Courts (the regal ones, not the judicial kind).
ENOUGH, corruption, derivatives, illusion, media in texts, theory WS2MS: OCCUPY THE LANDSCAPE: MAY 26, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 11:49AM Photos by Ellen Davidson
OCCUPY THE LANDSCAPE: MAY 26, 2012
A 22-MILE WALK
ROUTE: WOODSTOCK TO SAUGERTIES TO CATSKILL, NY
Walk for Human Rights and Social & Economic Justice
On May 26, 2012 people gathered on a path to walk 22 miles from Woodstock through Saugerties to Catskill, NY carrying a collection of Human Rights.
The first mile marker suggested, in the words of Dorothy Day, that "the greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart..."
We dedicate this slideshow to all those that walked and to all those for whom we walked. It was a profound, collective public action, a call for the recognition of universal Human Rights. Whether walking one mile or 22 miles, every step we took together counts.
At the end of the day Adrienne Rich's poignant words "It will take all your heart, it will take all your breath. It will be short, it will not be simple" remind us that all living species are on a similar path.
May we Reclaim The Heart for each and every one of us.
QUOTES OF THE DAY: MILE MARKERS
"My address is like my shoes. It travels with me. I abide where there is a fight against wrong."
- MOTHER JONES
OCCUPY THE LANDSCAPE, documentation in activism, march OwA Open Proposal: ENOUGH!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 10:07AM 
[NOTE]: What follows is a first draft version of a proposal submitted to several entities who have invited Occupy with Art to participate in art events slated between now and fall 2012, spanning the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, and the occupation of Liberty Square. This draft is open to revision, refinement and is introduced for the purposes of community review.
ENOUGH! [BASTA!]
1
Derivatives
Illusion
Corruption
2
Origins
Truth
Innocence
Occupy with Art invites artists of all descriptions to participate in a multi-dimensional art eruption for our times. In anticipation and celebration of the one-year anniversary of OWS, Occupy with Art proposes a series of art actions that collectively proclaim "ENOUGH!" We will explore six related subjects through art: derivatives/origins; illusion/truth; and corruption/innocence. Think of these concepts as three coins with two sides.
ENOUGH!
Nsumi Collective: Mutant Collectives Workshop
Monday, June 4, 2012 at 10:05PM 
Mutant Collectives Workshop
Nsumi Collective
The Mutant Collectives workshop will inspire and empower young and emerging artists to create independent and sustainable collective projects challenging the unspoken rules and codes of the art world. Our goal is to provide tools and ideas about collective organization that will allow participants to take the future of their artistic practice into their own hands. The workshop will highlight some of the hidden structures of the art world as well as concrete ways to subvert them. http://nsumi.net
Project info here: http://www.visavisproject.org/home/goals/
The Birth of The People's Movement: Fathers protecting Mother Earth, Home of the 100%
Monday, June 4, 2012 at 08:02AM 
-
Sunday, June 17, 2012
-
12:00pm until 11:35pm
Fathers and families gathering together to celebrate the Father's of the 99%, Occupy's 9 month anniversary, The Battle of Bunker Hill's 237th anniversary, and life on earth.
Free music
Barter network
Games
Art
Action at night - Prepping The People's Summit (Time's Sq)
FATHER'S DAY, GATHERING in celebration Is Occupy Art?
Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 10:56AM 
Carl Scrase, "Fractal 090812," bull-clips, 2009. Courtesy John Buckley Gallery.
[An interview by WE Magazine with Carl Scrase]
[EXCERPT]:
WE_MAGAZINE
I assume Carl, you’d argue #occupy is art. Why?CARL SCRASE: To be honest, I’m not sure if ‘argue’ is the correct verb. I may ‘propose’, ‘put forward’ or ‘ponder whether’. But no, no, I would not fervently argue such potentially slippery logic.
If I were to be pressured into giving an answer – which I suppose I am by virtue of being interviewed – I would offer the following.
I would suggest that in attempting to link ‘occupy’ and ‘art’ one could begin with a paper written in 2008 by Malcolm Miles, entitled Society As a Work of Art and then go on to watch the You Tube clip of him giving a lecture on the same theme. Malcolm gives a fantastic overview of the writing of Herbert Marcuse, talks about Joseph Beuys and touches on the topics of utopia, revolution, the history of occupations and how they all relate to art. This is a really interesting and informative summation of the historical underpinnings of ‘art’ and revolutionary social movements.
In the question and answer session at the end of the lecture Malcolm talks about Joseph Beuys’ claim that “Everyone is an artist”. To paraphrase Malcolm’s take on this famous phrase: Joseph Beuys means by this that everyone has a creative imagination and can envisage new social as well as artistic forms. The definition of art dissolves here into free living.
Joseph Beuys called himself a ‘social sculpture’, expanding and adding to the ambitions of the artist. This following quote from Beuys sums up his stance, and I believe is very interesting when linking ‘art’ + ‘occupy’. His words seem very prescient now, considering they were spoken in 1987, some 25 years ago: “In the future all truly political intentions will have to be artistic ones. … they will have to stem from human creativity and individual liberty. … this cultural sector … would be a free press, free TV, and so on … free from all state intervention. I am trying to develop a revolutionary model that formulates the basic democratic order in accordance with the people’s wishes … that changes the basic democratic order and then restructures the economic sector in a way that will serve the people’s needs and not the needs of a minority that wants to make its profits. That is the connection, and this I define as Art.”
CARL SCRASE, IS OCCUPY ART? in interviews WS2MS: Communique from Co-organizer Fawn Potash
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 09:15AM 
Bravo everybody! My sincerest gratitude for making Wall Street to Main Street into this most amazing constellation of exhibits, workshops, seminars, performances, tours and cool stuff. I intend to write each one of you a personal thank-you note with copies of our press clippings, but until then, I want you to know what a meaningful experience this has been for me in meeting and getting to know your work and passions. It has been a personal and community-wide education. Like many Occupy events, it has demonstrated many of the principles of the movement in action.
There are many intangible results. At the most basic level, WS2MS supports the idea that we, along with people all over the world can speak and act on our own behalf. If we have not changed any minds, we have at least provoked conversation and offered opportunities for engagement and education at every level and sensibility. We have worked well with all of Catskill's community stakeholders giving us a successful track record and deeper connection to our neighbors. Plus Catskill has buzz. Even if people didn't make it to Main Street in person, there's no way they missed the PR storm. People know we are here now.
The tangible results have great import for Catskill too. This project played a major role in attracting several paying residential and storefront tenants. The long dormant Civil War era factory building, Union Mills has found a buyer, who sees the historic value of this property and its potential as a cultural linchpin on Main Street. There's much more, but we can go into more detail as we put together the project archive.
Your gift to Catskill and the audiences we have engaged is unquantifiably valuable. I hope we will be able to come up with some creative way to publicly acknowledge your contribution in a lasting way.