"Evil Empire"

Shared with Occupennial by artist Vittorio Ottaviani

The painting refers to the  abuse of power.  Some of the officials that we elect to represent our voices seem to be motivated by personal greed, which leads to unfortunate consequences for the general population.

2011. Oil on Mahogany, 31 x 44

Reposted from ARTSblog

The Art Inside #OccupyWallStreet

Posted by Amanda Alef On October - 31 - 2011

The art of signs used at #OWS (photo from hyperallergic.com)

Throughout history art has been fundamentally intertwined with social movements and political activism and it continually serves as a critical avenue through which to question, comment on, and influence change in the world around it. And this time around is no exception.

While the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to gain momentum, the arts have become a unique tool in the movement’s development and have played a central role in the creative expression of the movement’s message.

On any given day the artistic pulse of the movement can be witnessed through the countless cardboard signs on display throughout downtown Manhattan’s Zuccoti Park, as well as the emergence of a screenprinting lab, daily open stage performances, and the constant presence of musicians who add song to the movement’s message.

Only fourteen days after protesters began occupying, the formation of the Arts and Culture Committee emerged as a subcommittee of the movement’s general assembly. This collection of painters, graphic designers, musicians, art students, and more, represents the creative voices of the movement and have been working to support the peaceful occupation of Liberty Square and to foster participation in the creation of cultural work that amplifies the movement’s message.

Last week I reached out to the Arts and Culture Committee to learn more about their mission, message, and how the arts have been playing a part in uniting and driving the movement on the ground level:

Amanda Alef: What is the mission and role of the Arts and Culture Committee in the #OccupyWallStreet (OWS) movement?

Arts and Culture Committee: Communication through art is essential to this movement. We, the Arts and Culture Committee of #OccupyWallStreet, believe art is not a luxury item. It is a commonwealth that belongs not just to the 1%, but to all of us. We believe that art-making is not privileged to so-called talent or relegated to extracurricular activity, but, rather, that it is a universal language that is essential to human growth, learning, happiness, and sustainability.

By engaging artists within the occupation and by sharing the principles of the occupation with those on the outside, we will build a creative revolution together.

We encourage artists to create their individual mission statements with the same love, patience, and care that one gives to a work of art. We are not a political party or a nonprofit corporation—we are a social movement. And we, the 99%, give ourselves and you the permission to continue to re-imagine what a mission statement can be. Let’s dream big together.

AA: In what ways are the protestors at OWS utilizing artistic practices to express their political and personal viewpoints?

ACC: The occupation itself is art, birthed from a set of values and principles that activate creative, independent, and critical thought. We are painting signs and bodies, playing music, dancing, singing, and composing poems. We are occupying NYC with street theater and interventions. We are sharing stories and books. We are mounting art exhibits and libraries. We are building websites, taking photographs, making movies, archiving work, and bearing witness.

AA: What role have the arts played in the development of the OWS movement and its message thus far? And in what ways can they contribute to sustaining this movement?

ACC: #OccupyWallStreet is our Constitutional right to free speech and free expression. Art has always been at the forefront of these rights. It is as much a part of the occupation as eating, sleeping, marching, and talking. We are occupying Wall Street and making art at the same time and for the same reason. We make visible the cracks in society and fill them with creative solutions.

AA: Since its conception, have more artists been joining the movement? And in what ways can they contribute creatively to the movement?

ACC: Artists from around the world are joining us daily. We encourage supporters, some of whom may never before have dared to identify as “artists,” to tap into their inner creativity and collaborate with us. We are actively reaching out to others to help us build a broader and stronger community that provokes an alternative dialogue.

We encourage artists to occupy beyond Wall Street. We must occupy our homes, our studios, our museums, our schools, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our towns, and cities. We must bring the art of the people back to the people.

AA: What types of art or cultural events have taken place during or in connection to the occupation?

ACC: Some of the art that has already happened at #OccupyWallStreet is archived at http://www.occupennial.org/ows-art-listing/ and https://www.nycga.net/groups/arts-and-culture/. We are constantly developing more art actions for the near future.

The #OccupyWallStreet movement has received much interest from many different people, projects, and institutions. This support is welcome provided that these parties follow or are open to dialogue about adopting our principles. Some commercial galleries and institutions have tried to take advantage of this movement by appropriating the name, symbols, and art of the movement without abiding by its principles. Some have deliberately deceived artists in order to amplify their agendas and increase their personal profits.

It is important for us to remember that we are not a business. We are not a political party. We are not an advertising campaign. We are not a brand. We are not for sale. We support partnerships with those who wish to make this movement accessible to all, regardless of economic, political, ethnic, or social status.

[NOTE: ARTSblog is the online journal for Americans for the Arts. The responses above were developed through AC working groups.]

“L’histoire du Soldat” At Zuccotti, Nov. 3rd, 5-6pm

Stravinsky’s timeless and haunting “L’histoire du Soldat” (“The Soldier’s Tale”), a parable for three actors and seven musicians, will be performed for Occupy Wall Street at Zuccotti Park by Broadway actors and New York musicians on Nov. 3rd from 5-6pm, with a possible additional performance on Nov. 4th.

*(NOTE: Nov. 4th is our back-up rain delay date!  We’ll keep you posted!)*

Stravinsky and C.F. Ramuz’s hour-long tale/ballet/oratorio tells the story of a Soldier on leave to see his sweetheart.  Nearly home, he is sidetracked by the Devil.  In an infernal insider-trading scheme, the Soldier gains a magic book that tells the future of the economy, but, in return, must give up his precious violin.   Imprisoned - by the Devil, his newfound wealth, and his own delusions - this veteran is separated from his loved ones and true happiness.  This fairy tale, spoken in sparkling verse to some of Stravinsky’s most charming and memorable music, is about the complex nature of greed, and the meaning and price of freedom. Its themes resonate effortlessly with the aims and ideals of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Starring famed New York actors Erik Liberman (Broadway, “LoveMusik,” Helen Hayes-Award Winner for “Merrily We Roll Along”), Elizabeth Stanley (Broadway, “Company,” “Cry-Baby,”), and Nick Choksi (“Invasion” at The Flea, “Twelfth Night” with Sonnet Rep, regular on “One Life to Live”), and with some of New York’s finest contemporary music performers conducted by Ryan McAdams, this one-time-only performance explores the relationships between money, love, and happiness through a fairy tale that is, like all great fairy tales, beautiful, terrifying, funny, and deeply moving. 

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


NYCGA Hand Gestures

A Flickr photoset by "Newest Mutant"

We Are the 99% (as we gather together)

hello, we made this video with grounded tv, its the preamble to the declaration of the occupation of nyc

... please watch it! also we are working on the rest of the demands--- more music!

thanks, savitri

director// reverend billy & the church of stop shopping

[FIND MORE INCREDIBLE #OWS Video & New Media Projects in the Occupennial Art Database, HERE.]

OWS, from A-Z, by Theodore Hamm

A=arraign; arrears; arrests

Many came to Occupy Wall Street because they are in arrears, only to be arrested, with some even arraigned.

B=Bloomberg; Brookfield Properties; Brooklyn Bridge

Bloomberg and his buddies at Brookfield were dismayed when the mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge failed to stop the protests.

C= commune; cops; corporations

While some folks are creating a commune, cops are protecting corporations.

D= democracy, American; democracy, direct

American democracy is controlled by political parties that respond to money, whereas direct democracy is handled by participants answering to each other.

E= exhilaration; existentialism; experience

Joining together with your fellow ninety-nine percenters can be an exhilarating existential experience.

F= freedom of speech; free market

Fuck that free market nonsense, the protesters say, exercising their right to free speech.

G=grip, gripe

Many who gripe about the OWS protests need to get a grip.

H=Hydra; hydrate

Donated supplies continue to hydrate the Hydra.

I=individualism; indivisible

I pledge allegiance to Occupy Wall Street, and to the democracy for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty and justice for the 99%.

J=jackboots; Jacobins

Don’t let the jackboots turn you into Jacobins.

K=Kelly, Ray; kettling

Kelly and his keepers keep on kettling.

L=love

At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me echo Che’s statement: “At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love.”  

M=money

A question for the banks: “Where’s the money, Money?”

N=Nine; Ninety-Nine

We are the 99 percent; You are the 99 percent—and all of us will gain nothing from 9-9-9 or any other nefarious nostrums.

O=occupation

The lack of meaningful occupations has led many 20-somethings to join the Occupation.

P=Percent, One

Lots of folks in the one percent will gladly tell you that they are part of the middle class.

Q=quest; quixotic

Ending inequality may seem like a quixotic quest, but the fight has to start somewhere.

R=revel; revelation; revolution

Many revel in the revelation that a revolution is upon us.

S= shambles; shame

American democracy is in shambles, and it’s a shame.

T= Tea Party

The Tea Party is astroturf, but OWS is grassroots.

U=usual; usurp

Rather than accept business as usual, OWS usurped national attention.

V=Vendetta

If there’s one flick that all the protesters seem to like, it’s V for Vendetta.

W=Wall Street

If there’s one place that none of the protesters seem to like, it’s Wall Street.

X=Malcolm

If there’s one radical figure that nobody on Wall Street likes, it’s Malcolm X.

Y=Yippies; yuppies

When OWS protesters channel the spirit of Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies, yuppies get nervous.

Z=Zuccotti Park

Though it sounds like an Italian restaurant, Zuccotti Park is actually the site of the New York City Commune.



Occupy Halloween Flyers

AVAILABLE SOON IN THE OCCUPENNIAL OCCUGANDA DOWNLOADS SECTION

N+1's Occupy! An OWS-Inspired Gazette

CLICK THE IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF, FREE.

With the help of Astra Taylor (Examined Life; Zizek!) and Sarah Leonard of Dissent and the New Inquiry, we’ve put together a history, both personal and documentary, and the beginning of an analysis of the first month of the occupation. Articles deal with the problem of the police; the history of the “horizontalist” management structure at OWS; how to keep a live-in going when what you’ve tried to shut down refuses to shut down (like Harvard, or Wall Street); on whether the Fed should be abolished; on where that Citibank arrest video came from; on occupations in Oakland, Philadelphia, Atlanta; on what happens next; and more.

It’s an attempt to begin to think through what is happening, written by people both on the ground and across the river. We hope you’ll read it and discuss it with us. There’s a lot more thinking and doing to do.

“9.5 Theses on Art and Class” by Ben Davis

1.0 Class is an issue of fundamental importance for art
1.1 Inasmuch as art is part of and not independent from society, and society is marked by class divisions, these will also affect the functioning and character of the sphere of the visual arts
1.2 Since different classes have different interests, and “art” is affected by these different interests, art has different values depending on from which class standpoint it is approached
1.3 Understanding art means understanding class relations outside the sphere of the visual arts and how they affect that sphere, as well as understanding class relations within the sphere of the visual arts itself
1.4 In general, the idea of the “art world” serves as a way to deflect consideration of both these sets of relations
1.5 The notion of an “art world” implies a sphere that is separate or set aside from the issues of the non-art world (and so separates it from class issues outside that sphere)
1.6 The notion of an “art world” also visualizes the sphere of the visual arts not as a set of conflicting interests, but as a harmonious confluence of professionals with a common interest: “art” (and so denies class relations within that sphere)
1.7 Anxiety about class in the sphere of the visual arts manifests in critiques of the “art market”; however, this is not the same as a critique of class in the sphere of the visual arts; class is an issue that is more fundamental and determinate than the market
1.8 The “art market” is approached differently by different classes; discussing the art market in the absence of understanding class interests serves to obscure the actual forces determining art’s situation
1.9 Since class is a fundamental issue for art, art can’t have any clear idea of its own nature unless it has a clear idea of the interests of different classes

2.0 Today, the ruling class, which is capitalist, dominates the sphere of the visual arts
2.1 It is part of the definition of a ruling class that it controls the material resources of society
2.2 The ruling ideologies, which serve to reproduce this material situation, also represent the interests of the ruling class
2.3 The dominant values given to art, therefore, will be ones that serve the interests of the current ruling class
2.4 Concretely, within the sphere of the contemporary visual arts, the agents whose interests determine the dominant values of art are: large corporations, including auction houses and corporate collectors; art investors, private collectors and patrons; trustees and administrators of large cultural institutions and universities
2.5 One role for art, therefore, is as a luxury good, whose superior craftsmanship or intellectual prestige indicates superior social status
2.6 Another role for art is to serve as financial instrument or tradable repository of value
2.7 Another role for art is as sign of “giving back” to the community, to whitewash ill-gotten gains
2.8 Another role for art is symbolic escape valve for radical impulses, to serve as a place to isolate and contain social energy that runs counter to the dominant ideology
2.9 A final role for art is the self-replication of ruling-class ideology about art itself—the dominant values given to art serve not only to enact ruling-class values directly, but also to subjugate, within the sphere of the arts, other possible values of art

READ MORE IN THE OCCUPENNIAL LIBRARY, HERE.

(Submitted by the author for Occupennial Blog/Library - Admin)

"Why #OccupyWallStreet? 4 Reasons."

BETA Statement for Review: On the AS/TAS Intervention at 38 Greene St.

We of #OWS Arts and Culture working group are dedicated to the use of non-violent action to express our Constitutionally-assured right to peaceably assemble for the redress of grievances. #OWS Arts and Culture seeks to develop strong community relations with those who also care about the future of the 99%. That community includes arts organizations with long histories of 99%-supporting activities, like those practiced by Artists Space. The individuals who intervened there this weekend acted autonomously, with no connection to, support from, or consensus with #OWS.

NOTE: The above statement is in a BETA version until tomorrow's meeting of the NYCGA Arts and Culture Working Group Meeting (6PM at 60 Wall Street). We invite all to contribute input or feedback for this statement in the COMMENTS field below. Your responses will be added as addenda to the final document arrived at through consensus in the group. This statement was developed through an online discussion thread on the Arts and Culture Google Group, which is organized as a transparent, open membership. Eleven people contributed to the statement's formation over the course of several dozen emails, before the statement's posting for group consideration on the Occupennial Blog here, in advance of full discussion at the meeting tomorrow (October 24).

Occupy Sotheby's!

Rally at Sotheby’s Thursday, Oct. 20 @ 1:30pm 1334 York Ave (b/w 71st & 72nd)
6 train to 68th St.-Hunter College
Leave directly from #OccupyWallSt!
Buses depart from Liberty Pl b/w Trinity and Broadway at 1 PM!

Things are peachy for the 1%. Sotheby’s made $680 million in 2010 and gave their CEO a 125% raise—he makes $60,000 a day. 

Not so for the 99%. Sotheby’s demanded concessions from their workers and then locked them out of work. The workers have been locked out for 11 weeks.

Come support the locked-out workers.
Tell the 1%: STOP CORPORATE GREED
Keep in touch with our campaign. Text 917-657-7890 with your email to get added to our mailing list and receive updates on where the campaign is going. 
Sponsored by OWS Labor Committee: owsnyclabor@gmail.com



OCCUPY MUSEUMS!

The game is up: we see through the pyramid schemes of the temples of cultural elitism controlled by the 1%. No longer will we, the artists of the 99%, allow ourselves to be tricked into accepting a corrupt hierarchical system based on false scarcity and propaganda concerning absurd elevation of one individual genius over another human being for the monetary gain of the elitest of elite. For the past decade and more, artists and art lovers have been the victims of the intense commercialization and co-optation or art. We recognize that art is for everyone, across all classes and cultures and communities. We believe that the Occupy Wall Street Movement will awaken a consciousness that art can bring people together rather than divide them apart as the art world does in our current time…

Let’s be clear. Recently, we have witnessed the absolute equation of art with capital. The members of museum boards mount shows by living or dead artists whom they collect like bundles of packaged debt. Shows mounted by museums are meant to inflate these markets. They are playing with the fire of the art historical cannon while seeing only dancing dollar signs. The wide acceptance of cultural authority of leading museums have made these beloved institutions into corrupt ratings agencies or investment banking houses- stamping their authority and approval on flimsy corporate art and fraudulent deals.

For the last few decades, voices of dissent have been silenced by a fearful survivalist atmosphere and the hush hush of BIG money. To really critique institutions, to raise one’s voice about the disgusting excessive parties and spectacularly out of touch auctions of the art world while the rest of the country suffers and tightens its belt was widely considered to be bitter, angry, uncool. Such a critic was a sore loser. It is time to end that silence not in bitterness, but in strength and love! Because the occupation has already begun and the creativity and power of the people has awoken! The Occupywallstreet Movement will bring forth an era of new art, true experimentation outside the narrow parameters set by the market. Museums, open your mind and your heart! Art is for everyone! The people are at your door!

Dear Occupiers,

Since I posted Occupy Museums yesterday on FB, it's going quite viral on the internet. There is lots of discussion about what it means, whether it's a good idea what museums are doing for the 99% and the 1%.

These discussions, I feel, are really good ones to be having in the context of Occupy Wall Street, because this movement is about changing how we do things in this country from finance to culture- moving away from a culture that mainly benefits the 1%

I'll need help in planning this action tomorrow. Since it was supported by the A & C, I'd like to make sure that this action comes from the heart of our movement. Who would like to be a part of the historic first Occupation of MoMA of 2011?

My idea is that artist and everyone occupies museums together, bringing your artworks as well as OWS signs in protest. I'll bring my coin mask for example. We meet at 3:00 at 60 wall street for a short teach-in, then head over to touch base with the park, maybe doing a people's mic to get more peopleto join us.  Once at the Museums, we'll have a short GA with an opening statement, then people can get on stack and speak out their mind using people's mic.

Here are things we'll need:

-a one page info sheet about how museums generally and the ones we are going to specifically are pyramid schemes of the 1%  Paul- you wrote an email that has lots of info..I have turned it into a shared google Doc called Occupy Museums-someone to handle the twitter feed-OWS press -everyone bring a piece of their art to proudly display

Day 1: Revised  Schedule:

3:00 Meet at Liberty Park

Teach-in about the museums we are going to occupy

4:30 Livestream- read document in front of 5000 viewers.

Occupy the 4 train

5:00 Occupy MoMA

hours: 10:30-5:30

11 W 53^rd street New York, NY

Occupy the M3 Bus

6:00 Occupy Frick Collection

hours: 10:00-6 PM       

1 East 70th Street, New York, NY

Occupy the 6 train

7:00 Occupy New Museum

Thursdays 6-8 free 

235 bowery



Common Ground

hi all, had a really interesting conversation today on the subway home as I was leaving OWS with a woman who worked for a bank on wall st. and she was open to having a dialogue, but really felt like she and her co-workers were taking the hit for the 1% even tho she was a divorced mom who had to work her way up from nothing. We tried to explain to her not to take it personally, that it was the structure of the system that was the issue but people of her ilk are very goal oriented and really was hoping to hear our demands and proposed solutions. I invited her down there to discuss and told her how important it was that she participates in the process and see for herself what is happening, rather than taking what the media says at face value....anyway, its just these types of dialogues that I think is what's best about this movement. It was an uplifting moment for all of us just to communicate.

In other news, my friend in Canada posted this amazing poem/song on facebook, and I told her there was a web archive for poetry, so Paul, or someone else out there if u have a spare moment, can you upload this, and maybe send me a link, so I can tell her it on line?

Thanks so much!
O

>

Zipporah Lomax :

The world is stirring...history unfolding beneath our feet, before our eyes.

 

Inspired by the OWS movement, I started writing a song. It quickly became more of a poem...a poetic commentary...my take on the issues we face.

 

I'd like to share it as my small contribution on this day of solidarity...

 

**************************************************************

'Common Ground'

by Zipporah Lomax

 

everything has gone awry

a great divide has grown

between the hands that hoard the pie

and the measly crumbs we're thrown

 

they enjoy their privileged lives

while our homes are foreclosed

they're keeping us in line

with all the wealth that they withhold

 

they profit off our ignorance

expecting us to play the part 

of obedient indifference

robots, with shopping carts

 

well-designed to distract

and keep us misinformed

the media's been hijacked

by those who bank offshore

 

they've poisoned our sea and sky

through oil-driven greed

they contaminate our food supply

with their modified seeds

 

they've stolen our autonomy

and our right to choose

they perpetuate inequality

through narrow-minded rules

 

they've made health a business

selling pills to those in need

they benefit from illness

growing rich off our disease

 

we know it won't be long

before they try to buy our souls

before our lives have been withdrawn

exchanged, for fool's gold

 

they've kept us on our knees

believing change would never come

but down on wall street

the revolution's just begun

 

we're waking from our slumber

it's time to stand up strong

take back what they have plundered

we've held our tongues too long

 

we'll shout until our cause is heard the whole world 'round...

they may tie our hands, but our voices cannot be bound...

something's gotta give...the wall has gotta come down...

...we all deserve to live on common ground...

 

**************************************************************



BUSINESS SUIT

Paul McLean

CALLING OCCUPANT PHOTOGRAPHERS!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS TO THE OCCUPENNIAL OCCUPATION PHOTO ARCHIVE.

THIS GRAPHIC IS FREE FOR DOWNLOAD IN THE OCCU-GANDA NEXUS.

A Note from Jason Flores-Williams

....I'll never forget yesterday at OWS long as I live. Such a privilege to be around it. For me, nothing shows how things could be versus how they are, than to spend a day in the cool humanness of Zucotti Park, then to walk a block over to Wall Street and feel like the guy next to you wants to stick a knife in your neck. For what..I don't know. Maybe the wrong shoes.

Today Times Square 5:00 pm EST. 

Tomorrow, doing a reading with a bunch of cool writers - Ina P, Ted H, Mark, Paul, Brenda - at the Bowery Poetry Club 3 to 4 pm. The gig is in 110 percent solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, requested donation of five bucks that will go directly to the cause. Food, clean, up, socks - all the sort of essentials required to mount an occupation. 

Bowery Poetry Club 3 to 4 pm tomorrow. Sunday.  

No doubt this will roll into something Kesey-ish.



Paintings by Alex Powers

Occupy Wall Street,

 

Attached are 5 JPegs of paintings that express what OWS is doing politically. Use the JPegs in any way that is helpful.  Maybe post them on your website. I will donate the original paintings if you can sell/auction them.  I do not want anything for myself. I am not looking for publicity.  I want to help. There are 10 paintings total. I will send them in 3 emails. I have other paintings with similar expressions if you could use more.

 

I admire what you are doing. It is an issue that has been dear to my heart for decades.

 

Alex Powers

Myrtle Beach, SC

AlxPwrs@yahoo.com

www.AlexPowersArt.com

Occupy Museums!

On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 1:15 PM, Noah Fischer <fischer.noah@gmail.com> wrote:

Occupy Museums!

Let’s dance in front of the Cannons

and tell the cultural pyramids:

You are NOT our MoMA!

I know that many people have been thinking in this direction and I’d like to add my voice.  It just might be time to band together And do some museum hopping! We'll state loud and clear and publically that the game is up: we see through the pyramid schemes that museums have set up whereby the 1% sit on boards and presume to speak with cultural authority while increasing the profit margins of their private collections. They have disempowering the hundreds of thousands of living artists - the 99% through rarified gatekeeping that has directly equated art with Wall Street capital- with all of the same shady business and BS hierarchy!!!  

As long as we accept the authority of these oppressive cannons, I’m not sure we can move forward with new aesthetics and movements:  art that is truly by and for everyone!  Art that isn’t rehashed and boring and pre-packaged and dead on arrival! Art that is alive! Art that is powerful! I think it would be wonderful to give the museums notice of the impending paradigm shift. Some serious truth to power, playfulness, and mockery is in order!

-Explaining Art to a Dead Museum.

-Reading the GA statement or A & C statement or autonomous statements in front of the Frick, using people’s mic.

-etc etc.

-etc. 

There are many museum nights in New York with long lines, which may be fruitful audiences. We can also go inside and play.

So I propose Occupy Museums next week- Thursday afternoon and evening. I’ll bring this up at an A & C meeting beforehand.

A couple Museums to Occupy:

-New Museum: Showcased Dakis Joannou’s personal collection, bumping up auction prices: use and abuse of the whole concept of “public” for personal profits. Dis-gusting!

-Frick Collection: dedicated to a long term PR campaign for the one of the “Worst American CEOs of All time.” Whose draconian policies included murdering workers striking against unhuman working conditions. We say- what the Frick is going on here! 

It’s easy to do research on these museums and who is standing behind them:

http://www.moma.org/about/trustees

Noah