EDITED BY NATO THOMPSON

LIVING AS FORM
.
LIVING AS FORM:
SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART
FROM 1991-2011

LIBRARY

EDITED BY NATO THOMPSON

CREATIVETIME BOOKS, NEW YORK

THE MIT PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS AND LONDON, ENGLAND
CONTENTS
FOREWORD 7 PROJECTS 94
Anne Pasternak Ai Weiwei 96
Ala Plastica 98
LIVING AS FORM 16 Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla 100
Nato Thompson Lara Almarcegui and Begona Movellan 102
Alternate ROOTS 104
PARTICIPATION AND SPECTACLE: 34 Francis Alys 105
WHERE ARE WE NOW? Appalshop 108
Claire Bishop Julieta Aranda and Anton Vidokle 108
Claire Barclay 112
RETURNING ON BIKES: 46 Barefoot Artists 114
NOTES ON SOCIAL PRACTICE Basurama 116
Maria Lind BijaRi 119
Bread and Puppet Theater 120
DEMOCRATIZING URBANIZATION AND 56 Tania Bruguera 121
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW CIVIC IMAGINATION CAMP 122
Teddy Cruz Cemeti Art House 122
Paul Chan 125
MICROUTOPIAS: 64 Mel Chin etal. 127
PUBLIC PRACTICE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE Chto Delat? (What is to be done?) 129
Carol Becker Santiago Cirugeda 130
Cambalache Colectivo 130
EVENTWORK: THE FOURFOLD MATRIX 72 Phil Collins 132
OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Celine Condorelli and Gavin Wade 134
Brian Holmes Cornerstone Theater Company 136
Alice Creischer and Andreas Siekmann 138
LIVING TAKES MANY FORMS 86 Minerva Cuevas 140
Shannon Jackson Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency 140
Jeremy Deller 142
Mark Dion, J. Morgan Puett,
and collaborators 146
Marilyn Douala-Bell and Didier Schaub 148
Election Night, Harlem, New York 148
Fallen Fruit 150
Bita Fayyazi, Ata Hasheminejad,
Khosrow Hassanzadeh, Farid
Jahangir and Sassan Nassiri 152
Finishing School 154
Free Class Frankfurt/M 156
Frente 3 de Fevereiro 157
Theaster Gates 160
Alonso Gil and Federico Guzman 162
Paul Glover 164
Josh Greene 165
Fritz Haeg 166
Haha 168
Helena Producciones 170
Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter 171
Fran llich 172
Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen 173
Amal Kenawy 175
Surasi Kusolwong 175
Bronwyn Lace and Anthea Moys 177 Marion von Osten 244
Suzanne Lacy 178 Peter Watkins 246
Land Foundation 180 WikiLeaks 246
Long March Project 182 Elin Wikstrom 247
Los Angeles Poverty Department 183 WochenKlausur 249
Mammalian Diving Reflex 184 Women on Waves 250
Mardi Gras Indian Community 186
Angela Melitopoulos 188 THE LEONORE ANNENBERG PRIZE
Zayd Minty 190 FOR ART AND SOCIAL CHANGE 252
The Mobile Academy 191 The Yes Men 254
Mujeres Creando 192 Rick Lowe 256
Vik Muniz 194 Jeanne van Heeswijk 258
Navin Production Studio 195
Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) 196 THANK YOU VERY MUCH 261
Nuts Society 197
John O'Neal 198 CREDITS 262
Oda Projesi 199
Park Fiction and the Right COLOPHON 263
to the City Network Hamburg 200
Pase Listed 202
Piratbyran (The Bureau of Piracy) 203
Platforma 9.81 204
Public Movement 206
Pulska Grupa 208
Pedro Reyes 210
Laurie Jo Reynolds 212
Athi-Patra Ruga 213
The San Francisco Cacophony Society 214
The Sarai Programme at CSDS and Ankur 214
Christoph Schlingensief 215
Florian Schneider 216
Katerina Seda 217
Chemi Rosado Seijo 218
Michihiro Shimabuku 220
Buster Simpson 222
Slanguage 224
SUPERFLEX 226
Apolonija Sustersic 228
Tahrir Square 230
Taller Popular de Serigrafia
(Popular Silkscreen Workshop) 231
Temporary Services 232
Toro lab 233
Mierle Laderman Ukeles 233
Ultra-red 235
United Indian Health Services 236
Urban Bush Women 236
US Social Forum 237
Bik van der Pol 238
Wendelien van Oldenborgh 241
Eduardo Vasquez Martin 242
Voina 242
6
 FOREWORD

Over twenty years ago, artist Peggy Diggs sat the image, and the message, provoked me to
in a Western Massachusetts prison and lis¬ pause, think, learn, and act.
tened as women recounted the abuses they For thirty-seven years. Creative Time has
had suffered at the hands of their spouses. been challenging audiences to expand their
She learned that these women were often pris¬ views while encouraging artists to broaden
oners in their own homes, unable to tell their and deepen their relationships to the press¬
stories or get assistance. Many only left their ing issues of our times and the communities
house to conduct basic household errands, they effect. Projects such as Diggs'; Julian
such as grocery shopping. Diggs saw an LaVerdiere and Paul Myoda's Tribute in Light
opportunity to help. She enlisted Tuscan Dairy illuminating Lower Manhattan after 9/11; Gran
Farms to print a question—"When you argue at Fury's famed Kissing Doesn't Kill billboards
home, does it always get out of hand?"—and an about HIV transmission; Paul Chan's Waiting
abuse hotline number on over one million milk for Godot in Post-Katrina New Orleans; Paul
cartons distributed in New York, New Jersey, Ramirez Jonas' civic artwork Key to the City,
Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. She Sharon Hayes' Revolutionary Love address¬
believed that this message was worth hearing, ing the state of queer desire; and Tania Bru-
and that the supermarket was the right forum guera's Immigrant Movement International
in which to spread it. have upheld Creative Time's historic belief
I encountered Diggs' The Domestic Milk that artists matter in society and that public
Carton Project, a Creative Time commission, spaces are places for their free and creative
several years before joining the organization, expression.
while I was pouring milk into my coffee. At the In recent years, there has been a rap¬
time, a friend would call frequently with com¬ idly growing movement of artists choosing to
plaints about her abusive fiancee, and I rarely engage with timely issues by expanding their
knew what to say. (It took the murder of O.J. practice beyond the safe confines of the studio
Simpson's wife Nicole Brown in 1994 to lift and right into the complexity of the unpredict¬
the veil of shame and secrecy around domes¬ able public sphere. This work has many names:
tic violence.) So, I called the hotline number. "relational aesthetics," "social justice art,"
I had no idea that I'd just experienced public "social practice," and "community art," among
art; nor did it matter. What did matter was that others. These artists engage in a process that
 LIVING AS FORM

includes careful listening, thoughtful conver¬ and complex social, cultural, economic, politi¬
sation, and community organizing. With ante¬ cal, religious, and class constructs at play?
cedents such as the Dada Cabaret Voltaire, Where does one begin to tell the story? With
Joseph Beuys' notion of Social Sculpture, the manifestos of modern art movements? With
Allan Kaprow's "happenings," Gordon Matta the global social protests that ignited the new
Clarke's interventions, radical community millennium, or with the impact of microfinanc-
theater of the 1960s, Lygia Clark's Tropicalia ing and small do-it-yourself NGOs in places
movement in Brazil, the community-based of need? How does one weave together the
public art projects of groundbreaking artists diverse narratives of feminist, African-Amer¬
such as Suzanne Lacy, Mierle Laderman Uke- ican, and Latino practices that have largely
les and Rick Lowe to social movements from been dismissed as "community art"? How
the Civil Rights and Feminist Movements to does one deal with differences among local
the Green Party, social practice artists create conditions around the world where dictatorial
forms of living that activate communities and regimes make every act of artistic expression
advance public awareness of pressing social a potential danger that can lead to jail, torture,
issues. In the process, they expand models and even death? (I am reminded in particular
of art, advance ways of being an artist, and of the recent imprisonments and torture of art¬
involve new publics in their efforts. ist Ai Weiwei and the tragic assignation of the¬
Despite the growing prevalence of this ater director Juliano Mer-Khamis in the West
art practice, and the rise of graduate art pro¬ Bank.) And, perhaps most importantly, what
grams offering degrees in social practice art, are the ethical implications of this practice?
relatively few among the growing masses of In light of these questions and the many
art enthusiasts are aware of its existence, others surrounding social practice art, Cre¬
let alone its vibrancy. To be fair, this kind of ative Time Chief Curator Nato Thompson took
work does not hang well in a museum, and it an unusual and difficult path organizing the
isn't commercially viable. Furthermore, social Living as Form project. Rather than attempt¬
practice art has lacked a shared critical lan¬ ing an authoritative historical survey or com¬
guage and comprehensive historic docu¬ piling a "best of" list, he conceived of Living
mentation. Creative Time's own engagement as Form in order to raise fundamental ques¬
with the social was often dismissed in an art tions that advance dialogue, ignite conversa¬
world that prefers to frame artists as commod¬ tion, and promote greater understanding of
ity makers rather than change makers, and social practice work for the complicated and
where many assert that politics and art have important field that it is. In this pursuit, Nato
no place together. At Creative Time, we have turned to twenty-five advising curators, who
always felt otherwise. So, in 2006 we launched have guided our understanding of the com¬
Who Cares, a project that brought artists and plexities of the field and exposed us to many
thinkers together to discuss the role of art and new artists working within it. We thank: Caron
activism. This ultimately led to the creation of Atlas, Negar Azimi, Ron Bechet, Claire Bishop,
The Creative Time Summit, our annual confer¬ Brett Bloom, Rashida Bumbray, Carolina Cay-
ence on art and social justice, and presenta¬ cedo, Ana Paula Cohen, Common Room, Teddy
tion of The Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art Cruz, Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy, Gridthiya
and Social Change. Gaweewong, Hou Hanru, Stephen Hobbs, Mar¬
Living as Form, an exhibition and book that cus Neustetter, Shannon Jackson, Maria Lind,
looks at social practice art from around the Chus Martinez, Sina Najafi, Marion von Osten,
globe, further extends this legacy. It is, admit¬ Ted Purves, Raqs Media Collective, Gregory
tedly, a problematic undertaking. After all, how Sholette, SUPERFLEX, Christine Tohme, and
does one present site-specific, community- Sue Bell Yank.
based work outside of its context? How can This book features essays by acclaimed
a history be written when there are unlimited theorists and practitioners Claire Bishop, Teddy
 FOREWORD

Cruz, Maria Lind, Carol Becker, Shannon the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts,
Jackson, and Brian Holmes, who each look at Design and Architecture, Emily Glasser and
the phenomenon of social practice in art from William Susman, and the Laurie M. Tisch Illu¬
vastly different global, and critical perspec¬ mination Fund. We give special thanks to the
tives. Claire Bishop questions the tendency Annenberg Foundation for continued support
to privilege ethical standards over aesthetic of The Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and
ones, while Brian Holmes provides a four- Social Change, a $25,000 award that each year
step process of producing social practice that acknowledges an artist who has devoted his or
values both of these standards equally. Carol her life's work to promoting social justice.
Becker describes the uniqueness of artist- I'm particularly blessed to work with an
designed "microutopias" while Maria Lind incredible team. The Creative Time Board sup¬
recounts numerous projects across Europe ports our every dream and trusts in us to real¬
that demonstrate long-term investment in the ize them. That trust is essential as it frees art¬
messy realities of life outside of the artistic ists to follow their instincts—unencumbered
context. by bureaucracy and fear—without which great
We are deeply grateful to Nato who is a art cannot happen. The Creative Time staff is
most fervent champion of art and social jus¬ devoted to artists and takes exceptional efforts
tice. He is that rare curator and scholar that to make magic happen every day.
insists that artists not only create, but also Above all, we thank the artists who engage
create important change. Research for this in social practice for their inspiration and for
project was lead by curatorial fellow Leah Abir, daring to make an impact on our world. We
who joined us from Israel thanks to our part¬ hope through their work, this book will inspire
nership with Artis, a non-profit that supports further scholarship and action.
Israeli contemporary art around the world. Anne Pasternak, President and Artistic Director, Creative Time
We applaud Sharmila Venkatasubban, our
talented editor who masterfully brought this
book to life. It is always a pleasure to work with
the designer Garrick Gott, who creates elegant
order from chaos. Special thanks goes to our
copy editor Clinton Krute and proofreader Ann
Holcomb, as well as all the interns and fellows
who made this book a reality: Madeline Lieber-
berg, Winona Packer, Shraddha Borowake,
Phillip Griffith, and Rachel Ichniowski.
We cannot say enough just how profound¬
ly grateful we are to the donors who believed
in this project and, despite a turbulent global
economy, recognized the importance of artists
as agents for change and generously invested
in this project. Specific funding for Living as
Form has been provided by the Lily Auchin-
closs Foundation, Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo,
the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Dan¬
ish Arts Council Committee for Visual Arts,
Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia, the Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation, Bella Meyer and Martin
Kace, the Mondriaan Foundation, the Nation¬
al Endowment for the Arts, the Panta Rhea
Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund,

Following pages: Creative Time's Living as Form took place at the historic Essex Street Market in Mannhattan's Lower East Side,
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16 LIVING AS FORM

LIVING AS FORM
NATO THOMPSON
 LIVING AS FORM 17

WHAT STRIKES ME IS THE FACT THAT

IN OUR SOCIETY, ART HAS BECOME
SOMETHING WHICH IS RELATED
ONLY TO OBJECTS AND NOT TO
INDIVIDUALS, OR TO LIFE. THAT ART IS
SOMETHING WHICH IS SPECIALIZED OR
WHICH IS DONE BY EXPERTS WHO ARE
ARTISTS. BUT COU LDN’T EVERYONE’S
LIFE BECOME A WORK OF ART? WHY
SHOULD THE LAMP OR HOUSE BE AN
OBJECT, BUT NOT OUR LIFE?
Mich Foucault

WENT FROM BEING AN ARTIST

WHO MAKES THINGS,
TO BEING AN ARTIST
WHO MAKES THINGS HAPPEN.
—j ererny Deller
18 LIVING AS FORM

PART I: LIVING AS FORM and a high rate of fatal gunfire. Working with
local television stations, he invited citizens to
Women on Waves is an activist/art organiza¬ donate their firearms in exchange for vouch¬
tion founded in 2001 by physician Rebecca ers that could be redeemed for electronics
Gomperts. The small nonprofit group would and appliances from domestic shops. The
sail from the coasts of countries where abor¬ 1,527 weapons—more than forty percent of
tion is illegal in a boat designed by Atelier which were issued by the military—were pub¬
Van Leishout that housed a functioning abor¬ licly steamrolled into a mass of flattened metal,
tion clinic. Gomperts and her crew would then melted down in a local foundry, and recast into
anchor in international waters—since the boat 1,527 shovels. Reyes distributed the shovels
was registered in The Netherlands, they oper¬ to local charities and school groups, which
ated under Dutch law—to provide abortion used them to plant 1,527 trees in public spac¬
services to women, legally and safely. The fol¬ es throughout the city. The spades have been
lowing quote is from a documentary film about widely exhibited, with labels attached explain¬
the history of Women on Waves. While reading, ing their origins; each time they are shown,
bear in mind the almost Homeric qualities this they are used to plant more trees.
seafaring narrative conjures. It is a drama, and Here we have before us two socially
this is no accident. engaged art projects—both poetic, yet func¬
tional and political as well. They engage people
"As the ship sails into the Valencia har¬ and confront a specific issue. While these par¬
bor, conservatives dispatch ships bear¬ ticipatory projects are far removed from what
ing banners reading "no" and drumming one might call the traditional studio arts—such
thunders from the anti-choice protes¬ as sculpture, film, painting, and video—what
tors leaning on the gates to the port. The field they do belong to is hard to articulate.
dock is mobbed with supporters and Though defined by an active engagement with
aggressive press. As the ship attempts groups of people in the world, their intentions
to tie up, a dissenting harbor patrol and disciplines remain elusive. Are these proj¬
ship lodges itself between the Women ects geared for the media? Each project flour¬
on Waves ship and the dock, securing ished among news outlets as these artists cre¬
their lines to the ship and attempting ated new spin around old stories: a woman's
to drag the ship back to sea, while the right to choose and the drug wars of North¬
activists frantically try to untie the line. ern Mexico. Women on Waves has performed
The authorities seem to be winning relatively few abortions over the course of
the tug of war, when Rebecca, clearly seven years. In fact, the boat has mainly been
enjoying the moment, emerges from the deployed as a media device intended to bring
hole wielding a large knife. The crowd awareness to the issue. Similarly, Pedro Reyes
onshore thunderously stomps and did remove 1,527 guns from the streets of Culi¬
cheers as she slices the patrol's rope in acan. But, given the actual extent of gun vio¬
half, freeing her ship, bows to the crowd, lence there, his gesture seems far more sym¬
and tosses the Women on Waves lines bolic than practical.
to the eager supporters. As the harbor And yet, symbolic gestures can be power¬
patrol's motorboat circles, baffied and ful and effective methods for change. Planting
impotent, hundreds of hands pull the trees does improve quality of life, and using
ship into dock." recycled guns to do so speaks directly to those
most affected by the violence. Likewise, Wom¬
Seven years later, for his project Paias PorPis- en on Waves provided essential services to
tolas, the artist Pedro Reyes collected 1,527 women in anti-choice countries, regardless of
weapons from residents of Culiacan, a West¬ how many were actually able to take advantage
ern Mexican city known for drug trafficking of them. While we may not know how to cat-
egorize these projects, they typify a growing curator Nicholas Bourriaud, or Danish curator
array of complex cultural production that con¬ Lars Bang Larsen's term, "social aesthetics."
tinues to garner interest and adherents. Say We can also look to artist Suzanne Lacy's "new
what one will, socially engaged art is growing genre public art," or the commonly known
and ubiquitous. West Coast term "social practice." Other pre¬
The projects in Living as Form expose cursors include Critical Art Ensemble's activ¬
the numerous lines of tension which have ist approach called "tactical media" and Grant
surfaced in socially engaged art in the past Kester's "dialogic art," which refers to conver¬
twenty years, essentially shaking up founda¬ sation-based projects. We can also go back
tions of art discourse, and sharing techniques further to consider Joseph Beuys's "social
and intentions with fields far beyond the arts. sculpture." Numerous genres have been
Unlike its avant-garde predecessors such as deeply intertwined in participation, sociality,
Russian Constructivism, Futurism, Situation- conversation, and "the civic." This intercon¬
ism, Tropicalia, Happenings, Fluxus, and Dada¬ nectivity reveals a peculiar historic moment
ism, socially engaged art is not an art move¬ in which these notions aren't limited to the
ment. Rather, these cultural practices indicate world of contemporary art, but includes vari¬
a new social order—ways of life that emphasize ous cultural phenomena which have cropped
participation, challenge power, and span disci¬ up across the urban fabric. For example, spon¬
plines ranging from urban planning and com¬ taneous bike rides in cities by the group Criti¬
munity work to theater and the visual arts. cal Mass, guerrilla community gardens, and
This veritable explosion of work in the micro-granting community groups are just
arts has been assigned catchphrases, such a few of the non-discipline-specific cultural
as "relational aesthetics," coined by French projects which share many of the same criteria

Above: The Women on Waves ship prepares to sail to Poland in June 2003 (Courtesy Women on Waves).
 LIVING AS FORM 21

as socially engaged artworks. WHAT IS MEANT BY LIVING?

How do we write such an interdisciplin¬ Artists have long desired that art enter life.
ary, case-specific narrative without producing But what do me mean by "life"? In the context
misleading causal relationships? The desire of Living as Form, the word conjures certain
to merge art and life resonates throughout the qualities that I wish to explore, an aggregate
avant-garde movements of the twentieth cen¬ of related but different manifestations of the
tury and then multiplies across the globe at the term.
beginning of the twenty-first. Artists have bor¬
rowed from a plethora of histories—from Rus¬ Anti-representational
sian Constructivists, Fluxus, Gutai, Tropicalia, When artist Tania Bruguera states, "I don't
and Happenings to Antonin Artaud's Theater want an art that points at a thing, I want an
of Cruelty, Boal's Theater of the Oppressed, art that is the thing," she emphasizes forms
and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. However, of art that involve being in the world. Yet, she
it would be a mistake not to place within that has also said, "It is time to put Duchamp's uri¬
history the seminal pedagogic social move¬ nal back in the restroom." Duchamp's "Ready¬
ments of the last one hundred years. This mades" are a great place to initiate the con¬
includes AIDS activism, the women's move¬ versation about art and life. For some artists,
ment, the anti-Apartheid movement. Perestroi¬ the desire to make art that is living stems from
ka, the civil rights movement, Paris '68, the the desire for something breathing, performa¬
Algerian wars, as well as the many leaders and tive, and action-based. Participation, sociality,
visionaries within those movements who dis¬ and the organization of bodies in space play
cussed the importance of sociality, methods of a key feature in much of this work. Perhaps in
resistance and confronting power, and strate¬ reaction to the steady state of mediated two-
gies for using media. History itself is a problem dimensional cultural production, or a reaction
when it leads to a false sense of causality. If to the alienating effects of spectacle, artists,
we follow the trail of this work strictly through activists, citizens, and advertisers alike are
the lens of art (which is what most discipline- rushing headlong into methods of working
specific histories do), we could easily imagine that allow genuine interpersonal human rela¬
a very Western trajectory moving from Dada to tionships to develop. The call for art into life at
Rirkrit Tiravanija in 1991 making Pad Thai— this particular moment in history implies both
a version of a history in quick strokes. But of an urgency to matter as well as a privileging
course, this kind of highly problematic nar¬ of the lived experience. These are two different
rative lacks a true appreciation of the vast things, but within much of this work, they are
complexity of global and local influences, an blended together.
all-too-common signpost for the contempo¬
rary period. Art is no longer the primary influ¬ Participation
ence for culture and because of this, tracing In recent years, we have seen increased growth
its roots is all the more complex. in "participatory art": art that requires some
Living as Form searches the post-Cold War action on behalf of the viewer in order to com¬
era, and the dawn of neoliberalism, for cultural plete the work. Consider Tiza (2002) by artists
works which serve as points of departure for Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla. This
specific regional and historic concerns. How¬ public space intervention consisted of twelve
ever, this book does not offer a singular critical enormous pieces of chalk set out in public
language for evaluating socially engaged art, squares. People used discarded remnants or
nor provide a list of best practices, nor offer a broke off a chunk to write messages on the
linear historic interpretation of a field of prac¬ ground. Since Allora and Calzadilla generally
tice. Instead, we merely present the tempera¬ choose urban environments with politically
ture in the water in order to raise compelling confrontational histories, the writing tends to
questions. reflect political resentment and frustrations.
Opposite: In Pedro Reyes' PalasporPistolas, 1,527 shovels were made from the melted metal of 1,527 guns collected from residents of Culican, and used to plant
1,527 trees in the community (Courtesy Pedro Reyes and LABOR).
 LIVING AS FORM

This is just one example of numerous works education theorist Paolo Freire, Augusto Boal
that enter life by facilitating participation. produced a new form of living theater in the
1960s whose entire mission was to assist in
Situated in the “real” world the politicization and agency of Brazil's most
Clearly, an urge to enter the "real" world oppressed. In addition to inventing different
inherently implies that there is an "un-real" modes of theatricality that entered into daily
world where actions do not have impact or life, such as newspaper theater and invisible
resonance. Nonetheless, we find in numerous theater, he developed a form of participatory
socially engaged artworks that the desire for politics called "legislative theater" when he
art to enter life comprises a spatial component was a city council member in Rio de Janeiro.
as well. Getting out of the museum or gallery In a world of vast cultural production, the
and into the public can often come from an arts have become an instructive space to gain
artist's belief or concern that the designated valuable skill sets in the techniques of perfor-
space for representation takes the teeth out of mativity, representation, aesthetics, and the
a work. For example, Amal Kenawy's Silence of creation of affect. These skill sets are not sec¬
the Lambs (2010) focused on a performance ondary to the landscape of political production
in Cairo wherein members of the public were but, in fact, necessary for its manifestation. If
asked to crawl across a congested intersection the world is a stage (as both Shakespeare and
on their hands and knees; the work critiqued Guy Debord foretold), then every person on
the submissiveness of the general public to the planet must learn the skill sets of theater.
the autocratic rule of then-president Hosni The realm of the political may perhaps be the
Mubarak, and was an ironic precursor to the most appropriate place for the arts, after all.
Arab Spring. Kenawy's performance entered
into life by taking place in the public realm. WHAT IS MEANT BY FORM?
While this is quite literal, it is important to bear
in mind the basic semantic difference as well
as the potential risk and cost. "THE PUBLIC HAS
Operating in the political sphere A FORM AND ANY
As much as art entering life can have a spatial
connotation, it can also possess a judicial and FORM CAN BE ART.”
governmental one as well. For many socially
engaged artists, there is a continued interest — Paul Ramirez Jonas
in impact, and often the realm of the political
symbolizes these ambitions. Artist Laurie Jo Just as video, painting, and clay are types of
Reynolds's long-term project aims to challenge forms, people coming together possess forms
and overturn harsh practices in southern Illi¬ as well. And while it is difficult to categorize
nois's Tamms Supermax Prison. Focusing on socially engaged art by discipline, we can
the basic political injustice (as she sees it) map various affinities based on methodolo¬
that this prison uses solitary confinement as gies. This includes the political issues they
a condition of incarceration, and that Tamms address, such as sustainability, the environ¬
meets and exceeds the international definition ment, education, housing, labor, gender, race,
of torture, Reynolds organized Tamms Year colonialism, gentrification, immigration, incar¬
Ten, an all-volunteer coalition of prisoners, ex¬ ceration, war, borders, and on and on.
prisoners, prisoners' families, and concerned Focusing on methodologies is also an
citizens. Reynolds has labeled her efforts "leg¬ attempt to shift the conversation away from the
islative art" which reflects the term coined arts' typical lens of analysis: aesthetics. This
by Brazilian playwright Augusto Boal's "leg¬ is not to say that the visual holds no place in
islative theater." Borrowing from the work of this work, but instead this approach emphasiz-
Opposite: Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla placed twelve enormous pieces of chalk in the Plaza de Armas in Lima, inviting the public to write messages
on the surrounding pavement (Courtesy Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla),
24 LIVING AS FORM

es the designated forms produced for impact. Research and its presentation
By focusing on how a work approaches the If politics have become performative, so too,
social, as opposed to simply what it looks like, has knowledge—in other words, you have to
we can better calibrate a language to unpack share what you know. Researchers and scien¬
its numerous engagements. tists who feel a sense of political urgency to
disseminate their findings might use the skill
Types of gatherings sets of symbolic manipulation and performa-
Consider Please Love Austria: First Austrian tivity in order to get their message out. Simi¬
Coalition by the late artist Christoph Sch- larly, we find numerous artists and collectives
lingensief. For this work, he invited refugees who deploy aesthetic strategies to spread their
seeking political asylum to compete for either message. For example, Ala Plastica's research-
a cash prize or a residency visa, granted based environmental activism focuses on the
through marriage. He locked twelve partici¬ damage caused when a Shell Oil tank col¬
pants in a shipping container, equipped with lided with another cargo ship in the Rio de la
a closed circuit television, for one week. Every Plata. Over 5,300 tons of oil spilled into this
day, viewers would vote on their least favorite major Argentine river. Using photographs and
refugees; two were banished from the contain¬ drawings, and working with local residents to
er and deported back to their native countries. conduct surveys, the collaborative deploys
The container, placed outside the Vienna State techniques of socially engaged art in order to
Opera House, sported blue flags representing bring this issue to light. One should also men¬
Austria's right-wing party, bearing a sign that tion the work of Decolonizing Architecture Art
read, "Foreigners Out." It was clearly contro¬ Residency based in Beit Sahour, Palestine, a
versial because the project used the tech¬ group that aims to visualize the future re-use
nique of over-determination to promote and of architecture in occupied territories. In plac¬
magnify the nascent xenophobia and racism es where war, migration, and mass atrocities
already existing in Austria. The project took have become commonplace—such as Rwanda,
place in a public square, and provided both a Beirut, and Palestine—it is not surprising that
physical space for people to come together as many artists focus on archives as a way to doc¬
well as a mediated space for discussion. This ument histories now lost.
gathering of people wasn't what one would call
a space of consensus but one of deep discord Structural alternatives
and frustration. The "Do It Yourself" ethic, as it was termed in
the early 1990s, has gained cultural traction,
Types of media manipulation and has spread into the basic composition
I have previously discussed the manner in of urban living. Experiments in alternatives—
which Women on Waves and Pedro Reyes used whetherthe focus is food production, housing,
the media as a critical element in their work. education, bicycling, or fashion—have become
One can add to this list most of the socially a broad form of self-determined sociality. Once
engaged art in this book, including Bijari, just the modus operandi of anarchists at the
Rwanda Healing Project, the Yes Men, and fringes of culture, the practice has now entered
Mel Chin. As the realm of the political and the the mainstream. The food movement, perhaps
realm of media become deeply intertwined, inspired by increasing fear over genetically
media stunts become an increasingly impor¬ modified organisms in food by large-scale cor¬
tant part of the realm of politics. This is true porate agriculture and horror of cruel animal
for those resisting power and those enforcing slaughtering practices, has become an integral
it. And it reflects a contemporary condition element of many urban metropolises. Com¬
wherein relationships with mediation are the munity Sourced Agriculture (CSAs), guerrilla
basic components by which political—and community gardens, and the Slow Food move¬
thus social—decisions are made. ment, are all forms of new lived civic life that
Opposite; In Please Love Austria, Christoph Schlingensief locked 12 refugees seeking political asylum in a shipping container in front of the Vienna State Opera
House for one week, and left their fate up to the public, A sign on the container declaring, "Foreigners Out" referenced the pervasive racism’in Austria, (Courtesy
David Baltzer and Zenit)
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26 LIVING AS FORM

takes the work, literally, into one's own hands. issues, and one of the students told me that,
We also find pervasive growth in alterna¬ sure, the work reflected what was going on in
tive social programs occurring in response to his community, but it wasn't what the com¬
the evisceration of state-funded social pro¬ munity needed. If I was an artist, he said, why
grams by various austerity measures. We find didn't I come up with some kind of creative
numerous alternative economies and schools solution to issues instead of just telling peo¬
at work as well. Fran lllich's Spacebank (2005) ple like him what they already knew. That was
is just one example of an alternative economy the defining moment that pushed me out of
aesthetic/form of living. Launched with just the studio."
50 Mexican pesos, Spacebank is both an actu¬
al and conceptual online bank that offers real FORMS OF LIFE
investing opportunities, and loans to activists Tania Bruguera's call to return Duchamp's uri¬
and grassroots organizations. Similarly, Los nal to the restroom is a poignant, provocative
Angeles-based architect Fritz Haeg offered notion. For once it has been returned, what do
free classes and workshops in his Sundown we call it? Art or life? Once art begins to look
Salons, which he held in his residence, a geo¬ like life, how are we to distinguish between the
desic dome. I say "similarly" in so much as two? When faced with such complex riddles,
these are two art world examples of tendencies often the best route is to rephrase the ques¬
reflecting the urge toward a DIY aesthetic that tion. Whether this work can be considered art
has prevailed for nearly twenty years. is a dated debate in the visual arts. I suggest
a more interesting question: If this work is not
Types of communicating art, then what are the methods we can use to
As group participation increases, the basic skill understand its effects, affects, and impact? In
sets which accompany group process become raising these questions, I would like to quote
more useful. Isolated artists must focus on the former U.S. Defense Secretary responsible
speaking, while groups of people coming for leading the United States into the Iraq War,
together must focus on listening—the art of not Donald Rumsfeld: "If you have a problem, make
speaking but hearing. The Los Angeles-based it bigger." Rumsfeld's adage has been taken
collective Ultra-red writes, "In asserting the to heart as we begin to, hopefully, solve the
priority of organizing herein. Ultra-red, as so conundrum of art and life by aggregating proj¬
often over the years, evokes the procedure so ects from numerous disciplines whose mani¬
thematic to investigation developed by [Bra¬ festations in the world reflect a social ecosys¬
zilian radical pedagogue] Paulo Freire." Grant tem of affinities. By introducing such a broad
Kester has come up with the term "dialogic art" array of approaches, the tensions nascent in
to discuss such methods of art production that contemporary art exacerbate to the point of
emphasize conversation, and certainly many rupture. The point is not to destroy the cate¬
artists privilege conversation as a mode of gory of art, but—straining against edges where
action. In evoking Freire, Ultra-red also points art blurs into the everyday—to take a snapshot
towards a form of education that must address of cultural production at the beginning of the
conditions of power as much as it does culture 21st century.
and politics. The personal is not only politi¬ An important project that defies easy cate¬
cal but the interpersonal contains the seeds gorization is Lowe's Project Row Houses. Situ¬
of political conflict inherently. In reflecting on ated in a low-income, predominately African-
his work with the sixteen-year-old experimen¬ American neighborhood in Houston's Northern
tal community housing project/art residency/ Third Ward, Project Row Houses was spurred
socially engaged Project Row Houses, Rick by the artist's interest in the art of John Big-
Lowe stated in an interview with the New York gers, who painted scenes of African-American
Times, "I was doing big, billboard-size paint¬ life in row house neighborhoods, as well as his
ings and cutout sculptures dealing with social desire to make a profound, long-term commit-
ment to a specific neighborhood. As the com¬ well? Many artists and art collectives use a
munity was on the verge of being demolished broad range of bureaucratic and administrative
by the City of Houston, the project began with skills that typically lie in the domain of larger
the purchase of several row houses, which institutions, such as marketing, fundraising,
have been transformed into sites of local cul¬ grant writing, real estate development, invest¬
tural participation as well as artist residencies. ing in start-ups, city planning, and educational
Over the years, many artists have come and programming. As opposed to assuming there
gone, more homes have been purchased, and is an inherent difference between artist-initi¬
the row houses have undergone rehabilitation. ated projects and non-artist-initiated projects,
The project initiated a program for the neigh¬ I have opted to simply include them all. Let us
borhood's single mothers, providing childcare call this the "cattle call" method. While it might
and housing so that the mothers could attend feel strange to include nonprofit art organiza¬
school. Project Row Houses has built trust tions such as Cemeti Art House and Founda¬
and strong relationships with the surrounding tion in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which has been
neighborhood, offering a sustainable growth involved in post-earthquake cultural program¬
model that is perfect for the neighborhood, ming, or the work of the United Indian Health
one created from the ground up. Services located in Northern California, which
Project Row Houses is a nonprofit organi¬ combines traditional cultural programming
zation initiated by an artist. If it can be included with access to health care, consider what they
as a socially engaged artwork, why not include do, not who they say they are. Certainly these
more nonprofit organizations as artworks as projects are not specifically artworks, but their

Above: Artist Sam Durant contributed We Are the People to Project Row Houses in 2003 (Courtesy Project Row Houses),
 collaborative and participatory spirit, com¬ contest power. Does this constitute art? Does
munity activism, and deployment of cultural this constitute a civic action? Certainly some
programming as part of their operations makes questions are easier to answer than others.
their work appear close to some projects that This book's title borrows from Harald Szee-
arise from an arts background. In fact, there mann's landmark 1969 exhibition at Kunsthall
are thousands of other nonprofits whose work Bern, When Attitudes Become Form: Live in
could be considered and highlighted as well. Your Head, which featured artists including
I n an even greater stretch of the framework Joseph Beuys, Barry Flanagan, Eva Hesse,
of socially engaged art, some works have been Jannis Kounellis, Walter de Maria, Robert
included in Living as Form that possess no sin¬ Morris, Bruce Nauman, and Lawrence Weiner,
gular author or organization. For example, the introducing an array of artists whose concep¬
celebrations in Harlem on the night of Barack tual works challenged the formal arrangements
Obama's election were spontaneous eruptions of what constituted art at the time. The show
of joy and street parading in a community that highlighted a diverse range of tendencies that
had long thought the election of a black presi¬ would later materialize as movements from
dent to be an impossibility. And, in a similar conceptual art, land art. Minimalism, and Arte
vein, the protests that have erupted across Povera. Writing on the exhibition, from Szee-
the Middle East—particularly those in Tunisia mann's catalog, Hans-Joachim Muller stated,
and Egypt—have become models of spontane¬ "For the first time, the importance of form
ous popular action facilitated across dynamic seemed to be questioned altogether by the
social networks with the collective desire to conceptualization of form: whatever has a cer-
Above: Artists from all over Indonesia took part in Cemeti Art House's yearlong program, which revitalized the arts in areas traumatized by an earthquake
(Photograph by Dwi 'Oblo' Prasetyo, Courtesy Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia).
 LIVING AS FORM 29

tain form can be measured, described, under¬ as Argentina, Spain, Greece, and Ireland to
stood, misunderstood. Forms can be criticized, eliminate their social welfare programs and
disintegrated, assembled." Such a break is in ignited protest movements. In Latin America,
the air again, but now accompanied by a keen new left governments emerged that redefined
awareness that living itself exists in forms that the region's relationship to culture, capitalism,
must be questioned, rearranged, mobilized, and power.
and undone. For the first time, the importance The last twenty years were also accom¬
of forms of living seems to be questioned alto¬ panied by a global growth of advertising in
gether by the conceptualization of living as a more media-rich world—from film to cable
form. Whatever has a certain form can be mea¬ television to the explosion of video games to
sured, described, understood, misunderstood. the rapid formation of the Internet and social
Forms of living can be criticized, disintegrated, media. Using the same symbolic manipula¬
assembled. tion and design methods that have long been
the bread and butter of artists, the growth of
PART II: NEOLIBERALISM AND THE "creative industries" were undeniably part of
RISE OF SPECTACULAR LIVING the cultural landscape. While in the 1940s,
the Frankfurt School philosophers Adorno and
Why does this book focus on the last twenty Horkheimer warned of an impending wave of
years? Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, capitalist-produced culture that would sweep
a new neoliberal order has emerged. Loosely across the world, the last twenty years has
defined, neoliberalism as a political order priv¬ seen that wave become a reality. Guy Debord
ileges free trade and open markets, resulting and the Situationists of Paris 1968 coined
in maximizing the role of the private sector in the term "spectacle" to refer to the process
determining priorities and deemphasizing the by which culture, expressions of a society's
role of the public and the state's function in self-understanding, is produced within the
protecting and supporting them. This pro-cap¬ capitalist machine. Typified by the image of
italist governmentalism has radically shaped an audience at a cinema passively watching
the current geopolitical and social map. From television and film, the spectacle can be seen
the global boosterism of the 1990s to the as shorthand for a world condition wherein
subsequent hangover and contestation in the images are made for the purpose of sales. Cer¬
2000s, this vast history includes the growth of tainly when considered from the standpoint
capitalism and free-market influence on inter¬ of scale, the sheer amount of culture we as a
national governance; formation of the Euro¬ global community consume, as well as pro¬
pean Union; genocide in Rwanda; the events duce, indicates a radical break with our rela¬
of September 11, 2001, and ensuing wars in tionship to cultures of past eras. Over the last
Afghanistan and Iraq; the bellicose efforts of twenty years we find people forced to produce
the Bush administration; and flexible labor in new forms of action in order to account for this
the Western world where decentralized busi¬ radically altered playing field. We find a form
nesses hired and fired quickly, and tempo¬ of activism and political action that is increas¬
rary work became a more familiar way of life. ingly media savvy. As opposed to thinking of a
As these policies became commonplace, we war fought with only guns, tanks, and bodies,
found a widespread exacerbation of nascent wars were fought using cameras, the Internet,
race and class divisions. The prison industry and staged media stunts.
in the United States now booms, and the gap In 1994, on the same day that NAFTA was
between rich and poor increases. Widespread signed into office, the Zapatista EZLN Move¬
protests in Europe and Latin America yielded ment emerged in the southern jungles of the
the term "precarity," which gained traction as Mexican province Chiapas. An indigenous
a description of social life always in jeopardy. movement demanding autonomy and broad¬
Austerity measures forced governments such casting its message via a ski mask-wearing,
30 LIVING AS FORM

pipe-smoking Subcommandante Marcos, the the "post-Cold War" era, we might think of it
Zapatistas were savvy in their early use of as the moment in which the spectacle became
cultural symbols and the Internet to rally the the increasing reality for not only culture-
international sympathies of the left to their makers, but all people. Reflecting on the fall
cause. There is no way to conceive of the pro¬ of the Berlin Wall, Guy Debord wrote, "This
test in Seattle in 1999 as anything but inspired driving of the spectacle toward modernization
by the Zapatistas' use of the carnivalesque, and unification, together with all of the other
poetics, the Internet, and social networking tendencies toward the simplification of soci¬
culture. This is to say that over the last twenty ety, what in 1989 led the Russian bureaucracy
years, we have seen the integration of cultur¬ suddenly, and as one man, to convert to the
al manipulation into its most poignant social current ideology of democracy—in other words,
movements and accompanying forms of activ¬ to the dictatorial freedom of the market, as
ism. Certainly the antics of the Yes Men—who tempered by the recognition of the rights of
poke fun at corporate power through their homo spectator."
numerous appearances on television and in The fall of the Berlin Wall and the crum¬
print media, posing as executives—is another bling of the Soviet Union can also be seen
example of resistance manifesting itself in the as a rise of the spectacle behind the veil of
media-sphere via the manipulation of cultural democracy. And because the spectacle enjoys
symbols. its veils and illusions (as a creature of sym¬
With that in mind, it should be said that this bolic production), perhaps it can be symbol¬
present spectacular reality is simply the chess ized by the mass-media phenomenon that we
board we, as people on the planet, must strate¬ have lived with for the last twenty years: real¬
gically move across. However, the way in which ity television. The format started in 1992 with
we choose to produce politics and meaning on the launch of MTV's The Real World, a suppos¬
it yields different ethical and political ramifica¬ edly real-life drama about multicultural young
tions. The September 11th attack and destruc¬ people living together, on camera, 24 hours
tion of the World Trade Center Towers by two a day. The idea was greeted with paranoiac
hijacked planes, and the subsequent media Orwellian concerns of Big Brother (enjoyably
hysteria, were clearly considered by their cre¬ enough, the name of the inspiration for The
ators in terms of spectacle, not just casualties. Real World launched in Britain), but over the
In reflecting on this spectacular political ter¬ course of time, what was to stand out about
rain, the theoretical collective Retort wrote, the show was that it not only predicted the
"One of the formative moments in the educa¬ largest growth market in television program¬
tion of Mohammad Atta, we are told, was when ming, but also foretold the Internet's now-com¬
he came to realize the conservation of Islamic monplace role in documenting everyday life.
Cairo, in which he hoped to participate as a Since 1991, contemporary life has become a
newly trained town planner, was to obey the kind of schizophrenic existence, where we are
logic of Disney World." both on television as well as in the world. We
When considered within the framework of are both being mediated by things as well as
socially engaged art, such events help make experiencing them.
sense of the media antics and performativity Why mention this in a discussion of social¬
of hallmark projects such as Women on Waves ly engaged art? Without understanding that
and Paias Por Pistolas. They, too, are meaning- the manipulation of symbols has become a
makers in an era of vast spectacle. The same method of production for the dominant powers
can be said of the aesthetic approaches to in contemporary society, we cannot appreciate
research, its presentation, and engaging the the forms of resistance to that power that come
political terrain. Who needs to worry about from numerous artists, activists, and engaged
art, when all the world is literally a stage? So citizens. We find it in the rhetoric of urban
rather than thinking of the last twenty years as cultural economy guru Richard Florida whose
 LIVING AS FORM 31

quick formulas on the creative class have ture caught in decades of spectacular produc¬
been accepted and built on by major cities in tion. It has radically altered not just the arts,
the United States. A pro-arts, pro-real estate but politics in general. Paranoia is the binding
development advocate, Florida's quick fix to global ethos. With that freakish personality
economic woes explicitly draws a connection trait in mind, many artists have had to recon¬
between the arts and the global urban concern figure their methods to account for this lack of
of gentrification. While it is not the purview transparency. I would like to call this the strate¬
of this book, one could easily write a differ¬ gic turn, borrowing from French theorist Michel
ent one based on the practices of the power¬ de Certeau's terms the "tactical" and the "stra¬
ful as well. Take, for example, fast-food chain tegic"—notions that explore how aesthetics are
McDonald's Ronald McDonald House. Here we produced in space. If the tactical is a tempo¬
have a global corporation who offers, "essen¬ rary, interventionist form of trespass, the stra¬
tial medical, dental, and educational services tegic is the long-term investment in space.
to more than 150,000 children annually." We Throughout the 1990s, the relational aes¬
can also see social programs initiated by most thetics of contemporary art began to reveal
major corporations of the United States as certain political limitations. By being discreet
well as the manipulation of cultural symbols and short-lived, the works often reflected a
in media by right-wing political organizations convenient tendency for quick consumption
such as The Tea Party. Socially engaged art¬ and exclusivity that garnered favor among
works, perversely enough, are not just the pur¬ museums and galleries. When the artist Rirkrit
view of artists, but, in fact, can additionally be Tiravanija cooked Pad Thai in a Soho gallery,
deployed by capitalists for the production of the work was praised as a radical redefinition
their own version of meaning and advertising. of what constituted art. This simple maneu¬
It is upon this stage of vast spectacle that ver was heralded by Nicholas Bourriaud as a
we must attempt to create meaningful relation¬ seminal project in the production of the genre
ships and actions. And this is not easy. For as "relational aesthetics." Over time, many in
the world of The Real World moves from a fic¬ the activist art milieu viewed this kind of dis¬
tion to a reality, we find ourselves confused creet performativity as simply digested by the
by whether things are advertisements or what conditions of power. For some, there were too
they say they are. The artist Shepard Fairey's many similarities between a VIP cocktail party
guerrilla wheatpaste poster campaigns across and the intimate personal experiences advo¬
the world have garnered not only great press cated by much of the work gathered under
but also much cynicism as many in the street the heading of relational aesthetics. Similarly,
art community accuse the work of being a cor¬ suspicions of the global biennial circuit arose;
porate-sponsored commercial enterprise. And artists who espoused supposed political ambi¬
in an era in which the production of culture tion and content seemed to simply travel the
is often used as an advertisement, artists too world trading in the symbolic culture of activ¬
can be guilty of projects wherein the produc¬ ism. To quote the artist, anarchist, and activist
tion of art is simply advertising for the ultimate Josh MacPhee, "I am tired of artists fetishizing
product: themselves. Thus, similar laments activist culture and showing it to the world as
might be thrown at some of the work in Liv¬ though it were their invention."
ing as Form. Is an artist genuinely producing Thus, the strategic turn where we find
a socially engaged artwork to help people, or works that are explicitly local, long-term, and
is it yet another career-climbing maneuver? community-based. Rick Lowe's Project Row
Does public art in a city serve its current resi¬ Houses is certainly an example, as is Lau¬
dents, or does it operate as an advertisement rie Jo Reynolds's Tamms Year Ten campaign.
for future gentrification? The organization Park Fiction combined the
This paranoia of what cultural producers efforts of numerous parties, including art¬
actually want is an integral part of a global cul¬ ists, musicians, filmmakers, and community
32 LIVING AS FORM

activists in order to produce a public park in ly engaged works perhaps a little too sympa¬
Hamburg by rallying the support and input of thetic with the prevailing values of our time
numerous community members. What started and, thus, make themselves vulnerable to state
as a civic campaign in 1994 was finally real¬ instrumentalization? Again, socially engaged
ized in 2005 after hundreds of meetings, argu¬ art can easily be used as advertising for vast
ments, events, and exhibitions. These are structures of power, from governments to cor¬
projects that are deeply rooted in community porations. Determining which forms of social
relations and motivated by a commitment to engagement truly lead towards social justice
political change. They also gain community is a constant source of debate. Knowing this,
traction by committing to an idea over time. in itself, is useful.
As publics become increasingly aware of the As art enters life, one must consider the
hit-and-run style of not only artists, but other powerful role that affect plays in the produc¬
industries of spectacle—such as advertising, tion of meaning. The concept of affect derives
film, and television—they develop a suspicion from the understanding that how things make
of those "helping them." As with many long¬ one feel is substantively different than how
term efforts, the longer the project, the more things make one think. As cultural production
the artist or artists must behave like organiza¬ is often geared towards emotive impact, under¬
tional structures in order to operate efficiently, standing how cultural projects function politi¬
and combat fatigue and overextension. cally and socially would benefit from an under¬
At the time of this writing, the protests standing of this poorly analyzed concept. In
and occupations of what are being called the addition, how these projects function and are
Arab Spring, the European Summer, and the understood is as varied as the audiences they
American Autumn are moving apace, catching impact. Unmooring this work from the strict
many governments and societies by surprise. analysis of aesthetics should not only assist
In consideration of the strategic turn by artists in truly appreciating its complexities, but also
and activists, we find a similar reflection in the liberate the dialogue of aesthetics to include
new social movements of the current period. knowledge sets of the global public. Mov¬
Whereas the protests of the alt-globalization ing across racial, cultural, disciplinary, and
movement possessed a hit-and-run style geographic boundaries provides a complex
focusing on various gatherings by large gov¬ public to consider. Obviously a person with
ernmental and corporate bodies, including the a contemporary art background appreciates
WTO (World Trade Organization), the GATT a socially engaged artwork differently than
(General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), the someone who does not. But more important
G8 (Group of 8), the IMF (International Mone¬ than disciplinary-specific knowledge are the
tary Fund), et al, the current occupation strat¬ vast differences in approach developed out of
egies stay in one place over a longer period geographic, racial, class, gender, and sexual¬
of time. ity differences. A form of analysis that can
account for this broad spectrum of difference
GLITCHES IN THE FORMS (while obviously difficult) will at least provide
While the language for defining this work is a framework for interpreting social phenomena
evolving, some criticisms and considerations from an honest position based in reality.
find their way into most discussions. A con¬ Socially engaged art may, in fact, be a mis¬
stant battle (which is difficult to resolve) is nomer. Defying discursive boundaries, its very
the matter of efficacy and pedagogy between flexible nature reflects an interest in produc¬
the symbolic, the mediated, and the practical. ing effects and affects in the world rather than
When is a project working? What are its inten¬ focusing on the form itself. In doing so, this
tions? Who is the intended audience? When is work has produced new forms of living that
an artist simply using the idea of social work in force a reconsideration and perhaps new lan¬
order to progress her career? Are these social¬ guage altogether. As navigating cultural sym-
 LIVING AS FORM 33

bols becomes a necessary skill set in basic

communication and pedagogy, let alone com¬
munity organizing, the lessons of theater, art,
architecture, and design have been incorpo¬
rated in a complex array of social organizing
methodologies. Deep research, media cam¬
paigns, dinners, conversations, performances,
and online networking are just a few of the
numerous techniques deployed in this strate¬
gic and tactical playing field.
As Duchamp placed the urinal in the
museum at the beginning of the twentieth
century, perhaps it should be no surprise to
find artists returning it to the real at the dawn
of the twenty-first. This maneuver could easily
be interpreted as yet another art historical ref¬
erence. However, I suspect the more important
interpretation is that this maneuver reflects a
necessary recalibration of the cultural envi¬
ronment surrounding the world today. For, as
art enters life, the question that will motivate
people far more than What is art? is the much
more metaphysically relevant and pressing
What is life?
 LIVING AS FORM

PARTICIPATION AND SPECTACLE:

WHERE ARE ME NOW!
CLAIRE BISHOP
 1. SPECTACLE TODAY ration of our image repertoire—so the argu¬
One of the key words used in artists' self¬ ment goes—artistic practice can no longer
definitions of their socially engaged practice revolve around the construction of objects to
is "spectacle," so often invoked as the entity be consumed by a passive bystander. Instead,
that participatory art opposes itself to, both there must be an art of action, interfacing with
artistically and politically. When examin¬ reality, taking steps—however small—to repair
ing artists' motivations for turning to social the social bond. As the French philosopher
participation as a strategy in their work, one Jacques Ranciere points out, "the 'critique of
repeatedly encounters the same claim: con¬ the spectacle' often remains the alpha and the
temporary capitalism produces passive sub¬ omega of the 'politics of art"'.1
jects with very little agency or empowerment. But what do we really mean by spectacle
For many artists and curators on the left, Guy in a visual art context? "Spectacle" has a par¬
Debord's indictment of the alienating and ticular, almost unique status within art history
divisive effects of capitalism in The Society and criticism, since it has an incomparable
of the Spectacle (1967) strike to the heart of political pedigree (thanks to the Situation-
why participation is important as a project: it ist International, or SI) and directly raises the
re-humanizes a society rendered numb and question of visuality. As frequently used by art
fragmented by the repressive instrumentality historians and critics associated with the jour¬
of capitalist production. This position, with nal October, spectacle denotes a wide range of
more or less Marxist overtones, is put forward attributes: for Rosalind Krauss writing on the
by most advocates of socially engaged and late capitalist museum, it means the absence
activist art. Given the market's near total satu¬ of historical positioning and a capitulation to
Above: Eliasson addressed the ubiquitous subject of weather with his vast 2003 installation of The Weather Project in Tate Modern’s TUrbine Hall (Courtesy
Olafur Eliasson, neugerriemschneider, Berlin, and Thnya Bonakdar Gallery, New York).
 LIVING AS FORM

pure presentness; for James Meyer, arguing the artist needs a spectator who can
against Olafur Eliasson's Weather Project, it overlook the immeasurable quantity of
denotes an overwhelming scale that dwarfs artistic production and formulate an
viewers and eclipses the human body as a aesthetic judgment that would single
point of reference; for Hal Foster writing on the out this particular artist from the mass
Bilbao Guggenheim, it denotes the triumph of other artists. Now, it is obvious that
of corporate branding; for Benjamin Buchloh such a spectator does not exist—it
denouncing Bill Viola, it refers to an uncriti¬ could be God, but we have already been
cal use of new technology. In short, spectacle informed of the fact that God is dead.3
today connotes a wide range of ideas—from
size, scale, and sexiness to corporate invest¬ In other words, one of the central requirements
ment and populism. And yet, for Debord, "spec¬ of art is that it is given to be seen, and reflect¬
tacle" does not describe the characteristics of ed upon, by a spectator. Participatory art in
a work of art or architecture, but is a definition the strictest sense forecloses the traditional
of social relations under capitalism (but also idea of spectatorship and suggests a new
under totalitarian regimes). Individual sub¬ understanding of art without audiences, one
jects experience society as atomized and frag¬ in which everyone is a producer. At the same
mented because social experience is medi¬ time, the existence of an audience is inelim-
ated by images—either the "diffuse" images of inable, since it is impossible for everyone in
consumerism or the "concentrated" images of the world to participate in every project.
the leader. As Debord's film, The Society of the
Spectacle (1971), makes clear, his arguments 2. HISTORY
stem from an anxiety about a nascent con¬ Indeed, the dominant narrative of the history
sumer culture in the '60s, with its tidal wave of socially engaged, participatory art across
of seductive imagery. But the question as to the twentieth century is one in which the acti¬
whether or not we still exist in a society of the vation of the audience is positioned against
spectacle was posed by Baudrillard as early its mythic counterpart, passive spectatorial
as 1981, who dispatches not only Debord but consumption. Participation thus forms part
also Foucault in his essay "The Precession of of a larger narrative that traverses modernity:
Simulacra": "art must be directed against contemplation,
against spectatorship, against the passivity
We are witnessing the end of perspec¬ of the masses paralyzed by the spectacle of
tive and panoptic space... and hence modern life".4 This desire to activate the audi¬
the very abolition of the spectacular.... ence in participatory art is at the same time
We are no longer in the society of the a drive to emancipate it from a state of alien¬
spectacle which the situationists talked ation induced by the dominant ideological
about, nor in the specific types of alien¬ order—be this consumer capitalism, totalitar¬
ation and repression which this implied. ian socialism, or military dictatorship. Begin¬
The medium itself is no longer identifi¬ ning from this premise, participatory art aims
able as such, and the merging of the to restore and realize a communal, collective
medium and the message (McLuhan) is space of shared social engagement. But this
the first great formula of this new age.2 is achieved in different ways: either through
constructivist gestures of social impact, which
More recently, Boris Groys has suggested refute the injustice of the world by proposing
that in today's culture of self-exhibitionism (in an alternative, or through a nihilist redoubling
Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, which he pro¬ of alienation, which negates the world's injus¬
vocatively compares to the text/image compo¬ tice and illogicality on its own terms. In both
sitions of conceptual art) we have a "spectacle instances, the work seeks to forge a collective,
without spectators": co-authoring, participatory social body, but
Opposite: Democracy in America, a project that took place during the 2008 election season and explored artists1 relationship with the American democratic tradi¬
tion, included a seven-day exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City (Photograph by Meghan Mclnnis, Courtesy Creative Time),
 PARTICIPATION AND SPECTACLE: WHERE ARE WE NOW?
37

one does this affirmatively (through utopian che d'Art Visuel devised participatory actions,
realization), the other indirectly (through the both in the form of installations and street
negation of negation). environments. Both of these are affirmative in
For example. Futurism and Constructivism tenor, but as a critique of consumer capitalism.
both offered gestures of social impact and the Jean-Jacques Lebel's anarchic and eroticized
invention of a new public sphere—one geared Happenings provide a different model—"the
towards fascism, the other to reinforce a new negation of negation"—in which the audience
Bolshevik world order. Shortly after this peri¬ and performers are further alienated from an
od, Paris Dada "took to the streets" in order to already alienating world, via disturbing and
reach a wider audience, annexing the social transgressive activities that aimed to produce
forms of the guided tour and the trial in order a group mind or egregore. When these artistic
to experiment with a more nihilistic type of strategies were put into play in different ideo¬
artistic practice in the public sphere. It is tell¬ logical contexts (such as South America and
ing that in the first phase of this orientation Eastern Europe), the aims and intentions of
towards the social, participation has no given participation yielded different meanings. In
political alignment: it is a strategy that can be Argentina, where a brutal, U.S.-backed military
equally associated with Italian Fascism, Bol¬ dictatorship was imposed in 1966, it gave rise
shevik communism, and an anarchic negation to aggressive and fragmented modes of social
of the political. action, with an emphasis on class antagonism,
In the postwar period, we find a similar reification, and alienation. In Czechoslova¬
range of participatory strategies, now more or kia, brought into tine with Soviet "normaliza¬
less tied to leftist politics, and culminating in tion" after 1968, participatory art had a more
the theater of 1968. In Paris, the SI developed escapist tone, with avant-garde actions often
alternatives to visual art in the "derive and con¬ masquerading under vernacular forms (wed¬
structed situation"; while the Groupe Recher¬ dings, parties, and festivals), often in remote
 LIVING AS FORM

locations, in order to avoid detection by the 3. TWO CRITIQUES

secret police. Art was disguised by life in order One of the questions that is continually posed
to sustain itself as a place of nonalienation. to me is the following: Surely it is better for
The work of Collective Actions Group (CAG), one art project to improve one person's life
active in Moscow from 1976 onwards, further than for it not to happen at all? The history
problematizes contemporary claims that par¬ of participatory art allows us to get critical
ticipation is synonymous with collectivism, distance on this question, and to see it as
and thus inherently opposed to capitalism; the latest instantiation of concerns that have
rather than reinforcing the collectivist dogma dogged this work from its inception: the ten¬
of communism, CAG deployed participation as sion between equality and quality, between
a means to create a privatized sphere of indi¬ participation and spectatorship, and between
vidual expression. art and real life. These conflicts indicate that
Further analogies to contemporary social social and artistic judgments do not easily
practice can be found in the rise of the com¬ merge; indeed, they seem to demand differ¬
munity arts movement after 1968, whose his¬ ent criteria. This impasse surfaces in every
tory provides a cautionary tale for today's art¬ printed debate and panel discussion on par¬
ists averse to theorizing the artistic value of ticipatory and socially engaged art. For one
their work. Emphasizing process rather than sector of artists, curators, and critics, a good
end result, and basing their judgments on project appeases a superegoic injunction to
ethical criteria (about how and whom they ameliorate society; if social agencies have
work with) rather than on the character of their failed, then art is obliged to step in. In this
artistic outcomes, the community arts move¬ schema, judgments are based on a humanist
ment found itself subject to manipulation—and ethics, often inspired by Christianity. What
eventually instrumentalization—by the state. counts is to offer ameliorative solutions, how¬
From an agitational force campaigning for ever short-term, rather than to expose con¬
social justice (in the early 1970s), it became tradictory social truths. For another sector of
a harmless branch of the welfare state (by the artists, curators, and critics, judgments are
1980s): the kindly folk who can be relied upon based on a sensible response to the artist's
to mop up wherever the government wishes to work, both in and beyond its original context.
absolve itself of responsibility. In this schema, ethics are nugatory, because
And so we find ourselves faced today with art is understood continually to throw estab¬
an important sector of artists who renounce lished systems of value into question, includ¬
the vocabularies of contemporary art, claiming ing morality; devising new languages with
to be engaged in more serious, worldly, and which to represent and question social con¬
political issues. Such anti-aesthetic refusals tradiction is more important. The social dis¬
are not new: just as we have come to recognize course accuses the artistic discourse of
Dada cabaret, situationist detournement, or amorality and inefficacy, because it is insuf¬
dematerialized conceptual and performance ficient merely to reveal, reduplicate, or reflect
art as having their own aesthetics of produc¬ upon the world; what matters is social change.
tion and circulation, so too do the often form- The artistic discourse accuses the social dis¬
less-looking photo-documents of participato¬ course of remaining stubbornly attached to
ry art have their own experiential regime. The existing categories, and focusing on micropo¬
point is not to regard these anti-aesthetic phe¬ litical gestures at the expense of sensuous
nomena as objects of a new formalism (reading immediacy (as a potential locus of disalien-
areas, parades, demonstrations, discussions, ation). Either social conscience dominates, or
ubiquitous plywood platforms, endless pho¬ the rights of the individual to question social
tographs of people), but to analyze how these conscience. Art's relationship to the social is
contribute to the social and artistic experi¬ either underpinned by morality or it is under¬
ence being generated. pinned by freedom.5
 PARTICIPATION AND SPECTACLE: WHERE ARE WE NOW?
39

This binary is echoed in Boltanski and the West now has more to do with the popu¬
Chiapello's perceptive distinction of the dif¬ list agendas of neoliberal governments. Even
ference between artistic and social critiques though participatory artists stand against
of capitalism. The artistic critique, rooted in neoliberal capitalism, the values they impute
nineteenth-century bohemianism, draws upon to their work are understood formally (in terms
two sources of indignation towards capitalism: of opposing individualism and the commod¬
on the one hand, disenchantment and inau¬ ity object), without recognizing that so many
thenticity, and on the other, oppression. The other aspects of this art practice dovetail even
artistic critique, they explain, "foregrounds more perfectly with neoliberalism's recent
the loss of meaning and, in particular, the loss forms (networks, mobility, project work, affec¬
of the sense of what is beautiful and valu¬ tive labor).
able, which derives from standardization and As this ground has shifted over the course
generalized commodification, affecting not of the twentieth century, so the identity of par¬
only everyday objects but also artworks ... and ticipants has been reimagined at each histori¬
human beings." Against this state of affairs, cal moment: from a crowd (1910s), to the mass¬
the artistic critique advocates "the freedom es (1920s), to the people (late 1960s/1970s),
of artists, their rejection of any contamina¬ to the excluded (1980s), to community
tion of aesthetics by ethics, their refusal of (1990s), to today's volunteers whose partici¬
any form of subjection in time and space and, pation is continuous with a culture of real¬
in its extreme form, any kind of work".6 The ity television and social networking. From the
social critique, by contrast, draws on differ¬ audience's perspective, we can chart this as
ent sources of indignation towards capitalism: a shift from an audience that demands a role
the egoism of private interests, and the grow¬ (expressed as hostility towards avant-garde
ing poverty of the working classes in a society artists who keep control of the proscenium),
of unprecedented wealth. This social critique to an audience that enjoys its subordination
necessarily rejects the moral neutrality, indi¬ to strange experiences devised for them by an
vidualism, and egotism of artists. The artistic artist, to an audience that is encouraged to be
and the social critique are not directly com¬ a co-producer of the work (and who, occasion¬
patible, Boltanski and Chiapello warn us, and ally, can even get paid for this involvement).
exist in continual tension with one another.7 This could be seen as a heroic narrative of the
The clash between artistic and social cri¬ increased activation and agency of the audi¬
tiques recurs most visibly at certain historical ence, but we might also see it as a story of
moments, and the reappearance of participa¬ their ever-increasing voluntary subordination
tory art is symptomatic of this clash. It tends to the artist's will, and of the commodification
to occur at moments of political transition and of human bodies in a service economy (since
upheaval: in the years leading to Italian Fas¬ voluntary participation is also unpaid labor).
cism, in the aftermath of the 1917 Revolution, Arguably, this is a story that runs parallel
in the widespread social dissent that led to with the rocky fate of democracy itself, a term
1968, and its aftermath in the 1970s. At each to which participation has always been wed¬
historical moment participatory art takes a dif¬ ded: from a demand for acknowledgement, to
ferent form, because it seeks to negate differ¬ representation, to the consensual consump¬
ent artistic and sociopolitical objects. In our tion of one's own image—be this in a work of
own times, its resurgence accompanies the art, YouTube, Flickr, or reality TV. Consider
consequences of the collapse of communism the media profile accorded to Anthony Gorm-
in 1989, the apparent absence of a viable left ley's One and Other (2009), a project to allow
alternative, the emergence of contemporary members of the public to continuously occupy
"post-political" consensus, and the near total the empty "fourth plinth" of Trafalgar Square
marketization of art and education.8 The para¬ in London, one hour at a time for one hun¬
dox of this situation is that participation in dred days. Gormley received 34,520 applica-
tions for 2,400 places, and the activities of the paradigm of transversality offers one such
plinth's occupants were continually streamed way of thinking through these artistic opera¬
online.9 Although the artist referred to One tions: he leaves art as a category in its place,
and Other as "an open space of possibility for but insists upon its constant flight into and
many to test their sense of self and how they across other disciplines, putting both art and
might communicate this to a wider world," the the social into question, even while simulta¬
project was described by The Guardian, not neously reaffirming art as a universe of value.
unfairly, as "Twitter Art."10 In a world where Jacques Ranciere offers another: the aesthetic
everyone can air their views to everyone we regime is constitutively contradictory, shut¬
are faced not with mass empowerment but tling between autonomy and heteronomy ("the
with an endless stream of banal egos. Far from aesthetic experience is effective inasmuch as
being oppositional to spectacle, participation it is the experience of that and"11). He argues
has now entirely merged with it. that in art and education alike, there needs to
This new proximity between spectacle and be a mediating object—a spectacle that stands
participation underlines, for me, the neces¬ between the idea of the artist and the feeling
sity of sustaining a tension between artistic and interpretation of the spectator: "This spec¬
and social critiques. The most striking proj¬ tacle is a third thing, to which both parts can
ects that constitute the history of participa¬ refer but which prevents any kind of 'equal' or
tory art unseat all of the polarities on which 'undistorted' transmission. It is a mediation
this discourse is founded (individual/collec¬ between them. [...] The same thing which links
tive, author/spectator, active/passive, real them must separate them."12 In different ways,
life/art) but not with the goal of collapsing Ranciere and Guattari offer alternative frame¬
them. In so doing, they hold the artistic and works for thinking the artistic and the social
social critiques in tension. Felix Guattari's simultaneously; for both, art and the social
Above: At the New Orleans Safehouse, Mel Chin and a panel of experts announce Operation Paydirt: New Orleans, a massive art and science project to take on
lead pollution in the city (Courtesy Fundred Dollar Bill Project).
 PARTICIPATION AND SPECTACLE: WHERE ARE WE NOW? 41

are not to be reconciled or collapsed, but sus¬ ist's cue and direction. This relationship is a
tained in continual tension. continual play of mutual tension, recognition,
and dependency—more akin to the collectively
4. THE LADDER AND THE CONTAINER negotiated dynamic of stand-up comedy, or to
I am interested in these theoretical models of BDSM sex, than to a ladder of progressively
analysis because they do not reduce art to a more virtuous political forms.
question of ethically good or bad examples, A case study, now 11 years old, illustrates
nor do they forge a straightforward equation this argument that art is both grounded in and
between forms of democracy in art and forms of suspends reality, and does this via a mediating
democracy in society. Most of the contempo¬ object orthird term: Please Love Austria (2000)
rary discourse on participatory art implies an devised and largely performed by the German
evaluative schema akin to that laid out in the filmmaker and artist Christoph Schlingensief
classic diagram "The Ladder of Participation," (1960-2010). Commissioned to produce a
published in an architectural journal in 1969 work for the Weiner Festwochen, Schlingen¬
to accompany an article about forms of citi¬ sief chose to respond directly to the recent
zen involvement.13 The ladder has eight rungs. electoral success of the far-right nationalist
The bottom two indicate the least participatory party led by Jorg Haider (Freiheitliche Partei
forms of citizen engagement: the non-partici¬ Osterreichs, or FPO). The FPO's campaign had
pation of mere presence in "manipulation" and included overtly xenophobic slogans and the
"therapy." The next three rungs are degrees word uberfremdung (domination by foreign
of tokenism—"informing," "consultation," and influences), once employed by the Nazis, to
"placation"—which gradually increase the describe a country overrun with foreigners.
attention paid by power to the everyday voice. Schlingensief erected a shipping container
At the top of the ladder we find "partnership," outside the Opera House in the center of
"delegated power," and the ultimate goal, "citi¬ Vienna, topped with a large banner bearing
zen control." The diagram provides a useful set the phrase Auslander Raus (Foreigners Out).
of distinctions for thinking about the claims Inside the container. Big Brother-style living
to participation made by those in power, and accommodations were installed for a group
is frequently cited by architects and planners. of asylum-seekers, relocated from a detention
It is tempting to make an equation (and many center outside the city. Their activities were
have done so) between the value of a work of broadcast through the internet television sta¬
art and the degree of participation it involves, tion webfreetv.com, and via this station view¬
turning the Ladder of Participation into a gauge ers could vote daily for the ejection of their
for measuring the efficacy of artistic practice.14 least favorite refugee. At 8 p.m. each day, for
But while the Ladder provides us with help¬ six days, the two most unpopular inhabitants
ful and nuanced differences between forms of were sent back to the deportation center. The
civic participation, it falls short of correspond¬ winner was purportedly offered a cash prize
ing to the complexity of artistic gestures. The and the prospect—depending on the avail¬
most challenging works of art do not follow ability of volunteers—of Austrian citizenship
this schema, because models of democracy through marriage. The event is documented by
in art do not have an intrinsic relationship to the Austrian filmmaker Paul Poet in an evoca¬
models of democracy in society. The equation tive and compelling ninety-minute film, Aus¬
is misleading and does not recognize art's abil¬ lander Raus! Schlingensief's Container (2002).
ity to generate other, more paradoxical criteria. Please Love Austria is typical Schlin¬
The works I have discussed in the preceding gensief in its desire to antagonize the pub¬
chapters do not offer anything like citizen lic and stage provocation. His early film work
control. The artist relies upon the participants' frequently alluded to contemporary taboos:
creative exploitation of the situation that he/ mixing Nazism, obscenities, disabilities, and
she offers, just as participants require the art¬ assorted sexual perversions in films such as
42 LIVING AS FORM

a CITIZEN CONTROL

CITIZEN POWER
7. DELEGATED POWER

6. PARTNERSHIP

5. PLACATION

4. CONSULTATION TOKENISM

3. INFORMING
NONPARTICIPATION

2. THERAPY

1. MANIPULATION

Above: Sherry Arnstem's Ladder of Participation was originally published in the July 1969 issue of the Journal of the American institute of Planners (Courtesy
Sherry Arnstein). Opposite: The office of Tania Bruguera's Immigrant Movement International is located in the diverse neighborhood of Corona in Queens,
New York, and provides a space for outreach activities for the local immigrant community (Courtesy Tania Bruguera and Creative Time).
 PARTICIPATION AND SPECTACLE: WHERE ARE WE NOW? 43

German Chainsaw Massacre (1990) and Ter¬ ists to take photographs, invited the public to
ror 2000 (1992), once described as "filth for air their views, and made contradictory claims
intellectuals."15 In the late 1990s Schlingen- ("This is a performance! This is the absolute
sief began making interventions into public truth!"), while parroting the most racist opin¬
space, including the formation of a political ions and insults back to the crowd. As the vari¬
party. Chance 2000 (1998-2000), which tar¬ ous participants were evicted, Schlingensief
geted the unemployed, disabled, and other provided a running commentary to the mob
recipients of welfare with the slogan "Vote For below: "It is a black man! Once again Austria
Yourself." Chance2000 did not hesitate to use has evicted a darkie!"
the image of Schlingensief's long-term col¬ Although in retrospect—and particularly
laborators, many of whom have mental and/or in Poet's film—it is evident that the work is a
physical handicaps. But in Please Love Aus¬ critique of xenophobia and its institutions, in
tria, Schlingensief's refugee participants were Vienna the event (and Schlingensief's char¬
barely visible, disguised in assorted wigs, hats, ismatic role as circus master) was ambiguous
and sunglasses.16 In the square, the public had enough to receive approval and condemna¬
only a limited view of the immigrants through tion from all sides of the political spectrum. An
peepholes; the bulk of the performance was elderly right-wing gentleman covered in med¬
undertaken by Schlingensief himself, installed als gleefully found it to be in sympathy with
on the container's roof beneath the "Foreigners his own ideas, while others claimed that by
Out!" banner. Speaking through a megaphone, staging such a shameful spectacle Schlingen¬
he incited the FPO to come and remove the sief himself was a dirty foreigner who ought
banner (which they didn't), encouraged tour¬ to be deported. Left-wing student activists
44 LIVING AS FORM

attempted to sabotage the container and "lib¬ 5. THE END OF PARTICIPATION

erate" the refugees, while assorted left-wing In his essay "The Uses of Democracy" (1992),
celebrities showed up to support the project, Jacques Ranciere notes that participation
including Daniel Cohn-Bendit (a key figure in what we normally refer to as democratic
from May '68), and the Nobel Laureate author regimes is usually reduced to a question of
Elfriede Jelinek (who wrote and performed a filling up the spaces left empty by power.
puppet play with the asylum-seekers). In addi¬ Genuine participation, he argues, is some¬
tion, large numbers of the public watched the thing different: the invention of an "unpredict¬
program on webfreetv.com and voted for the able subject" who momentarily occupies the
eviction of particular refugees. The contain¬ street, the factory, or the museum—rather than
er prompted arguments and discussion—in a fixed space of allocated participation whose
the square surrounding it, in the print media, counter-power is dependent on the dominant
and on national television. The vehemence order.18 Setting aside the problematic idea of
of response is palpable throughout the film, "genuine" participation (which takes us back to
no more so than when Poet's camera pans modernist oppositions between authentic and
back from a heated argument to reveal the false culture), such a statement clearly pertains
entire square full of agitated people in intense to Please Love Austria, and the better examples
debate. One elderly woman was so infuriated of social practice, which have frequently con¬
by the project that she could only spit at Sch- stituted a critique of participatory art, rather
lingensief the insult, "You ... artist!" than upholding an unproblematized equation
A frequently heard criticism of this work between artistic and political inclusion.
is that it did not change anyone's opinion: The fact that the Ladder of Participation
the right-wing pensioner is still right-wing, culminates in "citizen control" is worth recall¬
the lefty protestors are still lefty, and so on. ing here. At a certain point, art has to hand
But this instrumentalized approach to critical over to other institutions if social change is
judgment misunderstands the artistic force of to be achieved: it is not enough to keep pro¬
Schlingensief's intervention. The point is not ducing activist art. The historic avant-garde
about "conversion," for this reduces the work was always positioned in relation to an exis¬
of art to a question of propaganda. Rather, tent party politics (primarily communist)
Schlingensief's project draws attention to the which removed the pressure of art ever being
contradictions of political discourse in Austria required to effectuate change in and of itself.
at that moment. The shocking fact is that Sch¬ Later, the postwar avant-gardes claimed open-
lingensief's container caused more public agi¬ endedness as a radical refusal of organized
tation and distress than the presence of a real politics—be this inter-war totalitarianism or
deportation center a few miles outside Vienna. the dogma of a party line. There was the poten¬
The disturbing lesson of Please Love Austria tial to discover the highest artistic intensity in
is that an artistic representation of detention the everyday and the banal, which would serve
has more power to attract dissensus than an a larger project of equality and anti-elitism.
actual institution of detention.17 In fact, Sch¬ Since the 1990s, participatory art has often
lingensief's model of "undemocratic" behavior asserted a connection between user-gener¬
corresponds precisely to "democracy" as prac¬ ated content and democracy, but the frequent
ticed in reality. This contradiction is the core predictability of its results seem to be the
of Schlingensief's artistic efficacy—and it is consequence of lacking both a social and an
the reason why political conversion is not the artistic target; in other words, participatory
primary goal of art, why artistic representa¬ art today stands without relation to an exist¬
tions continue to have a potency that can be ing political project (only to a loosely defined
harnessed to disruptive ends, and why Please anti-capitalism) and presents itself as opposi¬
Love Austria is not (and should never be seen tional to visual art by trying to side-step the
as) morally exemplary. question of visuality. As a consequence, these
 PARTICIPATION AND SPECTACLE: WHERE ARE WE NOW? 45

artists have internalized a huge amount of advance but need continually to be performed
pressure to bear the burden of devising new and tested in every specific context.
models of social and political organization—a
ENDNOTES
task that they are not always best equipped 1 Jacques Ranciere, "Aesthetic Separation, Aesthetic Community: Scenes from the
Aesthetic Regime of Art," Art & Research: A Journal of Ideas, Contexts and Methods,
to undertake. Vol. 2, No. 1, Summer 2008: 7.
My point, again, is not to criticize specific 2 Jean Baudrillard, "The Precession of Simulacra," in Simulations, trans. Paul Foss,
Paul Patton and Philip Beitchman (New York: Semiotext(e), 1983): 54.
artists but to see the whole rise of social prac¬ 3 Boris Groys, "Comrades of Time," e-flux journal, December 11, 2009, available at
www.e-flux.com
tice since 1989 as symptomatic. That the "polit¬ 4 Boris Groys, "Comrades of Time," e-flux journal, December 11, 2009, available at
www.e-flux.com Qast accessed September 3, 2010).
ical" and "critical" have become shibboleths of 5 Tony Bennett phrases the same problem differently: art history as a bourgeois, idealist
advanced art signals a lack of faith both in the discipline is in permanent conflict with Marxism as an anti-bourgeois, materialist
revolution in existing disciplines. There is no possibility of reconciling the two, See
intrinsic value of art as a de-alienating human Tony Bennett, Formalism and Marxism (London: Methuen, 1979): 80-5.
6 Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello, The New Spirit of Capitalism (London: Verso,
endeavor (since art today is so intertwined 2005): 37-8.
7 The implication of Boltanski and Chiapello's book is that in the third spirit of capitalism,
with market systems globally) and in demo¬ the artistic critique has held sway, resulting in an unsupervised capitalism that lacks

cratic political processes (in whose name so the "invisible hand" of constraint that would guarantee protection, security and rights
for workers.
many injustices and barbarities are conduct¬ 8 For a clear summary of "post-politics" see Jodi Dean, Democracy and Other Neo¬
liberal Fantasies (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009): 13. She presents
ed).19 But rather than addressing this loss of two positions: "post-politics as an ideal of consensus, inclusion, and administration
that must be rejected" (Chantal Mouffe, Jacques Ranciere) and "post-politics as a
faith by collapsing art and ethics together, the description of the contemporary exclusion or foreclosure of the political" (Slavoj Zizek).
9 The difference between Gormley's webstreaming and that of Christoph Schlingensief
task today is to produce a viable international (discussed below) is that the latter is a conscious parody of reality TV's banality,
alignment of leftist political movements and while the former uncritically replicates it. A press shot of Gormley with American Idol.
10 Anthony Gormley, www.oneandother.co.uk Qast accessed August 23, 2010).
a reassertion of art's inventive forms of nega¬ Charlotte Higgins, "The Birth of Twitter Art," Guardian, July 8, 2009, available at
www.guardian.co.uk Qast accessed 25 August 2010).
tion as valuable in their own right.20 We need to 11 Jacques Ranciere, "The Aesthetic Revolution and Its Outcomes: Employments of
Autonomy and Heteronomy," New Left Review, 14, March-April 2002: 133.
recognize art as a form of experimental activ¬ 12 Ranciere, "Emancipated Spectator," lecture in Frankfurt.
ity overlapping with the world, whose negativ¬ 13 Sherry Arnstein, "A Ladder of Citizen Participation, "Journal of the American Institute
of Planners, 35:4, July 1969: 216-24. The diagram has recently been the subject of
ity may lend support towards a political proj¬ some historical reassessment among architects and planners, reflecting the
renewed interest in participation in this sector.
ect (without bearing the sole responsibility 14 See, for example, Dave Beech's distinction between participation and collaboration.
For Beech, participants are subject to the parameters of the artist's project, while
for devising and implementing it), and—more collaboration involves co-authorship and decisions over key structural features of

radically—we need to support the progressive the work; "collaborators have rights that are withheld from participants." (Beech,
"Include Me Out,” Art Monthly, April 2008: 3.) Although I would agree with his
transformation of existing institutions through definitions, I would not translate them into a binding set of value judgements to be
applied to works of art.
the transversal encroachment of ideas whose 15 Herbert Achternbusch, cited m Marion Lohndorf, "Christoph Schlingensief,"
Kunstforum, 142, October 1998: 94-101, available atwww.schlingensief.com
boldness is related to (and at times greater Oast accessed December 4, 2008).
16 During their evictions, the asylum-seekers covered their faces with a newspaper,
than) that of artistic imagination.21 inverting the celebratory, attention-seeking exits of contestants from the Big Brother
By using people as a medium, participa¬ house. Rather than viewing this absence of identity as an assault on their subjectivity,
we could see this as an artistic device to allow the asylum-seekers to be catalysts
tory art has always had a double ontological for discussion around immigration in general (rather than individual case studies for
emotive journalism).
status: it is both an event in the world, and also 17 Silvija Jestrovic has explained this preference for the performance of asylum rather
than its reality by way of reference to Debord's Society of the Spectacle, specifically
at a remove from it. As such, it has the capacity the epigraph by Feuerbach with which it opens: "But certainly for the present age,
to communicate on two levels—to participants which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation
to reality, the appearance to essence ... illusion only is sacred, truth profane."
and to spectators—the paradoxes that are (Silvija Jestrovic, "Performing Like an Asylum Seeker: Paradoxes of Hyper-Authenticity
in Schlingensief's Please Love Austria," in Claire Bishop and Silvia Tramontana,
repressed in everyday discourse, and to elicit eds., Double Agent (London: ICA, 2009): 61.
18 Ranci&re argues that participation in democracy is a "mongrel" idea deriving from
perverse, disturbing, and pleasurable experi¬ the conflation of two ideas: "the reformist idea of necessary mediations between the
ences that enlarge our capacity to imagine the centre and the periphery, and the revolutionary idea of the permanent involvement
of citizen-subjects in every domain". (Jacques Ranciere, "The Uses of Democracy",
world and our relations anew. But to reach the in Ranciere, On the Shores of Politics (London: Verso, 2007): 60.
19 The Slovenian collective IRWIN has recently suggested that "critical" and "political"
second level requires a mediating third term— art are as necessary to neoliberalism as socialist realism was to the Soviet regime.
20 A positive example of new developments is the new left organization Krytyka Polityczna
an object, image, story, film, even a spec¬ in Poland, a publishing house that produces a magazine, organizes events, and

tacle—that permits this experience to have a maintains a regular, forceful presence in the media (via its charismatic young leader
Slawomir Sierakowski). The artists who have affiliated themselves with this project
purchase on the public imaginary. Participa¬ are as varied as Artur Mijewski and the painter Wilhelm Sasnal.
21 Latin America has been pre-eminent in instituting such solutions. See for example
tory art is not a privileged political medium, the initiatives introduced by Antanas Mockus, then-mayor of Bogota, discussed
in Maria Cristina Caballero, "Academic turns city into a social experiment," Harvard
nor a ready-made solution to a society of the University Gazette, March 11, 2004, available at http://www.news.harvard.edu.

spectacle, but is as uncertain and precarious

as democracy itself; neither are legitimated in
 LIVING AS FORM

RETURNING ON BIKES:
NOTES ON SOCIAL PRACTICE
MARIA LIND
 RETURNING ON BIKES: NOTES ON SOCIAL PRACTICE 47

If you were in Munster, Germany, in summer of universities which grew around a medieval
1997, near the circular promenade, you likely plan wherein driving a car is a nuisance. As
bumped into people on red bikes, cycling in a result, every inhabitant owns, statistically,
reverse. Early in the summer it would probably two and a half bikes. Furthermore, in 1997, the
have been a tall young woman and, later on, a average German was a member of no less than
group heading down the asphalt trail. Perhaps six to eight associations or clubs. Returnity
you even joined them in this unusual activity, alluded to local mobility patterns and social
pedaling backward on a bicycle that was per¬ forms of organization, proving that an artwork
fectly ordinary apart from its rear mirror, sta¬ can actually form a community (albeit tempo¬
bilizer, and extra cogwheels. Riding it required rarily) instead of simply "reaching out" to an
leaving your safety zone to unlearn the most existing one. The artist devised a framework
commonplace skill that you probably learned within which participants could maneuver
as a child, in order to see the world from an either individually or collectively, take part in
unusual perspective. a behavioral experiment, and—more existen¬
This cycle club was Elin Wikstrom's Retur- tially and ideologically than politically—raise
nity, produced for Munster's Skulptur Projek- consciousness. Returnity was a playful test
te, a high-profile exhibition—international in that referenced lifelong learning, connectivity
scope—that marks art's postwar move beyond in a globalized world, and radically rethinking
the walls of the art institution. Skulptur Pro- and deliberately disorienting one's naturalized
jekte has occurred every ten years since 1977, behaviors.2
filling Munster with both permanent and tem¬ Arguably, Returnity was just another art
porary projects that have peppered the city, project based on the social—on interaction
primarily outdoors, with public sculpture. How¬ between people—which provided an entertain¬
ever, Returnity was unusually non-sculptural ing activity for locals and visitors alike. After
within the history and focus of the exhibition... all, it was commissioned by a body with inter¬
it left no physical trace.1 Instead, Wikstrom's est in using art as an instrument to brand the
cycle club, based on the voluntary participa¬ city, generate income, and create new jobs.
tion of exhibition visitors as well as passersby, However, Returnity also occurred in a moment
contributed to the legacy of what is now called when social practice began to be simultane¬
"social practice," making an immaterial mark ously acknowledged and instrumentalized in
within and beyond the traditional parameters various forms of mainstream exhibitions and
of "contemporary art." other curated projects. Occasional precedents
The project did include physical elements, such as Projet Unite in Firminy, France (1993-
such as the nine bicycles and a circular club¬ 94),3 Sonsbeek (1993)4 in Arnhem, Germany,
house with an adjacent training track where Places with A Past at the Spoleto Festival in
return cyclists could congregate. But most Charleston, South Carolina (1991),5 and Cul¬
significant was the number of cyclists, which ture in Action in Chicago (1992-93)6 in the
Wikstrom recorded carefully, as per her prac¬ United States paved the way by focusing on
tice of combining qualitative with pseudo- site-specific commissions. Many of these can
bureaucratic, quantitative information. With be described as social practice as we know it
the help of another artist, Anna Brag, and an today.
assistant, she provided individual instructions A little-known curatorial project that
to two thousand people who attempted to ride stands out as a sensitive and smart predic¬
the bikes. Approximately fifty became repeat tor of things to come was Services (1993),
participants. Some visitors even purchased initiated by artist Andrea Fraser and curator
a Returnity kit containing parts that could be Helmut Draxler at the Kunstraum at the Uni¬
mounted onto their own bikes at home. versity of Luneburg.7 Services was an activ¬
It was no coincidence that this experi¬ ist and discursive project responding to the
ment with bikes took place in Munster: a city fact that artists were increasingly asked to
 RETURNING ON BIKES: NOTES ON SOCIAL PRACTICE 49

provide new work for specific situations, i.e. transformations within politics and manage¬
"projects," often with little or no pay, ensuing ment. Just as the dematerialization of the art
censorship, and unclear rights to the works. object accompanied the dissolution of eco¬
An ongoing forum, meetings, and an exhibi¬ nomic value through the end of the gold stan¬
tion called "working-group exhibition" formed dard, artists also instrumentalized and reflect¬
the core of the project in which artists such as ed upon new forms of labor in the Western
Mark Dion, Louise Lawler, and Group Material world post-World War II. Now, artists involved
participated. In addition to questioning art's with social practice face the challenge of
function as a service, Services criticized art changing working conditions in a deregu¬
institutions' conservative views on the nature lated, post-Fordist job market, affected by an
of exhibitions. economy radically restructured by financial
Even a quick glance reveals that social speculation and abstract values. In service
practice is as kaleidoscopic as it is contested and knowledge sectors, social competence,
as an artistic movement: it is simultaneously teamwork, and collaboration are essential, as
a medium, a method, and a genre. As a term, are self-organization, flexibility and creativ¬
social practice can encompass everything ity, which all belong to the repertoire of the
from community art and activism - a la the Art Romantic artist. In this sense, social practice
Workers Coalition8 - to so-called relational work is very close to today's ideal of entrepre¬
aesthetics9 and kontextkunst.10 In between lie neurial work. Meanwhile, non-governmental
new genre public art11 and connective aesthet¬ organizations, interventions, and other sup¬
ics12, dialogical art13 and participatory practic¬ port structures in the decolonized, developing
es,14 as well as hybrids cutting across attempt¬ world have engendered a volunteer sector. In
ed definitions.15 They all look, taste, smell, and all of this, participation has become a neces¬
sound very different from one another. And sary and valued form of engagement, cher¬
yet social practice can loosely be described ished by neoliberalism and Third Way politics
as art that involves more people than objects, alike.17 Architecture shares this thrust towards
whose horizon is social and political change- participation by underlining methods of par¬
some would even claim that it is about making ticipatory consulting and decision-making. In
another world possible. Social practice con¬ addition, as Western societies become more
cerns works with multiple faces turned in dif¬ and more precarious, techniques such as
ferent directions—towards specific groups of these, used in the developing world, are now
people, political questions, policy problems, applied to projects at home.18
or artistic concerns; there is an aesthetic The invitation from Creative Time to write
to organization, a composition to meetings, this text prompted me to reflect on what it has
and choreography to events, as well as a lot meant to engage with social practice work as
of hands-on work with people. At the core of a curator, for the past two decades—not with
social practice is the urge to reformulate the the intention of privileging this work over oth¬
traditional relationship between the work and er artistic media, methods, or genres—at least
the viewer, between production and consump¬ not consciously. Rather, I've been interested in
tion, sender and receiver. Furthermore, social projects that relate to the surrounding world,
practice tends to feel more at home outside tra¬ practices that offer the most pertinent and
ditional art institutions, though is not entirely challenging responses to moments, places,
foreign to them. Another way of phrasing this and issues, presented by artists I have worked
is to talk in terms of the collaborative turn in with over time. These responses—both direct
art—the genre as an umbrella for various meth¬ and oblique, poetic and agitprop—have had a
ods such as collective work, cooperation, and place in my work alongside documentary, dis¬
collaboration.16 cursive, performative, and spatial practices, as
The development of social practice can well as abstraction's many incarnations.
also be understood in light of simultaneous An enduring criticism of social practice
Opposite: Part of Services was a workshop organized by Fraser and Drexler at the Kunstraum der Universitat Liineburg in early 1994 that allowed the artists and
curators involved to develop a framework for their practices and address the socioeconomic conditions of artists. The Services exhibition mainly consisted of col¬
lected historical and contemporary documents that supported the workshop’s conclusions. (Courtesy Michael Schindel and Kunstraum der Universitat Liineburg)
50 LIVING AS FORM

is that it lends to "touch-down" projects that ties for direct feedback are limited, outside of
intervene only temporarily in a given situa¬ the comments generated by the participants—
tion—not unlike catastrophe relief. But some how then should the project be assessed?
short-term, commissioned projects have also But even if bigger museums were hesitant to
yielded long-term efforts. Suggestion for the take on social practice projects, at least within
Day by Apolonija Sustersic 19 began as part their main venues, by year 2000, this kind of
of a exhibition I curated in 2000 at Stock¬ work had become a common component of
holm's Moderna Museet, titled What If: Art on most biennials. This proved especially true in
the Verge of Architecture and Design, which shows that took place outside of the Western
continued for four years with the support of world, such as Manifests 3 in Ljubljana, the
various art and architecture institutions, such Periferic Biennial in Iasi, and the Taipei Bien¬
as laspis in Stockholm and the Architecture nial. Meanwhile, artists themselves, as well as
Museum of Ljubljana. Sustersic, trained as other non-institutional representatives, began
both an architect and artist, invited stakehold¬ organizing their own initiatives—often long¬
ers in urban development and institutional pol¬ term, relationship-building efforts designed to
itics to join in a conversation about the future contribute significantly to a particular context:
of Stockholm, a city known for its conservative Park Fiction in Hamburg, a multi-year cam¬
urban and architectural approach. Like Wik- paign to transform an empty lot planned for an
strom, Sustersic stimulated public engage¬ office development into a public park, as well
ment by providing bicycles for the duration of as Dan Peterman's Blackstone Bicycle Works,
the exhibition. Participants also received maps a youth education bike shop in Chicago, come
with commentary from emerging architects to mind.
about contested areas in the city's layout and Sustained engagement also characterized
design, and postcards with images of those Germany-based Schleuser.net (1998-2007).
sites so that visitors could locate them, pedal The word "Schleuser" means to transfer or take
to them, and view the issues firsthand. Part something through a hindrance like a lock or a
of the debate on which the exhibition's theme border.20 To that end, Schleuser.net, with art¬
was based was the fact that Moderna Museet ists Farida Heuck, Ralf Homann and Manuela
itself is located on an island, removed from Unverdorben at the helm, focused on border
the urban fabric. Sustersic then organized a regimes. In 1993, the famous "Budapest Trial"
closed, moderated discussion within the exhi¬ criminalized "escape aid," helping people flee
bition space among commenting architects, the Eastern Bloc, which had previously been
city planners, developers, and two prominent considered a venerable activity, post-WWII.
local politicians—representatives who don't 21 Since then, migration had become a con¬
normally encounter (let alone talk to) one troversial issue in German politics on a local,
another about urban issues. The audience mix regional, and national level, as well as across
resulted in lively, productive exchanges which Europe. Modeled after a lobbying organization,
could only have occurred within the context Schleuser.net aimed to improve the media por¬
of art, primarily because such a diverse group trayal of "the men and women who engage in
would never have agreed to meet outside of undocumented cross-border traffic."
a nonpolitical context. Eventually, the debate With the help of a realistic fiction, Schle-
focused on the harbor area and its prospected user.net set up an office, organized events,
extension. and displayed promotional material, including
Moderna Museet's staff initially resisted brochures and gadgets, in various locations,
Suggestion for the Day for pragmatic reasons: including a municipal administration building.
they simply weren't accustomed to working They also employed billboards and exhibitions
with living artists, or organizing the production to communicate their message. The bland, cor¬
of new work. Another reservation often heard porate-looking, orange and blue design of their
in relation to social practice is that opportuni¬ printed matter and website could easily be
 SCHLEUSER ^NET
Trade Association for Smuggling People

confused with that of a proper pressure group. Copy. Triggered by the Kunstverein's unique
This was not by chance: coming out of the location between the historic Hofgarten and
German radical Left—Homann co-organized the local government building, Schneuser.net
the pioneering "Freie Klasse" (Free Class) at produced new promotional material, and orga¬
the Munich Academy in the late 1980s—Sche- nized a month-long series of lectures which
luser.net participated in the widespread theat- targeted politicians and journalists employing
ricalization of activism, while also consciously incorrect data related to undocumented border
evoking play and parody.22 (Another related crossing. One of the lectures was a hands-on
initiative that Homann co-founded was the presentation by artist Heath Bunting about
activist project Kein Mensch 1st Illegal, or No how to cross European borders without being
One Is Illegal, which, since 1997, has fought documented. In another, historian Anne Klein
for equal rights, regardless of whether or not presented her research on the Emergency Res¬
the persons in question possess legal papers.) cue Committee, which in 1940-42 smuggled
When Schleuser.net was invited to par¬ and saved more than two thousand people
ticipate in the group exhibition Exchange & from the south of France. Among the rescued
Transform (Arbeitstitel), which I curated at were philosopher Hannah Arendt and artist
Munich's Kunstverein Munchen (2002), it was Marc Chagall.24
important to offer the group time and space to If Suggestion for the Day indicated an
carry on their work in a concentrated way.23 interest in institutional dilemmas and urban
They moved their computers, phones, and files issues, and Schleuser.net exemplified collec¬
to the exhibition space, furnishing it with the tive endeavors as well as sustained engage¬
elements of artist duo Bik van der Pol's Lobby ment—all increasingly important features of
Above: Founded by a group of German artists, Schleuser.net maintained the appearance of a think tank with its bland corporate logo (Courtesy Bundesverband
Schleppen und Schleusen)
52 LIVING AS FORM

social practice—the Lost Highway Expedition goods and services are exchanged directly,
(2006) testifies to the art world's intensified Time/Bank uses an alternate currency, in the
focus on research-based practices and trans¬ fashion of the "Ithaca HOUR" which has been
versal collaborations. However, these days, traded in Ithaca, New York, since 1991. So far,
research does not necessarily occur in iso¬ Time/Bank has primarily concentrated on art
lation, obscure archives, or remote libraries. world networks; consequently, many of the
I nstead, like a flash mob with a clear purpose— services on offer relate to what cultural pro¬
to reframe "balkanization" as a window to ducers do and need. Aranda and Vidokle have
Europe's future, rather than as an archaic and opened branches in physical spaces in Basel,
violent memory of its past—the Lost Highway den Hague and Frankfurt, accompanied by
Expedition explored for one month the never shops with objects for sale, including bicycles.
completed "Brotherhood and Unity Highway" They asked a number of artists to design pro¬
in ex-Yugoslavia. The expedition also ventured totypes for actual tender, and chose Lawrence
to Albania. Weiner's bill for printing.27
Initiated by the architects Stealth and As the director of Tensta Konsthall, I have
Kyong Park and the artist Marjetica Potrc, the invited Vidokle and Aranda to establish a
Lost Highway Expedition brought nearly three branch of Time/Bank in Tensta, a suburb of
hundred artists, architects, geographers, crit¬ Stockholm with approximately twenty thou¬
ics, and curators to cities along the route of sand inhabitants. It is a geographically dis¬
the "Lost Highway" for events hosted by local tinct neighborhood built in the late 1960s as
organizations pertaining to recent urbaniza¬ part of a large late-Modernist housing scheme
tion, community politics, and cultural activi¬ that was implemented across Sweden. Today,
ties. The trip itself was entirely self-organized, Tensta is a bedroom community with the most
with people traveling by car, bus, train, or bike- diverse concentration of nationalities in the
according to preference and budget. No one country; because of this, many local business
was required to commit to the entire journey, owners are already familiar with parallel econ¬
although some did. Having worked with Stealth omies. Tensta's unemployment rate is high and
in other contexts, I simply joined them at the the average income low. Along with the senior
first two stops in Ljubljana and Zagreb with my high school, one of the best in the capital, and
ten-month-old son, opting to take the train as the local library, Tensta Konsthall serves as
our means of transportation. The expedition a rare stable entity in an otherwise transient
culminated in a host of projects, such as the area. The challenge here will be to sustain
creation of art works, texts, conferences, publi¬ Time/Bank in this wide, yet tight, community
cations, collaborations, and networks. Among where money has a different urgency.
them are artist Kasper Akhoj's Abstracts, Since the days of Returnity, social prac¬
which relates the geopolitically fascinating tice has developed its own unique gestures
story of a flexible display system common in and orthodoxies, tensions and contradictions.
Yugoslavia, as well as the publication of the In fact, a plethora of new education programs
Lost Highway Expedition: Photobook.25 exclusively explore social practice.28 Bringing
The desire and need to work long-term is the field into light now is neither to crown the
felt in many corners of the art world, includ¬ genre "king of art," nor to establish a cross¬
ing social practice.26 To that end, Time/Bank, genre alternative canon. Rather, it is to con¬
by Julieta Aranda and Anton Vidokle, was sider projects and practices that do something
designed to operate indefinitely. Based on the significant in the moment, in palpable and/or
classical structure of a nineteenth-century symbolic ways, within a specific set of circum¬
time bank in which units of time are used as stances. It is obvious that not all social practice
currency, this contemporary version allows projects are interesting and relevant, just as all
individuals and groups to pool and trade skills. painting is not uninteresting and irrelevant.
Different from potlatch and barter, where And yet, in spite of its increasing visibility,
Opposite, top to bottom: Lost Highway Expedition visited the unfinished Museum of the Revolution and first residential towers built in New Belgrade after World War
II. A partially constructed mosque in the Shuto Orizari part of Skopje, Macedonia was abandoned due to lack of funds and the conversion of large parts of the com¬
munity to Evangelical Christianity. (Photographs by Kyong Park)
Ml 1^ t JJL.UU1
1 ®]
'If- M
•;!3feii|
ikjfci. j
 RETURNING ON BIKES: NOTES ON SOCIAL PRACTICE

social practice still mainly operates within the and Shumon Basar, eds. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2006) and Markus
Miessen, The Nightmare of Participation (Crossbench Praxis as a Mode of Criticality)
"minor" strands of the art world—as opposed (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2010).
19 See Maria Lind, "What If: Art on the Verge of Architecture and Design" in Selected
to the spectacularized and consumption-ori¬ Maria Lind Writing, Brian Kuan Wood, ed. (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2010).
20 See http://www.schleuser.net/en/pl_l.php
ented mainstream institutions of the "major" 21 Maria Lind, "We Support Mobility" in Symbolproduktion, eds. Farida Heuck, Ralf

strand. These minors are self-organized ini¬ Homann, Manuela Unverdorben (Berlin: Goldrausch Kunstlerinnenprojekt Art IT, 2004).
22 Lisa Diedrich, "Architecture as an Allusion: Hermann Hiller and the Planet of the
tiatives, artistic and otherwise, as well as Freie Klasse," Collected Newsletters, Maria Lind, Soren Grammel, Katharina
Schlieben, Judith Schwarzbart, Ana Paula Cohen, Julienne Lorz, Tbssa Praun, eds.
small-scale public institutions with precarious (FYankfurt: Kunstverein Munchen and Revolver Archiv fur aktuelle Kunst, 2005).
23 See Maria Lind, "Exchange & Transform (Arbeitstitel)" in Selected Maria Lind Writing,
economies and they are the source of most of Brian Kuan Wood, ed. (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2010).
24 Farida Heuck, Ralf Homann, Manuela Unverdorben, "Art Meets the Corporate World;
the new ideas in art.29 Sharing certain features The Bundesverband Schleppen & Schleusen (National Association for Smuggling
with Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's "minor People) Takes Successful Stock," in Collected Newsletters, Maria Lind, Soren
Grammel, Katharina Schlieben, Judith Schwartzbart, Ana Paula Cohen, Julienne Lorz,
literature," written by members of a minority Tessa Praun, eds. (Frankfurt: Kunstverein Munchen and Revovler Archiv fur aktuell
Kunst, 2005).
but using and corrupting the language of the 25 Lost Highway Expedition Photobook, Kathenne Carl and Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss, eds.
(Rotterdam: Veenman Publishers, 2007).
majority (like Franz Kafka) in order to maintain 26 See, for example, Claire Doherty and Paul O'Neill, Locating the Producers: Durational
maximum self-determination, the minors of the Approaches to Public Art (Amsterdam: Antenna Valiz, 2009).
27 See http://www.e-flux.com/timebank/
art world keep a calculated distance from the 28 Christina Linden, "En kort lista: Thnkar om social praktik" in Paletten, no. 1, 2011.
29 Manifesta 8 catalogue: Maria Lind, "Manifesta Murcia," (Milano: Silvana Editoriale,
"majors."30 2010).
30 Gilles Deleuze, Fblix Guattari, Robert Bnnkley, "What is a Minor Literature?" in
Being slightly off-center can indeed often Mississippi Review, vol. 11, no. 3, Winter/Spring 1983: 13-33.

be an advantage. Today the minors, in general,

and social practice, in particular, benefit from
not yet having been subsumed by the majors.
This is encouraging, as the work then can still
offer the possibility of avoiding preconcep¬
tions about art production and direction, even
if only for a moment. The questioning is ongo¬
ing, the process is rolling, and I keep waiting to
one day see someone cycling down the street
pedaling forwards, but going backwards.

ENDNOTES
1 Contemporary Sculpture: Projects in Munster 1997, Klaus Bussmann, Kasper
Konig, Florian Matzner, eds. (Ostfildern-Ruit: Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1997).
2 "Returnity," text by Elin Wikstrom in Moderns Museet Projekt: Elm Wikstrom,
ManaLmd, ed. (Stockholm: Modern Museet, 2000).
3 Exhibition catalogue: Yves Aupetitallot, Projet Unite, (E.G.A. Brighton), 3 vol., 1993.
4 Exhibition catalogue for Sonsbeek 1993, Arnhem, curated by Valerie Smith.
5 Exhibition catalogue, Mary Jane Jacob, Places With A Past: New Site-Specific Art in
Charleston (New York: Rizzoli International, 1991).
6 Exhibition catalogue: Mary Jane Jacob, Culture in Action: A Public Program of
Sculpture Chicago (Seattle: Bay Press, 1995) and Miwon Kwon, One Place After
Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press, 2004).
7 See Andrea Fraser, Services: A Working-Group Exhibition, http://eipcp.net/trans-
versal/0102/fraser/en and Andrea Fraser, "What's Intangible, Transitory, Mediating,
Participatory, and Rendered in the Public Sphere?", vol. 80, October magazme, 1997.
8 Julia Bryan-Wilson, Art Workers: Radical Practice in the Vietnam War Era (Berkeley,
Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2009).
9 Nicolas Bournaud, Relational Aesthetics (Dijon: Les presses du reel, 2002).
10 Exhibition catalogue: Peter Weibel, Kontext Kunst (Koln: DuMont, 1994).
11 Suzanne Lacy, Mapping the Tbrrain: New Genre Public Art (Seattle: Bay Press, 1995).
12 Suzi Gablik, The Reenchantment of Art (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991).
13 Grant Kester, Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modem Art
(Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004).
14 Participation, Claire Bishop, ed. (London: Whitechapel and Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press, 2006).
15 Situation, Claire Doherty, ed. (London: Whitechapel and Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press, 2009).
16 See Mana Lind, "The Collaborative Thin" in Taking the Matter Into Common Hands,
Johanna Billing, Maria Lind, Lars Nilsson, eds. (London: Black Dog Publishing,
2007); and Judith Schwartzbart, "The Social as Medium," in Meaning and Motivation,
Collected Newsletters, Maria Lind, Soren Grammel, Katharina Schlieben, Judith
Schwarzbart, Ana Paula Cohen, Juleinne Lorz, Tbssa Praun, eds. (FYankfurt: Kunstverein
Munchen and Revolver Archiv fur aktuelle Kunst, 2005).
17 See The Participation Reader, Andrea Cornwall, ed. (London and New York: Zed
Books, 2011).
18 See Did Someone Say Participate? An Atlas of Spatial Practice, Markus Miessen

Opposite, top to bottom : Damir Niksic delivers his performance on the Miljacka river as part of Lost Highway Expedition in Sarajevo (Photograph by Arnoud
Schuurman). In Albania, Peter Lang discusses the editor's introduction of Lonely Planet's guidebook for the Western Balkans, which explains the difficulty for the
editors in choosing the book’s title over "former Yugoslavia" or “South East Europe" (Photograph by Kyong Park),
56 LIVING AS FORM

DEMOCRATIZING
URBANIZATION AND
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW
CMC IMAGINATION
TEDDY CRUZ
 DEMOCRATIZING URBANIZATION AND THE SEARCH FOR A NEW CIVIC IMAGINATION 57

THE SHRINKING RELEVANCY OF THE PUBLIC Sufficient economic analysis of our current
The obvious is staring us—the public—in the dilemma has shown the similarities between
face and, yet, we're ignoring it. We occupy a late 1920's depression-era conditions and our
critical juncture in history, defined by unprec¬ own situation today. Both socio-economic cri¬
edented socio-economic, political, and envi¬ ses were characterized by the not-so-coinci-
ronmental crises across any imaginable reg¬ dental meeting of excessive inequality and low
ister. Our institutions of culture, governance, marginal tax rates: At these critical points, the
and urban development have atrophied, with¬ income gap between the very wealthy and all
out knowing how to re-invent themselves, or other Americans reached record levels. In both
construct alternative procedures to engage 1928 and 2008 the top one percent averaged
the conditions that have produced the crises an income approximately 1,000 times high¬
in the first place. er than America's bottom 90 percent, while
How many Wall Street bailouts, foreclo¬ enjoying the lowest taxation available.
sures, superfluous debt ceiling debates, and While the similarities are clear, there
tea-party zealots—amid the defunding of our hasn't been enough discussion of the very
public education system, and abandonment of different outcomes following both periods.
healthcare and energy legislature—will it take In general, the post-depression years were
to prompt our own spring revolution? The pas¬ marked by a self-assured consolidation of a
sivity of the American public and its creative collective political will to engage in public par¬
sectors, in the context of this renewed return ticipation and public debate. Briefly, the politi¬
to excessive inequality and ideological polar¬ cal period following the depression witnessed
ization, makes clear that protests on par with the emergence of the New Deal and with it a
those that occurred in Cairo's Tahrir Square commitment to invest in public infrastructure,
will never happen in the US. Here, there is no education, and services partly enabled by
state of emergency. We lack the kind of col¬ higher marginal tax rates to the wealthy; in the
lective sense of urgency that would prompt 1950s, the marginal tax rate to the upperclass
us to fundamentally question our own ways of was 91 percent compared to 35 percent today,
thinking and acting, and form new spaces of ultimately resulting in a few decades of more
operation. equitable distribution of economic and civic
It is also obvious that we learned the best resources.
lesson in Democracy 101 from those Middle The economic and infrastructural growth
Eastern societies the American public was experienced during that period of committed
lead to believe were turban-wearing terror¬ public spending clearly demonstrates that
ists: Democracy is not simply the right to be trickle-down economics, based on de-tax-
left alone. Rather it is defined by the co-exis¬ ing the rich so that its wealth will eventually
tence with others in space, a collective ethos, touch the rest of Americans, has been the fake
regardless of social media, that uncondition¬ democratic fagade of neo-liberal models. This
ally stands for social rights. I do not mean falsehood had forced us to believe and defend
to naively suggest that those revolutionary another one: the mythology of the American
instances can be reproduced that easily; each Dream as promised by an ownership society,
cultural space has its own socio-political com¬ low taxes, and individual freedoms that allow
plexity. We have witnessed, for example, how for unchecked economic expansion. Today, as
specific geo-political configurations and his¬ the rich become richer in the middle of soaring
toric power alliances have made it difficult to unemployment rates, certain socio-economic
repeat Egypt's transformation in Syria, Bahrain realities, specific to the United States, reveal
and Libya. Nonetheless, the uncompromising themselves. We are the only country in the
collective act of seeking transformation of the world where the poor defend the rich, possi¬
stagnant status quo resonates, and should bly with the belief that someday the American
encourage our own self-critique. Dream will enable us all to be as wealthy. The
58 LIVING AS FORM

public ethos of this period also contradicts the what makes our period radically different from
conservative belief that social and economic the post depression era, cementing the final
strength depend on less government. Rather, erosion of public participation from the politi¬
they require an intelligent one, defined by cal process and a culture of impunity in the
responsible taxation, progressive public poli¬ upper echelons of institutional structures.
cy, and proactive collective imagination. The ultimate impact of this consolidated
Our current period of crisis, then, has been economic and political hegemony can be illus¬
defined by exactly the opposite. The absence trated in what I call the Three Slaps on the Face
of a self-assured political leadership and con¬ of the American Public since 2008.1. After the
structive debate of and about the public has big bubble of economic growth burst in Sep¬
allowed the public to be hijacked by right wing tember of 2008, the public unwantedly came
demagogy that turns every socially based to the rescue of the architects of the crisis by
effort into a communist coup, co-opted by poli¬ bailing out the banking industry (first slap).
tics of fear. In fact, the very word "public" has 2. Following this, the lack of collateral regu¬
become a liability, and therefore has taken on a lation to protect homeowners in the manage¬
negative connotation, even within our 'public,' ment of loan defaults resulted in millions of
political institutions; in fact, the way public foreclosures, producing further insecurity and
option disappeared from Obama's Health Care unprecedented unemployment rates (second
Bill reflects this. Therefore, in my mind, dif¬ slap). 3. Finally, the unfolding of this econom¬
ferent from the post-depression years, which ic crisis and its political upheaval has recently
enabled a healthy public debate and gen¬ enabled this conservative wealthy minority
eral accountability for the re-distribution of to de-fund the public with massive spending
resources, our period has been characterized cuts on education, health, and social servic¬
by a shrinking conception of the public and es without raising any taxes to the wealthy
the consolidation of a powerful elite of indi¬ (third slap). So, we are now paralyzed, silently
vidual or corporate wealth, which, in fact, has witnessing the most blatant politics of unac¬
remained unaffected and unaccountable today. countability, shrinking social and public insti¬
From the time of Margaret Thatcher to tutions, and not a single proposal or action that
Ronald Reagan's re-installment of pre-depres¬ suggests a different approach or arrangement.
sion era free-market economic policies based So, ours is primarily a cultural crisis—
on de-regulation and hyper excessive priva¬ rather than an economic or environmental
tization of resources in the early 1980s, we one—resulting in the inability of institutions to
have once more witnessed the ascendance question their ways of thinking, or the rigid¬
of income inequality and social disparity that ity of their protocols and silos. It is within this
has yielded the current crisis. Equally obvi¬ radical context that we must question the role
ous is that these typical neo-liberal economic of art and humanities and their contingent
models not only enabled a small elite to be in cultural institutions of pedagogy, production,
control of economic power but, this time, in display, and distribution. A more functional
control of political power as well, in unprece¬ relationship between art and the everyday is
dented ways. What I am referring to is the phil¬ urgently needed, through which artists can act
anthropic and lobbying machines sponsored as interlocutors across this polarized territory,
by right wing foundations that have enabled intervening in the debate itself and mediating
this economic elite to own not only the bulk of new forms of acting and living.
resources but also the media and information In fact, one primary site of artistic inter¬
networks that manipulate public opinion and vention today is the gap itself that has been
the electorate. This consolidation of the eco¬ produced between cultural institutions and
nomic and political power of this wealthy elite the public, instigating a new civic imagination
to lobby and install an anti-taxes, anti-immi¬ and political will. It is not enough in ourtime to
gration and anti-public culture in our time is only give art the task of metaphorically reveal-
Opposite: Time/Food is a temporary eatery that operates on the Time/Bank economic system—a platform where individuals can pool time and skills, bypassing
money as a means of value. Visitors to Time/Food pay for their lunch in exchange for one half-hour of time currency earned by helping others in the Time/Bank
community. (Photographs by Sam Horine)
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ing the very socio-economic histories and of the avant-garde as an autonomous project,
injustices that have produced these crises, 'needing' a critical distance from the institu¬
but it is essential that art becomes an instru¬ tions to operate critically in the research of
ment to construct specific procedures that can experimental form. On the other hand, we find
transcend them. The revision of our own artis¬ those who need to step out of this autonomy
tic procedures is essential today, expanded in order to engage the socio-political and eco¬
modes of practice to engage alternative sites nomic domains that have remained peripheral
of research and pedagogy, new conceptions to the specializations of art and architecture,
of cultural and economic production and the questioning our professions' powerlessness in
re-organization of social relations seem more the context of the world's most pressing cur¬
urgent than ever. rent crises.
This need to expand the realm of estab¬
EXPANDING ARTISTIC PRACTICE: FROM CRITICAL lished artistic practices is a direct result of our
DISTANCE TO CRITICAL PROXIMITY creative fields' unconditional love affair, in the
The same ideological divide in politics today last years, with a system of economic excess
permeates art and architecture's current that was needed to legitimize artistic experi¬
implicit debate. On one hand, we find those mentation. These emerging activist practices
who continue to defend these two fields as a seek, instead, for a project of radical proximity
self-referential project of apolitical formalism, to the institutions, transforming them in order
made of hyper-aesthetics for the sake of aes¬ to produce new aesthetic categories that can
thetics, which continues to press the notion problematize the relationship of the social, the
Above: Haha took over a vacated storefront on Greenleaf Street in Chicago, where they planted a hydroponic garden to provide produce for local AIDS and HIV
patients (Photograph by Haha, Courtesy Sculpture Chicago),
 DEMOCRATIZING URBANIZATION AND THE SEARCH FOR A NEW CIVIC IMAGINATION 61

political, and the formal. infrastructure, housing, and density. I cannot

In these practices, artists are responsible think of any other continental region where
for imagining counter spatial procedures, and we can find this type of collective effort led by
political and economic structures that can municipal and federal governments seeking a
produce new modes of social encounters. new brand of progressive politics.
Without altering the exclusionary policies This suggests the need to reorient our
that have produced the current crises in the focus to other sites of research and interven¬
first place, our professions will continue to tion, arguing that some of the most relevant
be subordinated by visionless and homoge¬ practices and projects forwarding socio-eco¬
neous environments defined by the bottom- nomic sustainability will not emerge from sites
line of developers' spreadsheets as well as of abundance but from sites of scarcity. New
neo-conservative politics and economics of experimental practices of research and inter¬
a hyper-individualistic ownership society. In vention will emerge from zones of conflict. It
essence, then, the autonomous role of artists is in the periphery where conditions of social
needs to be coupled with the role of the activ¬ emergency are transforming our ways of think¬
ist. I don't see one as more important than the ing about urbanization.
other because both are necessary today.
RADICALIZING THE PARTICULAR: MOVING FROM
NEW SITES OF EXPERIMENTATION: AN URBANISM THE AMBIGUITY OF THE PUBLIC TO THE SPECIFIC¬
BEYOND THE PROPERTY LINE ITY OF RIGHTS
The world's architecture intelligentsia—sup¬ We need to move beyond the abstraction of the
ported by the pre-2008 glamorous economy "global" in order to engage with the particu¬
—flocked en masse to The Arab Emirates and larities of the political inscribed within local
China to help build dream castles that would geographies of conflict. It is within this speci¬
catapult these enclaves of wealth as global ficity where contemporary artistic practice
epicentres of urban development. Yet many of needs to reposition itself in order to expose
these high-profile projects have only perpetu¬ the particularity of hidden institutional his¬
ated the exhausted recipes of an oil hungry, tories, revealing the missing information that
U.S.-style globalization, camouflaging with can allow us to piece together a more accurate
hyper-aesthetics an architecture of exclu¬ anticipatory urban research and intervention.
sion based on urbanities of surveillance and To be political in our field requires that we
control. Other than a few isolated architec¬ commit to revealing conditions of conflict and
tural interventions whose images have been the institutional mechanisms that perpetu¬
disseminated widely, no major ideas were ate them. What produced the crisis in the first
advanced to transform existing paradigms of place? Only knowing the specific conditions
housing, infrastructure, and density. that produced it can enable us to think politi¬
While the world had been focused on those cally. In other words, artistic and architectural
enclaves of abundance up until our current experimentation in our time should involve the
economic downturn, the most radical ideas specific re-organization of the political and
advancing new models of urban development economic conditions that continue to produce
were produced in the margins, across Latin conflict between top-down forces of urbaniza¬
American cities. Challenging the neo-liberal tion and bottom-up social and ecological net¬
urban logic of development, which is founded works, enclaves of mega wealth and sectors of
on top-down privatization, homogeneity and marginalization. Conflict is a creative tool.
exclusion, visionary mayors in cities such as At this moment, it is not buildings, but the
Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Bogota, and Medellin fundamental re-organization of socio-eco¬
encouraged new public participation, civic nomic relations that is the necessary ground
culture, and unorthodox cross-institutional for producing new paradigms of democratiza¬
collaborations, rethinking the meaning of tion and urbanization. Artists and architects
 have a role in the conceptualization of such NEW URBAN PEDAGOGY: THE VISUALIZATION OF
new protocols, infiltrating into existing insti¬ A NEW CIVIC IMAGINATION
tutional mechanisms in order to reconstruct Fundamental to the rethinking of exclusion¬
politics itself, not simply political art or archi¬ ary political and economic frameworks that
tecture. It has been said that the Civil Rights defined the logics of uneven urban develop¬
movement in the United States began in a bus. ment in the last years is the translation and
At least that is the image that detonated the visualization of the socio-cultural and eco¬
unfolding of such constitutional transforma¬ nomic entrepreneurial intelligence embedded
tion. A small act trickling up into the collec¬ in many marginal, immigrant neighborhoods.
tive's awareness. While public transport at the While the global city had become the privi¬
time was labeled "public," it wasn't actually leged site of consumption and display, margin¬
accessible to all. To that end, it is necessary al neighborhoods across the world remained
to move from the generality of the term "pub¬ sites of cultural production. But the hidden
lic" in our political debate to the specificity of socio-economic value of these immigrant
rights to the city, and its neighborhoods. This communities' informal transactions across
would expand the idea that architects and art¬ bottom-up cultural production, economies and
ists, besides being producers of buildings and densities, continues to be off the radar of con¬
objects, can be designers of political process¬ ventional top-down planning institutions.
es, alternative economic models, and collabo¬ If we consider citizenship as a creative
rations across institutions and jurisdictions. act, it is new immigrants in the U.S. today who
This can be in the form of small, incremental are pointing at a new conception of civic cul¬
acts of retrofit of existing urban fabrics and ture and a more inclusive city. In this context,
regulation, encroaching into the privatization I see informal urbanization as the site of a new
of public domain and infrastructure, as well as interpretation of community, citizenship, and
the rigidity of institutional thinking. praxis, where emergent urban configurations
Above: Suzanne Lacy’s The Roof Is On Fire operated as an outlet for Oakland teens to openly discuss
pressing topics while an audience, including the local and
national news media, listened in (Courtesy Suzanne Lacy).
 DEMOCRATIZING URBANIZATION AND THE SEARCH FOR A NEW CIVIC IMAGINATION 63

produced out of social emergency suggest the duced environmental, economic and social
performative role of individuals constructing crises? The conventional structures and pro¬
their own spaces. The most radical urban inter¬ tocols of academic institutions may be seen to
ventions in our time have in fact emerged in be at odds with activist practices, which are,
marginal neighborhoods, as immigrants have by their very nature, organic and extra-aca¬
been injecting informal economies and hous¬ demic. Should activist practices challenge the
ing additions into mono-use parcels, implicitly pedagogical structures within the institution?
proposing the urgent revision of current dis¬ Are new modes of teaching and learning called
criminating land-use policies that have per¬ for?
petuated zoning as a punitive tool to prevent Today, it is essential to reorient our gaze
socialization, instead of a generative tool that toward the drama embedded in the reality of
organizes activity and economy. the everyday and in doing so, engage the shift¬
But these immigrant communities' invis¬ ing socio-political and economic domains that
ible urban praxis needs interpretation and rep¬ have been ungraspable by art and design. It is
resentation; this is the space of intervention not the "image" of the everyday and its meta¬
institutions of art, culture, and governance phorical content that is at stake here, though.
need to engage. How do we mobilize this activ¬ More than ever, we must engage the 'praxis'
ism into new spatial and economic infrastruc¬ of the everyday, enabling functional relation¬
tures that benefit these 'communities of prac¬ ships between individuals, as collectives, and
tice' in the long term, beyond the short-term their environments, as new critical interfaces
problem solving of private developers or the between research, artistic intervention, and
institutions of charity? the production of the city.
But, often, just as artists and architects
lack awareness of the specific political and
social knowledge embedded within these mar¬
ginal communities, community activists also
lack the conceptual devices to enable their
own everyday procedures, and how their neigh¬
borhood agency can trickle up to produce new
institutional transformations. It is in the con¬
text of these conditions where a different role
for art, architecture, environmental, and com¬
munity activist practices can emerge. One that
goes beyond the metaphorical representation
of people, where only the community's sym¬
bolic image is amplified (what a community
"looks" like) instead of its operative dimension
(what a community "does"). New knowledge-
exchange corridors can be produced, between
the specialized knowledge of institutions and
the ethical knowledge of "community," and art¬
ists can have a role to facilitate this exchange,
occupying the gap between the visible and the
invisible.
Questioning new forms of urban pedago¬
gy is one of the most critical sites for artistic
investigation and practice today, do we pro¬
duce new interfaces with the public to raise
awareness of the conditions that have pro¬
 LIVING AS FORM

MICROU PIAS:
PUBLIC PRACTICE IN
THE PUBLIC SPHERE
CAROL BECKER
65 LIVING AS FORM

"THE ESSENTIAL. FUNCTION OF

utopia; says. ERNST BLOCH
TO THEODOR ADORNO, “IS A
CRITIQUE OF WFHAT IS PRESENT”1

There used to be a greater distinction between rocked our political one, helping us to reimag¬
private and public. Private events—enact¬ ine the meaning of public space and even the
ments of the particulars of personal life—took traditional notion of the public square. As Hen¬
place in what was understood as the private ri Lefebvre wrote, "Events belie forecasts. To
sphere. Meanwhile, public events—the public the extent that events are historic, they upset
engagement of public issues, such as poli¬ calculations."2
tics—took place in the public sphere. Now, We watched transfixed and enthralled by
weighty discussions about public issues, as the political upheaval in Egypt—a microutopian
well as minute, private intimacies, are posted moment organized via cell phones and social
daily on social media sites. Those separations, media, such as Twitter, in an elaborately docu¬
which once seemed basic, clear, and reliable, mented process that took years to manifest,
now appear blurred. including side trips to Serbia, for example, to
While many have noted these changes, learn best practices. But the final transforma¬
little understanding exists about the societal tion occurred in real time and space in Tahrir
impact of such implosions and inversions in ("Liberation") Square, a public arena designed
relationship to democracy. How are political by French urban planner Baron Haussmann to
affairs influenced when open engagement simulate the Paris of Napoleon III. The physi¬
with public issues is increasingly missing cal reality of those prepared to stay in Tahrir
from public discourse? And what about the Square until President Hosni Mubarak stepped
effects of celebrity culture, in which topics down—a real-life, choreographed showdown—
that would have been considered narcissistic was so large in scale, duration, and imagination
self-absorption at one time are now considered that it not only transformed Egypt, but contin¬
newsworthy, and glut the media? It appears ues to shake the region (Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq,
that the private has colonized the public and, Iran, Syria, and Libya) to very dramatic, exhila¬
in fact, the concept of a "public" has all but rating, and even devastating effect.
disappeared—except perhaps as an epithet The events in Egypt and elsewhere in the
used by the right wing to reflect its scorn for Middle East demonstrated yet again that the
what its adherents portray as an outdated, lib¬ Internet is a very effective organizing tool
eral notion of citizenship. (used for good and bad). But it has not replaced
Just as nature most recently unleashed human interaction and the manifestation of
catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis on real resistance in public space which occurs
our physical landscape, tectonic events have when bodies are put on the line. No matter how
Previous page: Paul Ramirez Jonas' Key to the City bestowed the key to New York City—an honor usually reserved for dignitaries and heroes—to esteemed and
everyday citizens alike (Photograph by Paul Ramirez Jonas, Courtesy Creative Time).
 MICROUTOPIAS: PUBLIC PRACTICE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE 67

many digital petitions we sign, when real soci¬ So even when throngs surrounded Marina
etal change occurs, it most often happens in a Abramovic during the run of her piece The Art¬
physical location where a mass of people con¬ ist is Present at the Museum of Modern Art in
gregates for an assignation. Even most voting 2010, those participating in it expected a pri¬
requires that we physically show up at a desig¬ vate moment. For this work, Abramovic gave
nated place to cast our vote with the populace. visitors the opportunity to sit facing her, qui¬
Egypt reconfirmed that we humans need etly, for as long as they desired, while hun¬
the agora—the public square—as it existed in dreds of other visitors watched. The perfor¬
ancient Greece, a site where we come together mance was recorded on video, under blaring
physically, as bodies, in orderto hear one anoth¬ lights, and then posted on the Internet, where
er. We show force as a crowd—a purposeful mob, it would reside permanently for all to see. So
a res publica—'with an expressed shared desire. how could this be a private experience? And
In the architecture of traditional cities, one yet it was. For many, this very public interac¬
can usually find a place where the collective tion with Abramovic—who acted as both the
gathers, whether in Egypt's Tahrir Square, Ath¬ artist and the art piece—was revelatory, con¬
ens' Syntagma Square, Washington's National templative, and emotional.
Mall, Argentina's Plaza de Mayo, or Madison, The more the Museum of Modern Art
Wisconsin's Capitol Square (which usually makes itself available for such encounters, the
serves as the site of an excellent outdoor farm¬ more the space is transformed into a performa¬
ers' market when it is not a place of protest). tive space within which we, as viewers, collab¬
As social observers and cultural commen¬ orate with artists to fabricate our public/pri¬
tators who employ multiple forms and strate¬ vate experience. In the winter of 2011, Janine
gies to engage their audiences, artists are Antoni, at both the Hayward Gallery in London
uniquely positioned to respond to social trans¬ and the Haus der Kunst in Munich, surrepti¬
formation and to educate communities about tiously placed a letter in visitors' checked
its complexity and implications. But now that bags. Antoni designed the mass-produced let¬
more people are employing art forms to com¬ ter to look like a personal note, handwritten on
municate, how can artists hope to make an a page ripped from a museum program. While
impact in this sphere? And how can we think some visitors assumed it was a love letter
of such space as local when technology focus¬ from another person, the notes were actu¬
es our thoughts so profoundly on the global? ally sent from an unspecified work of art—an
Or is public space always local—defined by a imaginary act that generated a real object-
particular group, who now affects its meaning extending the experience of the museum
from one society to the next in our increasing¬ beyond the physical building, and highlighting
ly interconnected world? the intimate, relational connection between art
The challenge to navigate the tension and spectator.
between public and private realms is hardly A number of artists have used these inver¬
new to artists. After all, museums, as well as sions of public/private to take on a new role
other traditional art spaces, can be considered and a new line of interrogation appropriate to
a kind of "public space," since these institu¬ this historical moment. Because artists often
tions are partly funded by both cities and gravitate to what is missing, many have com¬
states, or sit on park district land. Yet, they are mitted themselves to creating events that con¬
specifically designed to feel private. In fact, nect people and ideas in the public sphere
we often enter museums expecting to experi¬ because they discern that what is missing now
ence something deeply personal—moments is public discourse about the relationship of
that are contrary to the disorder of our daily individuals to society. Artists also reconfigure
lives—despite the presence of others, who dis¬ contemporary physical or psychical elements
rupt our sense of intimacy and ownership of into an imagined, ideal, hypothetical organi¬
the space. zation of reality. When they felt that the world
68 LIVING AS FORM

was too sanitized and our interior life was ical sense with which it has most often been
not respected, understood, or made visible, employed.)
they wanted to bring those subjective issues By asking her museum audience to sit with
into the public arena. Later, as this interiority her in deep silence, Abramovic created such a
became the norm, artists continued to focus microutopian moment. Similarly, Tino Seghal,
on what was still silenced—for example, sexu¬ in This Progress at the Guggenheim Museum
ality, gender, and transgender—the complex in New York, asked visitors to discuss the con¬
emotions and sociology of identity. cept of "progress" with performers who greeted
Now many artists fear that the world has them as they walked up the ramps. As visitors
become too interior-focused and that private approached the top of the museum, the age
space and identity are all there is, even in the of the performers increased and the nature of
public arena. Most significantly, those person¬ the dialogue they initiated became less overtly
al issues are rarely linked to the greater social philosophical and more narrative. These were
context that could help frame them, isolate interventions that engaged audiences in unex¬
their origins, and catalyze their resolutions. As pected acts with an unspecified result.
sociologist Zygmunt Bauman writes, "...Public Art is often a kind of dreaming the world into
Space is not much more than a giant screen on being, a transmutation of thought into mate¬
which private worries are projected without, in rial reality, and an affirmation that the physical
the course of magnification, ceasing to be pri¬ world begins in the incorporeal—in ideas. Even
vate."3 Public confession has become the norm, Marx, the materialist, believed in the uniqueness
as we regress to a shame-based society. "And of humans to imagine their world into being. He
so," adds Bauman, "public space is increas¬ wrote that humans were better architects than
ingly empty of public issues."4 As artists take bees and ants—the great builders of collective
on these contradictions, their actions are living—because they could see the plan before
not necessarily intended to challenge the art building it.6 In other words, we humans could
worlds of galleries and museums but, rather, to "anticipate" what we would create.
help reinvigorate collectivity and connectivity Art is the great anticipator. It generates
throughout the larger world. an "interpretation of that which is, in terms of
They do this through the creation of that-which-is-not," as Rousseau might say.7 If
microutopic communities—small locations of one thinks that what exists is inevitable, then
utopian interaction. Utopia, from the Greek there is no space for art. This is why, in a very
utopos, meaning "good place" (as opposed to pragmatic society like the U.S., art is so often
outopos, meaning "no place"), is the creation misunderstood. Yet, for that same reason, art is
of imaginary "good places" that do not exist on also so essential.
any map, other than that of the imagination. At this time, there is a collective under¬
Such experiments attempt to create physi¬ standing that, as John Muse wrote in an essay
cal manifestations of an ideal "humanity" in about Flash Mobs, "Everybody is an audience
an inhumane world—interventions in a world all the time."8 He adds, "Public spaces are
overrun by the spectacle. Even if their duration more than ever becoming sites for communal
is brief, these interventions reflect the desire isolation.''9 Artists are both attempting to cir¬
to give form to what Ernst Bloch might call "the cumvent the spectacle and to reclaim urban
not yet conscious," that which "anticipates" space for the coming together of its inhabit¬
and "illuminates"5 what might be possible. And ants. They embrace diversity and resist the
because utopian thinking is always communal, suburbanization of such space. But how do
it has always historically implied the coming you bring people together to truly make a con¬
together of people within an imagined societal nection between them? Cultural anthropolo¬
situation. (Therefore, you cannot have a utopia gist Arjun Appadurai asserts that the answer
of one; an idealized experience with oneself is microutopian. "We need to think of the big¬
would not qualify as "utopia" in the philosoph¬ gest problems in the world," he has said, "and
Opposite :Ramirez Jonas reinvented the key to the city as a master key able to unlock more than 20 sites across New York City's five boroughs, including community
gardens, cemeteries, police stations, and museums, and invited the people of the city to exchange keys in small bestowal ceremonies (Photograph by Paul Ramirez
Jonas, Courtesy Creative Time).
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 MICROUTOPIAS: PUBLIC PRACTICE IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

come up with the smallest contribution toward space is the only antidote to its disappearance.
their solution." It's a sentiment the artist Paul Like Ramirez Jonas, artists have taken on the
Ramirez Jonas has alluded to in work that has task of creating microutopian interventions
so often addressed both the interests, and the that allow us to dream back the communities
complexities, of the creation of "public." we fear we have lost.
What might we think of as the biggest
Carol Becker first presented this piece as a lecture at the
problems and what might be the smallest solu¬
Museum of Modern Art, New York, April 28, 2011.
tions? Ramirez Jonas' 2010 Creative Time
commission, The Key to the City, presented the ENDNOTES
1 Ernst Bloch, The Utopian Function of Art and Literature: Selected Essays, Jack Zipes
following questions: How can we reclaim the and Frank Mecklenburg, trans. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1988): 12.
2 Henri Lefebvre, The Explosion: Marxism and the French Upheaval, Alfred Ehrenfeld,
centrality of citizenship as the most important trans. (New York: Modern Reader Paperbacks, 1969): 7.
element of society? How can keys to the city 3 Zygmunt Bauman, The Individualized Society (Cambridge, U.K.: Polity, 2001): 107.
4 Ibid.: 108.
be available to all New Yorkers? And can this 5 Jack Zipes, "Introduction: Toward a Realization of Anticipatory Illumination," Bloch,
xxxi.
act of reclaiming the city be done in the most 6 David Harvey, A Companion to Marx's Capital (London: Verso, 2010): 112.
7 Alain Martineau, Herbert Marcuse's Utopia (Montreal: Harvest House, 1986): 35.
recognized public site of all—Times Square? 8 John H. Muse, "Flash Mobs and the Diffusion of Audience," in Theater, 40:3,

According to written and spoken testimonies, 9

Tom Seller, ed. (New Haven: Yale School of Drama, 2010): 12.
Ibid.
the piece created a temporary community, as 10 Jacques Ranciere, The Emancipated Spectator, Gregory Elliott, trans. (London: Verso,
2009): 13.
people waited to gift and to receive the keys.
And it spread across the city, encouraging citi¬
zens to explore and experience greater access
to one of the least intimate global cities in
the world.
His newest piece. The Commons, is a hero¬
ic statue modeled after the bronze original of
Marcus Aurelius atop his steed, located in the
Campidoglio in Rome. But this horse has no
rider, and it is made of cork, so that the public
can use pushpins to leave notices for others,
and watch it erode as the material deteriorates.
The piece, which is ephemeral, collective, and
historical, immediately reminded me of the
Polygonal Wall in Delphi, where the ancient
Greeks posted public messages in stone—the
release of slaves by their owners, the amount
of time a slave would stay after the decision of
release, an inscription of gratitude to a bene¬
factor, the record of a debt repaid. Private acts
were recorded in the public sphere to last
forever.
In Ramirez Jonas' act of creating the rider¬
less horse, we have a perfect gesture for this
historical moment. The unspecified rider—the
completion of the heroic statue—can only be
the public itself. Without the rider, the gal¬
loping horse has no clear direction, and with¬
out the public, the piece is incomplete. As
Jacques Ranciere would say, "The Spectator
also acts..."10 Engagement is the only antidote
to the spectacle. And the reinvention of public
Opposite:The cork version of Marcus Aurelius' steed created by Ramirez Jonas a variety of messages and pictures pinned on by the public
(Photograph by Paul Ramirez Jonas, Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates).
 LIVING AS FORM

EVENTWORK."
THE FOURFOLD MATRIX
OF CONTEMPORARY
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
BRIAN HOLMES
 EVENTWORK: THE FOURFOLD MATRIX OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 73

Art into life: ts there any more persistent uto¬ regained urgency and seriousness, grappling
pia in the history of vanguard expressions? with concrete and progressively more com¬
Shedding its external forms, its inherited tech¬ plex issues such as globalization and climate
niques, its specialized materials, art becomes change. Yet society still tends to absorb the
a living gesture, rippling out across the sen¬ transformations, to neutralize the inventions.
sible surface of humanity. It creates an ethos, The question is not how to aestheticize "living
a mythos, an intensely vibrant presence; it as form," in order to display the results for con¬
migrates from the pencil, the chisel or the templation in a museum. The question is how
brush into ways of doing and modes of being. to change the forms in which we are living.
From the German Romantics to the Beatnik Social movements are vehicles for this
poets, from the Dadaists to the Living Theater, metamorphosis. At times they generate his¬
this story has been told again and again, each toric events, like the occupation of public
time with a startling twist on the same under¬ squares that unfolded across the world in
lying phrase. At stake is more than the search 2011. Through the stoppage of "business as
for stylistic renewal: it's about transforming usual" they alter life-paths, shift labor routines
your everyday existence. and career horizons along with laws and gov¬
Theory into revolution: The fundamental ernments, and contribute to long-lasting phil¬
demand of the thinkers and rioters of May '68 osophical and affective transfigurations. Yet
was also "change life" (changer la vie). But despite their historic dimensions, the sources
from a revolutionary viewpoint, the conse¬ of social movements are intimate, aspirational:
quences of intimate desire should be econom¬ they grow out of small groups, they crystal¬
ic and structural. Situationist theory had no lize around what Guattari called "non-discur-
meaning without immediate communization. sive, pathic knowledge."1 Their capacity for
"Marx, Mao, Marcuse" was a slogan for the sparking change is widely coveted in our era.
streets. The self-overcoming of art was under¬ Micro-movements in the form of trends, fash¬
stood as just one part of a program to vanquish ions and crazes are continually ignited, chan¬
class divides, transform labor relations and neled and fueled by PR strategists, in order to
put alienated individuals back in touch with instrumentalize the upwelling of social desire.
one another. Still grassroots groups, vanguard projects and
The '60s were full of wild fantasies and intentional communities continue to take their
unrealized potentials; yet significant experi¬ own lives as raw material, inventing alternate
ments were undertaken, with consequences futures and hoping to generate models, possi¬
extending up to the present. Campus radical¬ bilities and tools for others.
ism gave new life to educational alternatives, Absorbing all this historical experience,
resulting in large-scale initiatives like the social movements have expanded to include
University Without Walls in the United States at least four dimensions. Critical research is
or the Open University in Britain. The coun¬ fundamental to today's movements, which
ter-cultural use of hand-held video cameras are always at grips with complex legal, sci¬
led to radical media projects like Paper Tiger entific and economic problems. Participatory
Television, Deep Dish TV and Indymedia. art is vital to any group taking its issues to
Politics itself went through a metamorphosis: the streets, because it stresses a commitment
autonomous Marxism gave rise to self-orga¬ to both representation and lived experience.
nized projects all across Europe, while affinity Networked communications and strategies of
groups based on Quaker conceptions of direct mass-media penetration are another charac¬
democracy took deep root in the USA, struc¬ teristic of contemporary movements, because
turing the anti-nuclear movement, becoming ideas and directly embodied struggles just
professionalized in the NGOs of the '80s, then disappear without a megaphone. Finally,
surging back at full anarchist force in Seattle. social movement politics consists in the col¬
From the AIDS movements onwards, activism laborative coordination or "self-organization"
of this whole set of practices, gathering forces, porary social movements. The name I propose
orchestrating efforts and helping to unleash for it is eventwork.
events and to deal with their consequences. But wait a minute—if we're talking grass¬
These different strands interweave, condense roots activism, why insist on complexity? Why
into gestures and events, then disperse again, even mention the disciplines and the profes¬
creating the dynamics of the movement. A sions? The reason is that the grassroots has
fourfold matrix replaces any single, easily gone urban and suburban and rurban, and it's
definable initiative. us: the precarious middle-class subjects of
No doubt the complexity of this fourfold contemporary capitalist societies, which are
process explains the rarity of effective inter¬ based on knowledge, technology and commu¬
ventionism. But that's the challenge of politi¬ nication. Our disciplines create these societ¬
cal engagement. What has to be grasped, if we ies. Our professions seem only able to main¬
want to renew our democratic culture, is the tain them as they are. The point is to explore
convergence of art, theory, media and politics how we can act, and what role art, theory,
into a mobile force that oversteps the limits of media and self-organization can have in effec¬
any professional sphere or disciplinary field, tive forms of intervention.
while still drawing on their knowledge and Like the sociologist Ulrich Beck in his
technical capacities. This essay tries to devel¬ book The Risk Society, I think the movement
op a concept for the fourfold matrix of contem¬ outside the modernist institutions has been

Above: Since 1981, Paper Tiger TV has been creating programs in New York City about how the media can be used to affect social change (Courtesy Paper Tiger TV).
 EVEN'WORK: THE FOURFOLD MATRIX OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 75

made necessary by the failure of those insti¬ to the modernist disciplines (as when we are
tutions to respond to the dangers created by enjoined to restrict artistic practice to some
modernization itself.2 The dangers of modern¬ version of "pure form"). The result is a disjunc¬
ization grew clearer at the close of the postwar tion from the present and a lingering state of
period, when the Keynesian-Fordist mode of collective paralysis: which is the most striking
capitalist development revealed its inherent characteristic of left politics today, at least in
links with inequality, war, ecological destruc¬ the United States.
tion and the repression of minorities. It became As living conditions deteriorate in the
apparent that not only "hard" science, but also capitalist democracies, one pressing question
the social sciences and humanities were help¬ is how artists, intellectuals, media makers and
ing to produce the problems; yet nothing in political organizers can come together to help
their internal criteria of truth or legitimacy or change the course of collective existence.
professional success could restrain them. The The answer lies in a move across institution¬
most conscious and articulate exponents of al boundaries and modernist norms. Each of
each of the separated disciplines then felt the the separated disciplines needs to define the
need to develop a critique of their own field, paradox of eventwork—and thereby open up a
and to merge that critique into an attempt at place for itself, beyond itself, in the fourfold
social transformation. Only in this way could matrix of contemporary social movements.
they find an immanent response to the sources
of their own alienation.3 HISTORY
So there is a paradox of eventwork: it starts Let's go straight to the most impressive
from within the disciplines whose limits it example of eventwork in the late '60s, which
seeks to overcome. In this text I'll start with unfolds not in New York or London or Paris,
the internal contradictions of avant-garde art but in Argentina. This was the moment of the
in the late '60s, and with the attempt by one country's industrial take-off, when an expand¬
group of Latin American artists to go beyond ing middle class enjoyed close links to cul¬
them. With that narrative as a backdrop, I'll tural developments in the metropolitan cen¬
sketch out the emergence of an expanded ters. In capitalist societies, utopian longings
realm of activism in the post-Fordist era, from often accompany periods of economic growth:
the '70s up to now. The aim is to discover because the abundance of material and sym¬
some basic ideas that could change the way bolic production promises real use values. But
each of us conceives the relations between since mid-1966 Argentina was under the grip
our daily life, our politics, and our discipline of a military dictatorship, which repressed indi¬
or profession. vidual freedoms and imposed brutal programs
In this movement, certain truisms will of economic rationalization. Under these con¬
run up against their shortfalls. What I want ditions, a circle of self-consciously "vanguard"
to make clear is that despite their rhetorical artists in Buenos Aires and Rosario began to
attractions, the twin formulas of "art into life" sense the futility of the rapid cycles of formal
and "theory into revolution" are too simplis¬ innovation that had marked the decade of pop,
tic to describe the pathways that lead people op, happenings, minimalism, performance and
beyond their professional and institutional conceptualism. They became keenly aware
limits. The failure to describe those paths with that inventions designed to shatter bourgeois
the right mix of urgency and complexity leads norms were being used as signs of prestige
to the bromides of "relational art" (intimacy on and intellectual superiority by the elites, to the
display in a sterile white cube) or the radical point where, as Leon Ferrari wrote, "the culture
chic of "critical theory" (revolution for sale in created by the artist becomes his enemy."4
an academic bookstore). Through their weak¬ Therefore, these artists began an increasingly
ness and emptiness, these failures of cultural violent break with the gallery and museum cir¬
critique provoke reactionary calls for a return cuits that had formerly sustained their prac-
76 LIVING AS FORM

tices, using transgressive works, actions and the production of "counter-information" on the
declarations to curtail their own participation strictly semiotic level, using factual analysis
in officially sanctioned shows. to oppose the government propaganda cam¬
By mid-summer of 1968 they decided to paign that surrounded the restructuring. So
organize an independent congress, the "First the artists collaborated with students, profes¬
National Meeting on Avant-Garde Art." The sors, filmmakers, photographers, journalists
goal was to define their autonomy from the and a left-wing union, engaging in a covert
elite cultural system, to formulate their social fact-finding mission which they disguised as
ideal—a Guevarist revolution—and to plan a traditional cultural project. In the course of
the realization of a work that would embody two trips they visited fields and factories, cir¬
their aims.5 In this work, the aesthetic mate¬ culated questionnaires, interviewed, filmed
rial, as Ferrari explained, would no longer be and photographed workers and their families,
articulated according to formal innovations, putting their preliminary analysis to the test of
but instead with clearly referential and imme¬ experience. This on-site research was the first
diately graspable "meanings" (significados) phase of the project, culminating in a press
which themselves would be subjected to conference where they ripped the veil from
transgressive profanation, in order to gener¬ their activities and explained the real purpose
ate a powerful denunciation of existing social of their work, hoping—in vain, as it turned out
conditions. Echoing Ferrari's approach in the —to raise a scandal and push their messages
language of semiotics and information theory, out into the mass media.
another contributor to the meeting, Nicolas An effective denunciation would also
Rosa, insisted that "the work is experimental require the production of what the artists
when it proceeds to the rupture of the cultural called an "over-informational circuit" (circuito
model." This rupture was, to be frank, direct sobreinformacional) which would operate on
and irreversible, enacted in a visual, verbal and the perceptual level, in order to overcome the
gestural language that would allow anyone to persuasive power of the official propaganda
participate. It would also be disseminated in both quantitatively and qualitatively.6 For the
the mass media. Situated outside the elite second phase they formulated a multilayered
institutions and linked to the social context exhibition strategy, beginning with teaser
of its realization, the work would "produce an campaigns that introduced potential publics
effect similar to that of political action," in the to the words "Tucuman" and "Tucuman Arde"
words of the artist Juan Pablo Renzi, who had through posters, playbills, cinema screens and
drafted the framing text for the meeting. And graffiti interventions. They then created two
because "ideological statements are easily multimedia exhibitions in union halls in Rosa¬
absorbed," Renzi continued, the revolutionary rio and Buenos Aires, attempting in both cases
work "transforms the ideology into a real event to use not a single room but the entire build¬
from within its own structure." Such was the ing. They deployed press clippings and images
theoretical program that led to Tucuman Arde, from the government propaganda campaign
or "Tucuman is Burning." and contrasted these to economic and public-
What was meant by the title? The group health statistics as well as diagrams indicating
sought to denounce the process of restructur¬ the links between industrial interests, local
ing that had been imposed on the sugar indus¬ and national officials and foreign capital. They
try in the province of Tucuman, resulting in displayed documentary photographs, project¬
widespread unemployment and hunger for the ed films, delivered speeches and circulated
workers. BeyondTucuman itself, they wanted to a critical study prepared by the collaborating
reveal the larger program of economic rational¬ sociologists. At roughly half-hour intervals the
ization being carried by the national bourgeoi¬ lights were cut, dramatizing the kinds of infra¬
sie under dictatorial command, in line with US structural failures that were typically endured
and European interests. To do so would require by people in the provinces. Bitter coffee was
Opposite. The exhibition, titled both "Thcuman Arde" and "First Avant Garde Art Biennial,” took place in the CGT union in Rosario, Argentina, and had an opening
night attendance of more than 1,000 people. To market the exhibition, the collective used street publicity in the form of graffiti and posters with the simple slogan
" TUcuman Arde(Courtesy Graciela Carnevale)
ecu m a n
 LIVING AS FORM

served to give the public a taste of the hun¬ Ana Longoni vindicates the aims of the project
ger affecting a cane-growing region where by asking the obvious disciplinary question:
food, and sugar itself, was in chronically short "Where's the vanguard art in Tucuman Arde?"
supply. She responds: "If Tucuman Arde can be con¬
The exhibition strategy was a success. The fused with a political act, it is because it was
opening in Rosario on November 3 attracted a political act. The artists had realized a work
over a thousand people on the first night, that extended the limits of art to zones that did
resulting in a prolongation of the show for two not correspond, that were external."9
weeks instead of one. It was restaged in Bue¬ So what was achieved by the move to
nos Aires on November 25, this time including these zones external to art? At a time when
the covertly produced "Third Cinema" film, La institutional channels were blocked and the
Hora de tos Homos (The Hour of the Furnaces, modernizing process had become a dictato¬
1968), by Octavio Getino and Fernando Sola- rial nightmare, the project was able to orches¬
nas, whose projection was halted every half trate the efforts of a broad division of cultural
hour for immediate discussion. The level of labor, capable of analyzing complex social
courage implied by this process, under con¬ phenomena. It then disseminated the results
ditions of military rule, is difficult to imagine. of this labor through the expressive practices
The show in Buenos Aires was censored on of an event, in order to produce awareness and
its second day by threats against the union, contribute to active resistance. What results
exposing the repressive character of the is a change in the finality, or indeed the use-
regime and inviting a further radicalization of value, of cultural production. As one statement
the country's cultural producers. indicates, the project was conceived "to help
Because of its collective organization, make possible the creation of an alternative
its experimental nature, its investigatory pro¬ culture that can form part of the revolutionary
cess, its tight articulation of analytic and aes¬ process."10 Or as the Robho dossier put it: "The
thetic means, its oppositional stance and its extra imagination found in Tucuman Arde, if
untimely closure, Tucuman Arde has become compared for example to the usual agitation
something of a myth in Argentina and abroad. campaign, comes expressly from a practice of,
The American critic Lucy Lippard, who would and a preliminary reflection on, the notions of
later be active in the Art Workers Coalition, event, participation and proliferation of the
repeatedly claimed that she had been radical¬ aesthetic experience."11 That's a perfect defi¬
ized by her meeting with members of the group nition of eventwork.
on a visit to Argentina in October 1968.7 The Its effectiveness comes from a perceptual,
French journal Robho devoted a dossier to the analytic and expressive collaboration, which
work in 1971, emphasizing its break with bour¬ lends an affective charge to the interpreta¬
geois art and its revolutionary potentials. In tion of a real-world situation. Such work is
its more recent reception, which has included capable of touching people, of involving them,
a large number of shows and articles from the not through a retreat to the exalted dreamland
late 1990s on, the project has been linked to of a white cube, but instead within the every¬
"global conceptualism," and to an interven¬ day complexity of life in a technocratic soci¬
tionist form of media art based on semiotic ety, where the most elusive possibility is that
analysis.8 This attention from the museum of shared resistance to the vast, encroach¬
world testifies to an intense public interest in ing programs of government and industry. My
a process that emphasized common speech, question is how to extend that resistance into
direct action and a break with bourgeois cul¬ the present, how to make it last past each sin¬
tural forms. But that same attention opens gular event. Graciela Carnevale, who preserved
up the questions of absorption, banalization, this archive of materials at great risk through¬
neutralization. In the most thoroughly docu¬ out the Videla dictatorship, said this to me in a
mented analysis, the Argentine art historian conversation: "There is always a great difficul-
 EVENTWORK: THE FOURFOLD MATRIX OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 79

ty in how to transmit this experience or make go on delivering the goods for that expanding
it perceptible, beyond the information about middle class. What revealed itself, with par¬
it."12 Her dilemma is that of everyone who has ticular intensity inside the educational and
been involved in a significant social move¬ cultural circuits made possible by economic
ment: "How to share an experience that pro¬ growth, was a shared awareness that the the¬
duced such great transformations in oneself?" ory doesn't work, and that despite its suppos¬
edly corrective institutions, capitalist modern¬
ACTUALITY ization itself produces conditions of gendered
The four vectors of eventwork converge into and racialized exploitation, neocolonial expro¬
action beneath the pressure of injustice and priation, mental and emotional manipulation
the anguishing awareness of risk, in situations and ever-worsening environmental pollution.
where your own discipline, profession or insti¬ The sense of a threat lodged within the
tution proves incapable of responding, so that utopian promises of Keynesian social democ¬
some other course of action must be taken. racy and Fordist industrial modernization
"I don't know what to do but I'm gonna do it," was a major motivator for the emergence of
as my comrades in the Ne Pas Plier collective the so-called "new social movements," which
used to say. Activism is the making-common could not be reduced to workplace bargaining
of a desire and a resolve to change the forms demands and which could not be adequately
of living, under uncertain conditions, without conceived within the frameworks of traditional
any guarantees. When this desire and resolve class analysis. In these movements, to the dis¬
can be shared, the intensive assemblage of a may of an older and more doctrinaire political
social movement brings both the agonistic and generation, issues of alienation and therefore
the utopian dimension into daily experience, of identity began coming ineluctably to the
into leisure hours, passionate relations, the fore.13 The people involved in the civil rights
home, the bed, your dreams. It brings public and antiwar campaigns, and then in a far wider
responsibility into private passion. That's liv¬ range of struggles, had to bring new causes,
ing as political form. arenas and strategies of action into some kind
Of course it's not supposed to be that way of alignment with thorny questions of percep¬
in modern society, where an institution exists, tion knowledge, communication, motivation,
in theory at least, to address every need or identity, trust, and even self-analysis, all of
problem. Experts manage risks on govern¬ which became only more acute as immediate
ment time; artists produce the highest subli¬ material necessity receded in the consumer
mations of entertainment; the media respond societies. Artistic expression now appeared
faithfully to popular demands for information; as a necessarily ambiguous mediator between
and social movements are the disciplined personal conviction and public representa¬
actions of organized laborers seeking higher tion. The intersections of theory and daily life
wages, all beneath the watchful eye of profes¬ became more dense and entangled, with the
sional politicians. That's the theory, anyway. result that each movement, or even each cam¬
This functional division of industrial society paign, turned into something original and sur¬
reached its peak of democratic legitimacy in prising, the momentary public crystallization
the decades after WWII, when the Keynesian- of a singular group process. The simultaneous
Fordist welfare state claimed to achieve stable inadequacy and necessity of this way of doing
growth, income equality and social benefits for politics has come to define the entire period
an expanding "middle class," which included of post-Fordism: it is our actuality, our present
unionized factory laborers alongside a broad tense, at least from a progressive-left perspec¬
range of university-trained technicians, ser¬ tive. If an intervention like Tucuman Arde can
vice providers and managers. What revealed still appear familiar, in its modes of organiza¬
itself in 1968 and afterwards, however, was tion and operation if not in its ideologies and
not just the inability of the industrial state to revolutionary horizons, it's because the basic
80 LIVING AS FORM

sets of objective and subjective problems ingest certain kinds of medications, to receive
underlying it are still very much with us today. or dispense certain kinds of publicly support¬
The similarities and the differences will ed care. Scientific and legal investigations,
come into focus if we think back on one of the often performed by AIDS sufferers, were an
most influential social movements of the post- essential part of this effort.15 At the same time
Fordist period, which is AIDS activism. I wasn't it became apparent that the rights to treatment
part of that movement and I can't bear witness and care were dependent not only on scientific
to its intensities. But what's impressive from a and legal arguments, but also on the ways that
distance is the collective reaction to a situa¬ risk groups were represented in the media, and
tion of extreme risk, where the issue is not so on the ways that politicians monitored, solic¬
much the technical capacity as the willingness ited or encouraged those representations, so
of a democratic society to respond to dangers as to advance their own policies and ensure
that weigh disproportionately on stigmatized their own re-election.16 The struggle had to
minorities. Rather than widespread police and be brought into the fields of education and
military repression, as under a dictatorship, it cultural production, whose influence on the
is the perception of an intimate threat that lays structures of feeling and belief should not be
the basis for militant action. A totalizing ideo¬ underestimated. But at the same time, it had to
logical framework like Marxism can no longer reach into the mass media. This breakthrough
be counted on to structure this perception. to the media required the staging of striking
Instead, subjectivity and daily experience events on the ground, often with resources
become crucial. The questions of who you borrowed from visual art and performance. And
are, who others think you are, what rights you all that entailed the coordination of a far-flung
are accorded and what rights you are ready to division of labor under more-or-less anarchic
demand, are all life or death issues, felt and conditions, where there could be no director,
spontaneously expressed before being formu¬ no hierarchy, no flow chart, etc. To give some
lated and represented. A recent book called insight into this complex interweave of AIDS
Moving Politics makes clear how much these activism. I'd like to quote the art critic and
affective dimensions mattered, after a thresh¬ activist Douglas Crimp, in an interview with
old of indignation had been crossed and grief Tina Takemoto:
could be transformed into anger.14 At the micro
level, the "event" could be a glance or a tear in Crimp: Within ACT UP, there was a
private, a gesture or a speech in a meeting, no sophistication about the uses of rep¬
less than a public action or a media interven¬ resentation for activist politics. This
tion. All these are ways to elicit and modulate awareness came not only from people
affects, which mobilize activist groups while who knew art theory but also from
exerting a powerful force on others, whether people who worked in public relations,
friends or strangers, elected officials or anon¬ design, and advertising... So ACT UP
ymous spectators. was a weird hybrid of traditional left¬
Yet indignation and rage, along with soli¬ ist politics, innovative postmodern
darity and love for fellow human beings, can theory, and access to professional
only be the immediate foundations of a social resources... One of the most emblem¬
movement. Critical research, symbolic expres¬ atic images associated with ACT UP
sion, media and self-organization were the was the SILENCE=DEATH logo, com¬
operative vectors for AIDS activism, just as posed of a simple pink triangle on a
they had been for a vanguard project like black background with white sans
Tucuman Arde. At first the issues themselves serif type. This image was created by a
had to be defined, and they were highly com¬ group of gay designers who organized
plex, involving the social rights to fund or insti¬ the Silence=Death Project before ACT
gate certain lines of research, to legalize or UP even started. Although they didn't
 ■SEH. SCHUMER
SUPPORT
fullglobai
AIDS
funding

design the Logo for ACT UP, they lent back to the larger, trans-generational question
it to the movement, and it was used on of eventwork, exactly as Graciela Carnevale
T-shirts as an official emblem.17 expressed it: "How to share an experience
that produced such great transformations in
Here again, what lends resonance to the event oneself?"
is the difference of the people involved, and Speaking from my own experience. I've
therefore of the techniques and knowledges also participated in a large movement, or real¬
they are able to bring to bear, whenever they ly a constellation of social movements, the
find the inspiration or the need or the cour¬ global justice movements opposing financially
age to overstep their disciplinary boundaries driven globalization. Starting around 1994
and start to work at odds with the dominant they arose across the earth: in Mexico, India,
functions. That all of this should only become France, Britain, the US, etc. From the begin¬
possible under the menace of illness and the ning these movements interacted very exten¬
direct threat of death is, I think, of the essence: sively, first through labor, NGO and anarchist
it's not something one should avoid or shirk networks, then in counter-summits mounted
away from. Social movements arise and spread in the face of the transnational institutions
in the face of existential threats. What's at such as the WTO and the IMF, then through
issue then, in our blinkered and controlled and the veritable popular universities constitut¬
self-satisfied societies, is the perception of a ed by the World Social Forums. The people I
threat and the modulation of affect in the face worked with, mainly in Europe but also in the
of it—or in other words, the way you rupture a Americas, were able to twist or subvert some
cultural pattern, the way you motivate yourself of the utopian energies of the Internet boom,
and others to undertake a course of action. combining them with labor struggles, ecologi¬
This paradoxical figure of a social solidarity cal movements and indigenous demands to
founded on an experience of rupture brings us create a political response to corporate global-

Above: Members of Philadelphia's chapter of ACT UP protest about the global AIDS epidemic at the U.N. in April 2011 (Photograph by Kaytee Riek).
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 EVENTWORK; THE FOURFOLD MATRIX OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 83

ization. In the course of these movements, the In other words, cultural confinement does
relations between critical and philosophical not just affect experimental art, as Smithson
investigation, artistic processes, direct action seems to have believed. Instead it applies to
and tactical media opened up a vast new field all egalitarian, emancipatory and ecological
of practice, more vital than anything I had pre¬ aspirations in the post-Fordist period, which
viously known. The Argentine insurrection of now reveals itself to be a period of pure cri¬
December 2001 was a culminating moment sis management, one that has not produced
of this global cycle of struggles; and for those any fundamental solutions to the problems of
involved with art, not only the history but also industrial modernization, but has only export¬
the actuality of social movements in Argen¬ ed them across the earth. Yet those problems
tina seemed to confirm the idea that aesthetic are serious, they have accumulated on every
activity could be placed into a new framework, level. What's the use of aesthetics if you don't
one that was no longer freighted with the strict have eyes to see? It would not be a metaphor
separations of the modernist institutions.18 All to say that the United States, in particular, has
this convinced me that contemporary art in its been living on credit since the outset of the
most challenging and experimental forms has post-Fordist period; and now, slowly but inexo¬
indeed been suffering from the "cultural con¬ rably, the bill is coming due.
finement" that Robert Smithson diagnosed
long ago, and that its real possibilities unfold PERSPECTIVES
on more engaging terrains, whose access has The question I've tried to raise is this: how do
mostly been foreclosed by the institutional cultural practices become political acts? Or
frameworks of museums, galleries, magazines, to put it more sharply: how does the operative
university departments, etc.19 The concept of force of a cultural activity, or indeed of a dis¬
eventwork is based directly on these experi¬ cipline, somehow break through the normative
ences with contemporary social movements, and legal limits imposed by a profession? Flow
which have generated important cooperative to create an institutional context that offers a
and communicational capacities and helped chance of mutual recognition and validation
to revitalize left political culture. for people attempting to give their particular
It's obvious, however, that the global jus¬ skills and practices a broader meaning and a
tice movements were not able to overturn the greater effectiveness?
ruling consensus on capitalist development These questions can be framed, in an
and economic growth. In fact the recent finan¬ inversing mirror, by an image from the wave of
cial crisis has both vindicated the arguments protest that swept over the state of Wisconsin
we began making as much as fifteen years ago, in the face of Governor Scott Walker's ultimate¬
and also shown those arguments to be politi¬ ly successful bid to impose an austerity plan
cally powerless, incapable of contributing to that includes an end to the right of collective
any concrete change. A similar verdict was bargaining. The image is a protest snap from
delivered to environmental activists by the someone's digital camera, reproduced widely
debacle of the Copenhagen climate summit. on the web.20 It shows a middle-class white
All of that fits into a larger pattern. If I had woman standing in front of an American flag,
to offer a one-sentence version of what I've next to a Beaux-Arts statue. She holds a sign
learned about society since 1994, it might go in her hands that says in bold capital letters:
like this: "The entire edifice of speculative,
computer-managed, gentrifying, militarized, I AM NOT REPLACEABLE
over-polluted, just-in-time, debt-driven neo¬ I AM PROFESSIONAL
liberal globalization has taken form, since the
early '80s, as a way to block the institutional Who is this woman? An artist? A curator?
changes that were first set into motion by An art historian? A cultural critic? Why does
the new social movements of the '60s-'70s." she proclaim her security in this way? Does
Opposite: The 2011 World Social Forum took place in Dakar, Senegal from February 6-11, and had 75,000 participants from 132 countries. The World Social Forum
is an annual meeting of civil society organizations opposed to globalization. (Photographs by Manoel Santos)
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 EVENTWORK: THE FOURFOLD MATRIX OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

she still have a job? Does she still have rights? in great waves, generating unpredictable conse¬
And how about ourselves? Where do our rights quences: no one knows what this one will leave
come from? How are they maintained? How are behind. But the inspiration of Wisconsin has
they produced? been fulfilled and its paradoxes have been over¬
It seems to me that in the United States come. Floating above crowds across the country,
right now, as in other countries, there is a a very different sign could be seen, pointing to
rising feeling of existential threat. Endless what now appears to be a precarious destiny:
warfare, invasive surveillance, economic pre¬
cariousness, intensified exploitation of the LOST A JOB, FOUND AN OCCUPATION
environment, increasing corruption: all these
ENDNOTES
mark the entry into an era of global tension 1 F61ix Guattari, Chaosmosis: an Ethico-Aesthetic Paradigm (Indiana University Press,
1995): 25.
whose like has not been seen since the 1930s. 2 Ulrich Beck, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity (London: Sage, 1992, 1st
As economic collapse continues and climate German edition 1986).
3 The most striking example of this self-critique in the social sciences is the reaction
change becomes more acute, these dangers of anthropologists to their discipline's participation in the Vietnam War; see for
example Dell Hymes, ed., Reinventing Anthropology (New York: Random House, 1972).
will become far more concrete; and we urgently 4 Leon Ferrari, "The Art of Meanings" (1968) in Ines Katzenstein, ed., Listen Here Now!
Argentine Art of the 1960s: Writings of the Avante-Garde (New York: MoMA, 2004): 312.
need to prepare for the moments when adher¬ 5 Four typescripts of texts delivered at this meeting are preserved in the archive of
ence to a social movement becomes inevi¬ Graciela Carnevale; they are the sorces for this paragraph. Three of them (including
the one by Leon Ferrari quoted above) are translated in Listen Here Now! ibid.: 306-18;
table. Yet it appears that laws, ethical codes the fourth, by Nicolas Rosa, is reproduced in Spanish in Ana Longoni and Mariano
Mestman, Del Di Tblla a "Tucuman Arde": Vanguardia artlstica y politica en el 68
and the requirements of professionalism in argentino (Buenos Aires: Eudeba, 2008): 174-78.
6 See Maria Tferesa Gramuglio and Nicolas Rosa, "Hicuman Arde" (1968), declaration
all-absorbing, highly competitive careers, still circulated at the Rosario exhibition, reproduced in Del Di Tblla a Tucuman Arde, ibid.:
make it impossible for most Americans to find 233-35. The text is translated under the title "Hicuman Bums" in Alexander Alberro
and Blake Stimson, eds., Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
the time, the place, the medium, the format, Press, 1999): 76-79; but circuito sobreinformacional is rendered as "informational
circuit," losing a crucial emphasis.
the desire and above all the collective will 7 Concerning Lippard’s visit to Argentina and her declarations, see Julia Bryan-Wilson,
Art Workers: Radical Practice in the Vietnam War Era (Berkeley: University of
that would help them to resist the threats. This California Press, 2009): 132-38.
8 See Mari Carmen Ramirez, " Thebes for Thriving on Adversity: Conceptualism in Latin
reminds us of what Thoreau taught in his time, America, 1960-1980," in Luis Camnitzer, Jane Farver and Rachel Weiss, eds., Global
namely that being a citizen of a democratic Conceptualism: Points of Origin: 1950s-1980s, (New York: Queens Museum of
Modem Art, 1999) and Alex Alberro, "A Media Art: Conceptual Art in Latin America,"
country means always being on the edge of in Michael Newman and Jon Bird, eds., Rewriting Conceptual Art (London: Reaktion
Books, 1999). Another important book is Andrea Giunta, Avant-Garde, Internationalism,
starting a revolution. Something about our and Politics: Argentine Art in the Sixties (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007).
Among major exhibitions featuring the archive of Tucuman Arde are Global Concept-
forms of living and working has to change, not tualism (Queens, 1999) Ex Argentina (Berlin, 2003); Documenta 12 (Kassel, 2007); and
just aesthetically and not just in theory, but Forms of Resistance (Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2007-2008). A copy of the archive
of Tucumin Arde has been acquired by the MacBa in Barcelona.
pragmatically, in terms of the kinds of activity 9 Ana Longoni and Mariano Mestman, Del Di Tblla a Tucuman Arde: 216.
10 "Frente a los acontecimientos politicos....," unsigned document in the archive of
and their modes of organization.21 Or as Doug Graciela Carnevale (2 pages), apparently a sketch for a broadside to be distributed
at the Rosario exhibition.
Ashford once put it, "Civil disobedience is an 11 "Dossier Argentine: Les fils de Marx et de Mondrian," Robho no. 5-6, Paris, 1971: 16,
art history, too."22 12 Conversation with Graciela Carnevale, Rosario, Argentina, April 11, 2011.
13 For the concept of "new social movements" and a review of the most prominent
This essay was written in the summer of theories about them, see Donatella della Porta and Mario Diani, Social Movements:
An Introduction, 2d edition (London: Blackwell, 2006): chap. 1.
2011, while major social movements continued 14 Deborah B. Gould, Moving Politics: Emotion and Act Up's Fight against AIDS
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009).
to unfold across Europe and the Middle East, 15 See Steven Epstein, Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge
and a dead calm weighed on the U.S. As we go (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).
16 See Douglas Crimp, ed., AIDS: Cultural Analysis/Cultural Activism (Cambridge,
to press, the game has changed. Hundreds of Mass.: MIT Press, 1988).
17 Tina Thkemoto, "The Melancholia of AIDS: Interview with Douglas Crimp," Art
thousands of people across the country have Journal, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Winter, 2003): 83.
18 For the role of artists in Argentine social movements, see Brian Holmes, "Remember
taken to the streets, set up encampments in the Present: Representations of Crisis in Argentina, in Escape the Overcode: Artistic

public squares, and are activating all the social, Activism in the Control Society (WHW: Van Abbemuseum, Zagreb and Eindhoven,
2009); also available at http://brianholmes.wordpress.com/2007/04/28/remember-
intellectual, and cultural resources at their dis¬ the-present. For a book that literally attempts to rewrite the history of contemporary
art on the basis of Tbcuman Arde, see Luis Camnitzer, Conceptualism in Latin
posal in order to carry out a deep and search¬ American Art: Didactics of Liberation (Tbxas: University of Ttexas Press, 2007).
19 Robert Smithson, "Cultural Confinement" (1972), in Nancy Holt, ed. The Writings of
ing critique of inequality. Alongside organizers, Robert Smithson (New York: NYU Press, 1979).
20 See among many other blogs and websites, http://thepragmaticprogressive.org/
researchers, and media activists, artists have wp/2011/02/19/a-letter-ffom-a-union-maid-in-wisconsin (accessed 07/11/11).
played a role, which continues to expand as 21 This is exactly the conclusion of Dan S. Wang and Nicolas Lampert, "Wisconsin's
Lost Strike Moment," at http://www.justseeds.org/blog/2011/04/wisconsins_lost_
more people overstep the boundaries of their strike_moment_l .html.
22 Doug Ashford and 36 others, Who Cares (New York: Creative Time Books, 2006): 29.
disciplinary identities. Social movements come
Opposite: Protesters gathered in Madison, Wisconsin to protest provisions of Governor Walker's Budget Repair Bill that undermine the power of public sector
unions (Photograph by Richard Hurd). The Wisconsin Pro-Workers Rally occupied the Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin on February 19, 2011 (Photograph
by Cynthia Hollenberger).
 LIVING AS FORM

LIVING TAKES
MANY FORMS
SHANNON JACKSON
 LIVING TAKES MANY FORMS 87

"THE POWER OF THESE THEATERS SPRING¬

ING UP THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY LIES
IN THE FACT THAT HEY KNOW WHAT
THEY WANT.... THE/ INTEND TO REMAKE
A SOCIAL STRUCTURE WITHOUT THE
HELP OF MONEY—AND THIS AMBITION
ALONE INVESTS THEIR UNDERTAKING
WITH A CERTAIN MARLOWESQUE
MADNESS.”

This was HaLlie Flanagan, director of the Fed¬ writers, its mural painters, its photographers—
eral Theatre Project (FTP), one part of the FTP artists used interdependent art forms as
Works Progress Administration that was so vehicles for reimagining the interdependen¬
central to implementing Franklin Delano Roo¬ cy of social beings. They gave public form to
sevelt's New Deal. She was recalling her work public life.
as the leader of a federally supported theatri¬
cal movement charged with responding to the As we think about the twenty years of work
reality of the Great Depression. The Federal represented in Living as Form, we should also
Theatre Project addressed timely themes with remember prior histories of socially engaged
new plays that dramatized issues of housing, art, such as the Federal Theatre Project. To do
the privatization of utilities, agricultural labor, so is to remember that now is not the first time
unemployment, racial and religious intoler¬ an international financial crisis threatened to
ance, and more. And the FTP devised inno¬ imperil the vitality of civic cultures; it is also
vative theatrical forms—staging newspapers, to acknowledge that the effects of economic
developing montage stagecraft, and opening crises and economic prosperity vary, depend¬
the same play simultaneously in several cities ing upon what global, demographic position
at once. The goal was to extend the theatrical one occupies. From Saint Petersburg, Russia
event to foreground the systemic connected¬ to Harare, Zimbabwe, from Los Angeles, Cali¬
ness of the issues endured. Social and eco¬ fornia to Glover, Vermont, booms and busts
nomic hardships were not singular problems have been socially produced and differentially
but collective ones; as such, they needed a felt. Accordingly, artists dispersed among dif¬
collective aesthetic. Like other Works Progress ferent global sites face unique and complex
Administration (WPA) culture workers—its economies as they develop cultural responses
 LIVING AS FORM

to social questions around education, public and writers, and the Living as Form archive
welfare, urban life, immigration, environmen¬ includes practices that measure their expan¬
talism, gender and racial equity, human rights, sion from other art forms as well. The installa¬
and democratic governance. Those economies tions of Phil Collins sit next to the community
are now distinctively "mixed" in our "post- theater of Cornerstone. The choreography of
1989" era, less fueled by the Cold War's capi¬ Urban Bush Women moves near the expanded
talism/communism opposition than by Third photography of Ala Plastica.
Way experimentation whose allegiances to But even if the WPA moment is a remind¬
public culture are as opaque and variable as er that socially engaged work develops from
its allegiances to public services.2 As artists a range of art traditions, the willingness to
reflect upon these and other social trans¬ capture the heterogeneity of contemporary
formations, they also reckon with the mixed work is striking and unfortunately rare. Across
socioeconomic models that support art itself. the world, artists and institutions celebrate
Artists based in Europe can still seek national "hybrid" work. However, such hybrid artists
arts funding, but groups such as The Mobile still measure their distance from traditional art
Academy or Free Class Frankfurt might worry disciplines, and their conversations and sup¬
about the encroachment of neoliberal mod¬ port networks often remain circumscribed by
els that chip away at the principles behind it. them. In other words, expanded theater artists
Public sector funding interfaces with other talk to other expanded theater artists and are
financial models. Some artists seek commis¬ presented by an international festival circuit.
sions, and others depend on royalties. Others Post-visual artists talk to other post-visual art¬
sell documentation of socially engaged work ists and are represented in the biennial circuit
in galleries, joining the likes of Phil Collins, and by the gallery-collector system. The hab¬
Thomas Hirschhorn, Paul Chan, or Francis its of criticism reinforce this inertia, routinely
Alys whose political practices enjoy art world structuring who is cast as post-Brechtian and
cachet. Still other artists such as Mierle Lader- who is cast as post-Minimalist. It is hard to
man Ukeles or Rick Lowe mobilize social sec¬ find contexts that enable conversation across
tor initiatives in service of the arts, transform¬ these networks using critical vocabularies.
ing after-school programs, public sanitation, Certainly, the difficulty is due in part to the
or urban recovery projects into aesthetic acts. wide range of skills new art forms require.
Finally, people like Josh Greene sidestep larg¬ Not everyone knows how to design a house or
er systemic processes, choosing to develop produce a film. Not everyone can fabricate a
micro-DIY networks of shared artistic support three-story puppet to be graceful or inscribe
instead. But whether you are organizing pot- African diasporic history in a simple rotation
lucks to combat the effects of Turkey's Deep of the hips; so it makes sense when archi¬
State, responding to a coalition government's tects, videographers, puppeteers, and chore¬
equivocal faith in the culture industries of the ographers seek out conversations with fellow
United Kingdom, or celebrating the release specialists. But the necessity of creating plat¬
from social realism by speculating in China's forms that stitch together the heterogeneous
booming art market, there is no pure position project of socially engaged art remains—and
for socially engaged artmaking. continues to become increasingly urgent.
Meanwhile, genuinely cross-disciplinary art¬
To recall the Federal Theatre Project inside of ists should not to have to cultivate some tal¬
the WPA is not only to prompt reflection on ents and repress others in order to conform to
changing socioeconomic contexts, but also particular legitimating contexts. It would be
to reflect upon the varied art forms from which nice, for instance, if Theaster Gates did not
social engagement springs. The WPA expand¬ have to choose between standing in a gospel
ed the practice of photographers, architects, choir or sitting at his potter's wheel.
easel painters, actors, designers, dancers,
m

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Thus, the challenge of Living as Form lies in politics in art. "I now choose to fire back that
its invitation to contemplate what living means 'political' is an exhausted term and most cer¬
in our contemporary moment, and to reckon tainly more and more irrelevant in regard to my
with the many kinds of forms that help us to work. To make a work that says, 'War is bad!'
reflect. That challenge is itself embedded in is absurd. I find myself saying with growing
different barometers for gauging aesthetic confidence that the works that I make now
integrity and social efficacy. The question of are concerned with moral choice, as in, 'What
art's social role has been a hallmark of Western is the right thing to do, particularly when we
twentieth-century aesthetic debate—whether seem to have many choices and no real choice
sociality is marked by eruptions at Cafe Vol¬ at all?"'4
taire or by the activisms of 1968, whether it is Even if ethical and pragmatic questions of
called Constructivist or Situationist, realist or "doing" activate contemporary art, modernist
relational, functional or (after Adorno) "com¬ legacies of thought and practice carry forward
mitted."3 Russia's Chto Delat's renewal of Len¬ habits of enthusiasm and suspicion. Those
in's historic question, "What is to be done?" is habits determine whether work is deemed
both an earnest call and a gesture that renders subversive or instrumentalized—whether it
the question an artifact by asking what "doing" looks efficacious or like "the end of art." Artist
could possibly mean in a twenty-first century groups such as Alternate Roots are quite clear
global context. Their pursuit resonates with in their desire to craft aesthetic solutions to
that of choreographer Bill T. Jones who finds social problems. Meanwhile, Hannah Hurtzig's
himself recalibrating his sense of the role of The Mobile Academy worries more about the

Above: Workers carry sandwich boards bearing language from Bertolt Brecht's "In Praise of Dialectics" (Courtesy Chto Delat?).
ossification of goal-driven "knowledge," ironi¬ visions of the "social." This is a matter of what
cally hoping to create "a tool to find problems we used to call "taste," a regime of sensibility
for already existing solutions."5 To some, Cor¬ that we like to pretend we have overcome. Nev¬
nerstone Theater's mission statement provides ertheless, our impulses to describe a work as
necessary inspiration: "We value art that is ironic or earnest, elitist or as literal, critical or
contemporary, community-specific, respon¬ sentimental show that many of us have emo¬
sive, multi-lingual, innovative, challenging, tional as well as conceptual investments in
and joyful. We value theater that directly certain barometers for gauging aesthetic inter¬
reflects the audience. We value the artist in vention and aesthetic corruption. Such differ¬
everyone."6 To others, such a "mission" risks ences will also affect how each of us assesses
social prescription. These critical tussles the role of functionality, utility, and intelligi¬
depend upon how each receiver understands bility in a socially engaged work. Jeremy Del-
the place of art. Should art mobilize the world ler's reenactments in "The Battle of Orgreave"
or continually question the reality principles may look radically functional to some of us
behind its formation? Should art unsettle and curiously useless to others. On the other
the bonds of social life or seek to bind social hand, Francis Alys' works may seem strangely
beings to each other? Acts of aesthetic affir¬ unintelligible to one group but overly didactic
mation coincide with equally necessary acts to another.
of aesthetic refusal. But as we come to terms
with hybrid forms of socially engaged art, no Reactions to socially engaged art thus renew
doubt every citizen will find herself jostled historic questions around the perceived auton¬
between competing and often contradictory omy and heteronomy of art, whether it should
associations that celebrate and reject varied be "self-governing" or commit to governance
Above: At Mobile Academy's Blackmarket for Useful Knowledge and Non- Knowledge No S: Encyclopedia of Dance Gestures and Applied Movements in
Humans, Animals and Matter at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin in 2005, up to 100 experts shared their knowledge with participants in half-hour increments
(Photograph by Thomas Aurin)
 LIVING TAKES MANY FORMS 91

by "external rules." As many have argued, that installation art piece may exceed the con¬
opposition always cracks under pressure. straints of the picture frame, but to an envi¬
Arguments in favor of aesthetic autonomy ronmental theater producer, it still appears
disavow their enmeshment in privatized art relatively hermetic. Postdramatic theater may
markets. Arguments in favor of aesthetic het- be non-narrative, but to a post-visual artist, it
eronomy backtrack when "the artist's freedom looks exceedingly referential. In other words,
of speech" seems threatened. But as specious our enmeshment in certain art forms will affect
as the opposition is, questions of perceived how we perceive tradition and innovation in a
aesthetic autonomy and heteronomy affect work. It will also affect how we understand its
our relative tolerance for the goals, skills, and social reach, its functionality, and its relative
styles of different art forms. The legacy of anti¬ intelligibility. What reads as earnest to a Con¬
theatrical discourses in modernist art criticism ceptual artist will look snobby to a community
offers a case in point. Many signature Mini¬ organizer. Heteronomous engagement in one
malist gestures purportedly laid the ground¬ art form looks highly autonomous to another.
work for contemporary social engagement: for But the harder work comes in a willingness to
example, the turn to time-based work, the entry think past these initial judgment calls. Who
of the body of the artist, the explicit relation is to say that the feminist content of Suzanne
to the beholder, the avowal of the spatial and Lacy's projects on rape prevents them from
institutional conditions of production.7 Such getting formal credit for being a "Happening"?
gestures were criticized in their time for being Who is to say that there isn't a radical refusal
"theatrical," and arguably the pejorative con¬ of social convention in Cornerstone's notion
notations of that term linger in the many criti¬ that there is "an artist in everyone?" Finally,
cisms and defenses of the formal properties of the cultural location of specific artists will
social practice now. However, such a discourse influence their definitions of what qualifies as
was less potent for artists who actually worked social. I am reminded of Urban Bush Women
in theater and other performing arts, people for founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's reflections on
whom time, bodies, space, and audience were the subject: "I don't know that I could make a
already incorporated into the traditions of the work that is not about healing. What would that
medium. Thus, for socially engaged theater be about? Being? Well, you know, it's interest¬
producers and choreographers, the effort was ing, a European director said to me ...you know,
not to introduce such properties—they were your work is old-fashioned because you have
already there—but to alter the conventions by this obsession with hope ... and I said, you
which such properties were managed. It meant know the values in my community that I have
that time might not be narrative, that bodies also internalized are that. So no, it's not about
might not be characters, and that space could nihilism for me orthistrain-spotting angst. No,
exceed the boundaries of the proscenium. It that's not my culture. So it can be corny to you.
meant that people like Augusto Boal would That's fine."9
seek to dynamize the audience relation into a Once we develop a tolerance for different
new kind of "spect-actor."8 ways of mixing artistic Forms, however, we can
If we then bring work that derives from get to the inspiring work of seeing how they
theatrical, visual, architectural, textual, and each address the problems and possibilities of
filmic art forms under the umbrella of "socially Living. The Works Progress Administration-
engaged art," it seems important to register like other instances of public, nonprofit, and
their different barometers for gauging skill, privately funded efforts at civic culture—knew
goal, style, and innovation. We might call this something about the making of life. At a time
the "medium-specificity" of social engage¬ of fiscal danger, the arts were not positioned
ment. The performing bodies of political the¬ as ornamental and expendable, but as central
ater may not be traditional characters, but to vehicles for reimagining the social order. Exist¬
a sculptor, they still appear to be acting. The ing economic and social structures did not
 remain intact, contracting and expanding with Flanagan that opened this essay was quoted
the decrease or increase in financial flows. when she was brought before the Dies Com¬
Instead, it was a time when various social sec¬ mittee who argued that her directorship of an
tors underwent redefinition and engaged in arts-based American relief program had been,
significant cross-training. Sectors in the arts, in fact, un-American. "You are quoting from
health care, housing, commerce, urban plan¬ this Marlowe," noted Dies Committee member
ning, sanitation, education, science, and child Joe Starnes. "Is he a communist?"10
development received joint provisions that The history lesson shows the potential
required collaboration. It meant health policy, and peril of coordinating public forms of aes¬
advanced educational policy, and cultural pol¬ thetic inquiry. Funny how acts of citizenship
icy, all in the same moment. It meant that citi¬ suddenly become unpatriotic once under the
zens were not asked to choose between sup¬ rubric of art. In our contemporary moment, we
porting employment programs or supporting tend to use the word "neoliberal" to describe
arts programs, as both sectors were reimag¬ moral regimes based on highly individuated
ined together. In theater, journalists became and market-driven measures for determining
playwrights, WPA laborers became actors, and value. And the ease with which the privatized
public utility companies hung the lights. But financial crisis of 2008 transmogrified into a
this interdependent social imagining was not national and global distrust of public systems
without its own dangers, especially when such shows how robust the psychic as well as finan¬
forms of imagining were retroactively cast as cial investment in neoliberalism actually is. I
politically corrupt. The statement from Hallie thus find myself emboldened by artists who

Above-. For Touch Sanitation. Mierle Laderman Ukeles shook hands with 8,500 NYC Sanitation workers (Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York).
 LIVING TAKES MANY FORMS 93

continue to renew our understanding of what for the many ways that fellow artists contribute
cross-sector collaboration can be, even if they to the effort. Our conceptions of expanded art
also remind usthat it is hard to do. Mierle Lader- need to stay expansive. In Living as Form we
man Ukeles has worked across the domains of find a tool to help us widen awareness. It is a
art and public sanitation for decades, but her tool that invites discussion of what form might
artist-in-residence position remains unpaid. mean. It is a tool that invites discussion of
Moreover, as Rick Lowe reminds us, cross¬ what living could mean—for future occupants
sector collaboration means re-skilling: "I have of a world full of potential and in need of repair.
to keep trying to allow myself the courage to ENDNOTES
1 Roy Rosenzweig and Barbara Melosh, "Government and the Arts: Voices from the
do it, you know, because as we open ourselves New Deal Era," The Journal of American History (September 1990): S96.
up and look around, there are many opportuni¬ 2 Anthony Giddens, The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy (Cambridge,
U.K.: Polity Press, 1998),
ties to invest that creativity. But it's challeng¬ 3 The secondary literature here is vast, but see, for example, RoseLee Goldberg,
Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present, 2nd edition (New York: Thames &
ing. Oftentimes, as an artist, you're trespass¬ Hudson, 2001); Maria Gough, The Artist as Producer: Russian Constructivism in
Revolution (Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2006); Tom McDonough, ed„ The Situationists
ing into different zones.... Oftentimes... I know and the City (London: Verso, 2010), And of course, Theodor W, Adorno, Aesthetic
nothing. I have to force myself and find courage Theory, Robert Hullot-Kentor, trans. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998).
4 Bill T. Jones, ‘"Political1 Work?," (October 4, 2006) at www.billtjones.org/billsblog/
to trespass.... Artists can license ourselves to 2006/10/political_work.htm.
5 Quoted in Bojana Cvejic, "Trickstering, Hallucinating, and Exhausting Production:
explore in any way imaginable. The challenge The Blackmarket for Useful Knowledge and Non-Knowledge," Knowledge in
Motion, Sabine Gehm, Pirrko Husemann, Katharina vone Wilcke, eds. (Bielefeld:
is having the courage to carry it through."11 It is Transcript Verlag, 2007): 54,
of course in that trespassing that art makes dif¬ 6 Cornerstone Theater, Mission and Values, http://www.cornerstonetheater.org/
(July 2011).
ferent zones of the social available for critical 7 Once again, the conversation around Minimalism and theatricality is a long one, but
see for instance, Michael Fried, "Art and Objecthood," Artforum Gune 1967); James
reflection. Cross-sector engagement exposes Meyer, Minimalism: Art and Polemics in the Sixties (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 2001); Hal Foster, "The Crux of Minimalism," in The Return of the Real
and complicates our awareness of the systems (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996).
and processes that coordinate and sustain 8 Augusta Boal, Theater of the Oppressed. Charles A. and Maria-Odilia Leal
McBrid, trans. (New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1985).
social life. For my own part, this is where social 9 Jawole Willa Jo Zollar quoted in Nadine George-Graves, Urban Bush Women:
TWenty Years of African American Dance Theater, Community Engagement, and
art becomes rigorous, conceptual, and formal. Working it Out, (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010): 204.
10 This story is oft-recounted, See, for instance, Roy Rosenzweig and Barbara Melosh,
The non-monumental gestures of such public "Government and the Arts: Voices from the New Deal Era," The Journal of American
History (September 1990): 596; Tbd Morgan. Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century
art works address, mimic, subvert, and rede¬
America (New York: Random House, 2003): 198.
fine public processes, provoking us to reflect 11 Greg Sholette, “Activism as Art: Shotgun Shacks Saved Through Art-Based
Revitalization: Interview with Rick Lowe," Huffington Post (November 22, 2010).
upon what kinds of forms—be they aesthetic,
social, economic, or governmental—we want
to sustain a life worth living. Whether occupy¬
ing an abandoned building, casting new fig¬
ures as public sector workers, or rearranging
the gestural gait of the street, such aesthetic
projects embed and rework the infrastructures
of the social. This is where the notion that liv¬
ing has a form gains traction. Living here is not
the emptied, convivial party of the relational.
Nor is it the romantically unmediated notion of
"life" whose generalized spontaneity Boomers
still elegize. By reminding usthat living isform,
these works remind us of the responsibility for
creating and recreating the conditions of life.
Form here is both socially urgent and a task for
an aesthetic imaginary. Living does not just
"happen," but is, in fact, actively produced.
In the end, the stakes of maintaining a
robust and bracing public culture are too dear
for us not to cultivate awareness and respect
94 LIVING AS FORM

PROJECTS
PROJECTS 95
96 LIVING AS FORM

Al WEIWEI
FAIRYTALE: 1,001
CHINESE VISITORS
2007

For his contribution to Documenta 12 in

Kassel, Germany, artist Ai Weiwei brought to town
1,001 residents of China during the well-known
art fair. With $4.14 million from funding sources
such as Documenta's sponsors, three Swiss foun¬
dations, as well as the German Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ai arranged all aspects of travel. He paid
for airfare, processed visa applications, refur¬
bished an old textile mill into a temporary hostel,
transported Chinese chefs to cook meals, de¬
signed travel items such as clothing and luggage,
and organized tours of Kassel's landmarks. He
also installed 1,001 antique chairs throughout the
exhibition pavilion to represent the Chinese par¬
ticipants' presence in Kassel. His visitors acted as
both tourists and subjects of his art—viewers of a
foreign culture, as well as signs of another.
Within three days of advertising the free trip
on his blog, Ai received 3,000 applications. He
privileged those with limited resources or travel
restrictions; for example, women from a farming
village, who lacked proper identity cards, were
able to obtain government-issued travel docu¬
ments for the first time. Other participants includ¬
ed laid-off workers, police officers, children, street
vendors, students, farmers, and artists. They ar¬
rived ert masse. However, Ai solicited their indi¬
vidual voices through filmed interviews with each
traveler, and also a lengthy questionnaire—99
questions—that focused on personal histories,
desires, and fantasies.
Kassel is best known as home to the Brothers
Grimm, famed collectors of fables from the region.
Ai named his project Fairytale in reference to their
tales, and as a nod to the spirit of the trip, which
likely felt mythical to many of the tourists, who had
perhaps never before dreamed of leaving China.

Top to bottom: Video stills from Ai's Fairytale show the Chinese visitors partak¬
ing in Documenta 12 (Courtesy Ai Weiwei).
PROJECTS 97
98 LIVING AS FORM

ronmental activists, they produced photographs,

ALA PLASTICA notes, and other documentation—from satellite
MAGDALENA OIL SPILL imagery to maps—to build a case for both repair to
the ecosystem and reparations to the community.
1999-2003
"We [wanted to] reclaim the strip of land Shell was
trying to close down," says Meitin, an artist and
lawyer, "and inform people about what was really
happening in that place."
Since 1991, Ala Plastica has worked with
artists, environmentalists, government agencies,
and scientists to study rivers in Argentina. For this
project, the group organized a team of researchers
that included junqueros (reed harvesters), scien¬
A month after a Shell Oil tank and a German tists, naturalists, journalists, activists, and other
ship collided in Argentina's Rio de la Plata, art¬ artists to weigh in on the impact, prescribe so¬
ists Silvina Babich and Alejandro Meitin began lutions for aggressive clean-up measures, and
walking along the damaged coast, photograph¬ present their findings in local and global forums.
ing stained, drenched birds, and pools of indigo In 2002, in collaboration with other lobbying
liquid collected in buckets and marshes along the groups such as Friends of the Earth and Global
riverbank. Over 5,300 tons of oil spilled into the Community Monitor, they co-wrote "Failing the
fresh water estuary, which is close to the town Challenge, The Other Shell Report," and pre¬
Magdelena and the Parque Costero del Sur, a sented it to Annual Shareholders Assembly of the
wildlife refuge considered a biosphere reserve by company in London. In that same year, the coun¬
UNESCO. Babich and Meitin collaborate under try's Supreme Court ruled in favor of a $35 million
the name Ala Plastica; working together as envi¬ cleanup of the river's coastline.

Above: This image, Last Reed Harvest, documents the impacts of the oil spill
on the human and natural communities of Magdalena, Argentina (Photograph
by Rafael Santos).
 PROJECTS 99

Top to bottom: Reed harvesters speak to members of the community in Mag¬

dalena about the Shell oil spill (Photograph by Thomas Minich). The group
surveys damage along Rio de la Plata’s coastline caused by the Shell oil spill
(Photograph by Fernando Massobrio).
100 LIVING AS FORM

jacent ground into a large, makeshift blackboard

JENNIFER ALLORA AND overflowing with messages intended to critique
GUILLERMO CALZADILLA the state. This activity evolved into an impromptu,
peaceful protest as people gathered in the square,
TIZA (LIMA) waving banners and hoisting posters above their
1998-2006 heads. Eventually, military officers, who were
standing by in shields and helmets, confiscated
the chalk, and washed away the incendiary politi¬
cal statements.
Puerto Rico-based Allora and Calzadilla rep¬
resented the United States in this year's Venice
Biennale—the first performance artists, and artist
collaborative, to do so. Since the late 1990s, the
artists have often explored the act of mark making,
Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla and the ways in which temporary actions can yield
placed twelve five-foot columns of chalk in public permanent effects. For their Land Mark series,
squares in Lima, Paris, and New York, ephemeral the artists worked with activists on the Puerto
public monuments that would crumble and dis¬ Rican island Viesques to consider how land is
solve over time into smaller pieces and pools of marked, literally and figuratively, and by whom.
liquid. The artists then invited people to use the For decades, the U.S. military practiced bombing
fallen pieces of chalk to write messages on the and tested chemical warfare technologies in the
ground, doodle, or express themselves in any area, while protesters would break into the range
fashion they chose, thereby transforming the ma¬ to disrupt activity. Allora and Calzadilla provided
terial decay into a fleeting opportunity for creative them with rubber shoes that would imprint the
expression. In Lima, Allora and Calzadilla placed ground as they ran across the range, thereby leav¬
the chalk columns directly in front of government ing behind a reminder of their fleeting act of civil
offices, which incited passersby to convert the ad¬ disobedience.
 PROJECTS 101

Opposite: As the chalk columns crumbled, participants wrote messages on the Clockwise from top left: Protesters gather outside the Peruvian Municipal
nearby pavement (Courtesy Jennifer Ailora and Guillermo Calzadilla), Palace of Lima. Participants write messages in chalk in the Plaza de Armas
in Lima. Many of the messages criticized the Peruvian government, and were
later washed away by military officers. (Courtesy Jennifer Ailora and Guillermo
Calzadilla)
102 LIVING AS FORM

ceilings and tiled flooring—was an apt candidate

LARA ALMARCEGUI AND for use as a hotel. Almacegui and Movellan paint¬
BEGONA MOVELLAN ed the interior walls, brought in furniture donated
by the town's residents, installed electricity and
HOTEL FUENTES DE EBRO plumbing, and advertised the repurposed station
1997 in the neighboring city of Zaragoza. Though the
hotel was completely booked during the project's
run, the effort remained somewhat clandestine,
since Almarcegui originally received permission
from railway officials to use the station as an exhi¬
bition venue, not a residential facility. "They never
would have let me create a free hotel, especially
since there was no museum" backing the project,
she says. "So the event was a secret among the
A national highway runs through Fuentes de guests. I even asked them to hide their luggage—I
Ebro, yet the small, Spanish village rarely receives was so afraid." Fuentes de Ebro residents continue
visitors. In order to draw attention to the area, Lara to use the building as a meeting and event space.
Almarcegui and Begona Movellan converted the Almarcegui lives in Rotterdam. In preparation
local train station, which had been abandoned for for Hotel Fuentes de Ebro, she spent one month in
20 years, into a free hotel for one week. "The town Spain researching unused architectural spaces
is not beautiful, and not the kind of village people that offer potential solutions to housing and urban
would likely visit," Almarcegui says. "So, I thought dilemmas. Her work often explores different meth¬
it would be a kind of extreme gesture to propose ods for forming relationships to communities,
that people spend a week there." usually through long-term research, interview¬
She used $400 from a small grant to renovate ing residents, investigating new possibilities for
the concrete, two-story building, which—with high aging infrastructure.

Above: Guests enjoy drinks at the hotel (Courtesy Lara Almarcegui). Opposite, top to bottom: Maids clean the hotel interior, Almarcegui and
Movellan converted the abandoned Puentes de Ebro train station into a
temporary hotel (Courtesy Lara Almarcegui).
104 LIVING AS FORM

Above, top to bottom: Twelve Gulf Coast artists and Alternate ROOTS members
affected by Hurricane Katrina participate in The Katrina Project. The perfor¬
mance consisted of a variety of artistic forms, including music, performance,
and dance. (Photographs by Carlton TUrner)
 PROJECTS 105

ALTERNATE ROOTS FRANCIS ALYS

UPROOTED: THE WHEN FAITH
KATRINA PROJECT MOVES MOUNTAINS
2006-2008 2002

In 2006, Atlanta, Georgia-based nonprofit Artist Francis Alys provided shovels to 500
Alternate ROOTS presented Uprooted: The Katrina volunteers standing at the base of a 1,600-foot
Project, an experimental theater production, writ¬ sand dune located near an impoverished shanty¬
ten and performed by twelve artists from Gulf town outside of Lima. For the next several hours,
Coast communities, that offered responses to the the volunteers, all dressed in white, climbed the
damages they suffered and witnessed, inflicted mound in a single, horizontal line, digging in uni¬
by the 2005 hurricane. Using different artistic son until they reach the other side, and had dis¬
forms (including dance, hip-hop, and storytell¬ placed the sand by nearly four inches. Alys, who
ing), the piece reflected the experiences of differ¬ lives and works in Mexico City, often makes work
ent populations in the region, based on extensive based in single actions, such as pushing a block
conversations the artists conducted with current of ice down a street, or walking home with a punc¬
and former residents of New Orleans. The perfor¬ tured paint can, trailing splattered paint behind
mance and its related community outreach con¬ him. For Barrenderos—another group action proj¬
veyed a message about the way poverty and rac¬ ect—he followed twenty streets sweepers as they
ism can render communities vulnerable to natural pushed garbage through the streets of Mexico
disaster, the complicity of governments and citi¬ City. The sweepers began in the gutters and side¬
zens in enabling such destruction, and the need walks, collecting the debris into the center of
to reframe the tragedy as a social justice crisis. the road until the growing heap was too heavy to
Uprooted was produced in collaboration with move—a sculptural form that reflected the envi¬
actor and activist John O'Neal, an early member ronmental costs of urban life as well as the labor
of Alternate ROOTS along with the organiza¬ of the workers. Alys often says that he's less inter¬
tion's founder, the late Jo Carsen. Both were art¬ ested in making objects than in making myths or
ists coming out of the Civil Rights and anti-war designing collective experiences.
movements who wanted to affect social change in To execute When Faith Moves Mountains,
their communities through the arts. Since then, Alys spent several days enlisting locals to shovel
Alternate ROOTS has provided artists—particular¬ sand under the hot April sun on a cloudless day.
ly those who work with underserved populations "At first I thought it was just silly to move a rock,
in the South—with funding, support, and other a stone," one participant noted in Alys' video
forms of assistance. The organization serves com¬ documentation of the project. But interest in the
munities by bringing the arts to the region, as a project spread virally, if for no other reason than
way to generate dialogue about the conditions out of curiosity for how the event might constitute
in the region. "A festival can actually begin and art. Another participant explained that he "got
create a conversation about the calamity that involved because it was about doing something
has happened in a community," says executive with other people." When Faith Moves Mountains
director Carlton Turner, "and begin the process was created for the third Bienal Iberoamericana
of emotional reparation and physical reclamation de Lima.
of the space."
106 LIVING AS FORM

Above, top to bottom: Alys' volunteers break ground at the foot of a massive
sand dune just outside of Lima, Peru. By the conclusion of the epic project,
participants had succeeded in moving the dune four inches from its original
location. (Courtesy Francis Alys and David Zwirner, New York)
PROJECTS 107

Above, top to bottom: More than 500 volunteer workers lined the base of the
1,600-foot dune. Equipped with shovels, the local volunteers each were asked
to push a small quantity of sand. (Courtesy Francis Alys and David Zwirner,
New York)
 LIVING AS FORM

is derived from the phrase "to shoot a kite," which

APPALSHOP in prison slang means to send a message. At the
THOUSAND KITES heart of the Thousand Kites project is a compre¬
hensive website that features the stories of pris¬
1998 -

oners, their families, activists, and artists in the

form of video and radio programs, blogs, and letter¬
writing campaigns. The site also includes news
clips, press releases about legislative changes,
and accessible educational activities such as "We
Can't Pay the Bill," which outlines the rising costs
of maintaining prisons.
When former DJ Nick Szuberla launched the Thousand Kites operates under the 40-year-
only hip-hop radio program in the Appalachian re¬ old umbrella nonprofit Appalshop, which supports
gion, inmates from the two neighboring SuperMax regional arts in the Appalachian region, docu¬
prisons began writing him letters. Some were ments local traditions, and works to abolish ste¬
very personal, recounting the racism and human reotypes of the area's residents.
rights violations they suffered while incarcer¬
ated. He responded by initiating an on-air chess
game with the prisoners, a simple gesture that ac¬
knowledged, and provided brief respite from, their
hardships. Szuberla soon began broadcasting
the voices of prisoners themselves via a variety
of artistic projects, including poetry segments,
rap sessions, and collaborations between hip-hip JULIETA ARANDA AND
artists and local mountain musicians. In one epi¬ ANTON VIDOKLE
sode of the show, an imprisoned man expresses,
in verse, a long overdue phone call to his brother,
TIME/BANK
shortly after his mother's passing. In another, ti¬ 2010 -

tled Calls from Home, a mother updates her incar¬

cerated son on family events and describes daily
activities like her morning routine.
The radio show has since expanded into
Thousand Kites, a "national dialogue project"
and nonprofit organization based in Whitesburg,
Kentucky, that advocates nationally for prison re¬ Imagine that you could cook someone dinner
form, primarily by creating transparency around in exchange for getting your bike tire replaced,
injustices that occur within the system. Szuberla or could teach someone Chinese to have your
sits at the helm of the organization, whose name website redesigned. Time/Bank is an alternative
economic model that allows a group of people to
exchange skills through the use of a time-based
currency. Time banking arose in utopian commu¬
nities during the mid-19th century and has been
adapted for contemporary use by projects like
Paul Glover's Ithaca Hours.
Started by artists Julieta Aranda and Anton
Vidokle in September 2010, Time/Bank is an in¬
ternational community of more than 1,500 artists,
curators, writers, and others in the field of art, who
are interested in developing a parallel economy
based on time and skills. Using a free website cre¬
ated by the artists, participants request, offer, and

Above: Thousand Kites and the Community Restoration Tour trained over one Opposite: The Portikus exhibition hall currently hosts the Frankfurt branch of
hundred activists to use flip video cameras (Courtesy Appalshop). Time,/Bank (Photograph by Helena Schlichting, Courtesy of Portikus).
 Hand-writing
t Communication

I
I Brooklyn NY, 2h
POSTED; 30. OCT. 2010
Ziirich/Basel <-> Frankfurt am Main I —Regine Basha

I
Transportation
Zurich, 4h
I
i i
i If for whatever reason you need something
i (because we are all losing this skill) I can do a prel
i Especially handwriting in small upper-case letters
i Because I often make the trip on weekends, I am offering transport I more authoritative.
between Zurich/Basel, Switzerland and Frankfurt am Main, Germany. i
i I Regine
J
v_

Choose Ym POSTED; 27 SEPT. 2010

CommunicatioV
Email, lOh

;e an audio book recording of

^el or something you've beeoj
S|tf couldn’t get away fro*

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habits are writing ar

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bookstores, and
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 PROJECTS 111

pay for services in "Hour Notes." Earned Hours others in the Time/Bank community. Each day,
may be saved and used at a later date, given to the restaurant offered a different menu of meals
another individual, or pooled with other Hours for prepared with recipes provided by artists who like
larger group projects. to cook, including Martha Rosier, Liam Gillick,
While much of the activity for Time/Bank hap¬ Mariana Silva, Judi Werthein, Rirkrit Tiravanija,
pens online, the artists are consistently working to K8 Hardy, Carlos Motta, and many others.
develop an international network of local branch¬
es. These branches can be temporary or long term,
and are arranged by the founders and members of
the bank. During Creative Time's 2011 exhibition
Living as Form, Time/Bank opened Time/Food, a
commissioned project and temporary restaurant
located inside the by Abrons Art Center, which
offered daily lunch in exchange for time credits
and time currency that visitors earned by helping

Ttanslaiw tnjnoi lospjntoi,

moo text* from ftmoo

theorists
txhtorsl

lost items

your p*yc!'*
wallet better

Above: Aranda and Vidolke presented Time/Food, a temporary restaurant that

Opposite: The Frankfurt Time/Bank houses a Time/Store, which offers a range
operated on the Time/Bank currency system, as part of Creative Time's Living
of commodities, groceries, and articles of daily use (Photograph by Helena
as Form exhibition (Photograph by Sam Horine, Courtesy Creative Time).
Schlichting, Courtesy of Portikus).
112 LIVING AS FORM

CLAIRE BARCLAY
THE MILLENNIUM HUT
1999

Located in the Govanhill district of Glasgow,

Scotland, The Millennium Hut is a community
facility designed by artist Claire Barclay in col¬
laboration with the firm Studio KAP Architects.
In 1999, five public areas of Glasgow, includ¬
ing Govanhill, were picked for renewal by the
Millennium Space Project. With a footprint of just
two meters by two meters, the three-story wooden
structure enclosed a community garden store,
workshop, library, shelves for growing plants, and
a "viewing platform." The building was produced
from recycled materials and utilized solar panels,
reflecting an effort to harness natural resources,
and promote sustainable living practices.
Commissioned by the Govanhill Housing
Association, The Millenium Hut acted as an entry
point to the Govanhill neighborhood, and served
as a means of creating community in an ethnically
diverse district. The Millenium Space Project, part structures around which crafted objects lie in
of Glasgow's Year of Architecture and Design, is a carefully gathered constellations. She draws from
year long program of exhibitions, events, and new both craft and industrial processes, ranging from
commissions to celebrate the city's designation ceramics to straw weaving, often combining metal
as the "UK City of Architecture 1999." Ultimately, forms with intricately woven corn dollies or deli¬
the program and projects like the Millennium cately printed fabric. By mixing the familiar with
Hut generated an economic benefit of 34 million the strange, a sense of precariousness pervades
pounds and served as a catalyst for further urban Barclay's architectural installations.
regeneration.
Claire Barclay is a Glasgow-based artist
known for her large-scale sculptural installations
that combine formal elements with a scattered
aesthetic, using platforms, screens, and other

Above: Barclay's Millennium Hut was built to provide a much-needed commu¬

nity facility in the Govanhill district of Glasgow (Courtesy Claire Barclay
and Chris Platt).
 PROJECTS 113

Top row, left to right: Built on a footprint of just 2m x 2m, the Millenium Hut was
constructed using a combination of new and recycled materials and makes use of solar Aurts-r'i sk^tca^
panels. The three-story structure includes a garden store, workshop, library, growing (in ecu\f£nsATt<>A' wrrtf
shelves, and a viewing platform. Bottom: Barclay worked with architects at Studio KAP to AtLCUl ~T€CT )
design the Millennium Hut. (Courtesy Claire Barclay and Chris Platt)
 LIVING AS FORM

BAREFOOT ARTISTS
RWANDA HEALING
PROJECT
2004 -

In 1994, in one of the most brutal moments in

the history of genocide, two extremist Hutu militia
groups killed over one million people in Rwanda in
just 100 days. When Barefoot Artists founder Lily
Yeh visited the region of Gisenyi ten years later,
she found that mass gravesites were still com¬
pletely dilapidated and survivors' camps lacked
the resources to help families grieve, cope, and
ultimately, recover from their losses. With the help
of the Red Cross, the Rwandan government, and
private foundations, Yeh launched the Rwanda
Healing Project, a multifaceted program of cultural
activities, as well as economic and environmental
development efforts, operated by and for village
residents.
Barefoot Artists establishes parks, murals,
sculptural installations, and other community-
based projects in underserved areas by involv¬
ing residents in the entire process, from making
aesthetic decisions to navigating public policy.
The Philadelphia-based organization's first proj¬
ect in Rwanda was the realization of the Genocide
Memorial Park in Rugerero. As part of the con¬
struction of the memorial, village residents worked
with a master mason to design and build the cen¬
tral monument's mosaic fagade. Since then, the then building the architecture. Finally, with the
Rwanda Healing Project has come to include help of faculty and students from the University
Saturday morning storytelling sessions, English of Florida's Center for the Arts in Healthcare,
classes, football games, and visual and perform¬ and volunteers from the U.S. Society for the Arts
ing art instruction. The Rugerero Survivors' in Healthcare, the community transformed the
Village, where the Genocide Memorial is locat¬ structure into a public art project by installing mo¬
ed, also includes a rain harvest storage system, saic work and painting a mural of Twa dancers on
a campaign to turn corncobs into cooking char¬ the fagade.
coal, and a women's sewing cooperative, among
other initiatives.
More recently, Barefoot Artists has col¬
laborated with residents in the area to build the
Pottery Arts Center—by first purchasing property,

Above: The bone chamber, housed behind the green doors, is one element of
the memorial (Photograph by Chris Landy).
 PROJECTS 115

m ijf'M

(mJ
i

Top to bottom: Barefoot Artists erected the Genocide Memorial Park in

Rugerero, Rwanda, in 2007. Flowers lie at the memorial, which was designed
by Barefoot Artists founder Lily Yeh (Photographs by Lily Yeh).
 ti'.o'jLm W 1
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 PROJECTS 117

talks, and other discussion forums. But central to

BASURAMA Basurama's practice is the actual collection of de¬
RESIDUOS URBANOS tritus, and rebuilding of public spaces, using the
leftover material. For example, in Lima, Basurama
SOLIDOS
rehabilitated an abandoned railway by inviting
(URBAN SOLID WASTE) local artists and other community members to cre¬
2008 ate an amusement park along the tracks. They also
enlisted school children in Miami to create musi¬
cal instruments out of old car parts.
Such activities began in 2008, with the series
Residuos Urbanos Solidos (Urban Solid Waste),
projects Basurama has initiated in numerous cit¬
ies globally. In the Suf refugee camp in Jerash,
Basurama is a laboratory for considering Jordan, the group worked with Palestinian ref¬
waste and its reuse launched in 2001 by a group ugees to build a children's playground and a
of students at the Madrid School of Architecture. shaded area for recreation. And in Buenos Aires,
Since then, the group—who now work as profes¬ discarded cardboard was used to fashion a make¬
sional architects, designers, and other urban shift skate park. "We find gaps in these process¬
planners—has collaborated with communities to es of production," Basurama says, "that not only
explore what trash, and how we treat it, can re¬ raise questions about the way we manage our re¬
veal about the way we consider the world. The sources but also about the way we think, we work,
group's work often exists in the form of workshops, we perceive reality."

Opposite: Recycled car tires were used to construct a climbing wall along an Above: Community members enjoy the once-derelict public space around the
abandoned railway in Lima, Peru (Courtesy Basurama, RUS Lima, 2010). railway (Courtesy Basurama, RUS Lima, 2010),
118 LIVING AS FORM

Xf . \ III .
l
' P V
,
Mf '
> ' * P .V * I. m

m / \
y/ x <■— ' Jm

Top to bottom: Custom carts were built in Mexico City as a way of reclaiming
the streets for community and play (Courtesy Basurama, RUS Mexico, 2008).
The Basurama crew work on a project in Cordoba, Argentina (Courtesy
Basurama, RUS Cordoba, 2009),
 PROJECTS 119

criminal suspect (actually referring to it as a "sus¬

BIJARI picious entity"), carefully scrutinized its behavior,
TRANSVERSE REALITY and quickly removed the animal from the property.
Meanwhile, patrons of Largo da Batata, likewise
(CHICKEN PROJECTS 1,2)
suspicious, reacted to the chicken in a much less
2001,2003 orderly fashion. They spoke to the chicken re¬
proachfully as if it were a person, followed it en
masse, and ultimately allowed the bird to remain
on the premises. The project was presented in
the form of video documentation at the Havana
Biennial in 2003.
BijaRi, who work as architects, artists, and ac¬
Have you ever wondered what happens tivists, explore whether "so-called public spaces
when the chicken actually does cross the road? are truly accessible to all," says member Mauricio
According to the Brazilian collective BijaRi, peo¬ Brandao. "We are interested in the way some of
ple react in vastly different ways depending on these spaces become almost privatized due to
their relative economic and cultural positions. In aesthetic, economic, social, and behavioral pat¬
2001, BijaRi let a chicken run loose in two Sao terns." They stage confrontational actions and
Paulo shopping districts—first near the luxury public performances that foster dissent, and pres¬
Iguatemi shopping mall and then in the adjacent ent provocative images in urban spaces, including
Largo da Batata, a bus stop and market generally street signs, poster campaigns, and large-scale
frequented by lower income residents—and filmed video projections. Projects such as Transverse
the publics reaction. In the Iguatemi mall, secu¬ Reality aim to disturb the regular flow of life by
rity guards immediately treated the chicken as a eliciting unexpected reactions from the public.

Above: A live chicken wanders around Largo da Batata, a bus stop and market
generally frequented by low-income Brazilians (Courtesy BijaRi).
120 LIVING AS FORM

BREAD AND
PUPPET THEATER
THE INSURRECTION MASS
WITH FUNERAL MARCH
FOR A ROTTEN IDEA
1962-

"Art should be as basic to life as bread."

This is the motto of Bread and Puppet Theater, a
40-year-old nonprofit theater company with roots
in the 1960s anti-Vietnam War and Civil Rights
movements. Started by German dancer and actor
Peter Schumann, Bread and Puppet performed in
the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side be¬
fore relocating to a farm in Glover, Vermont. The
self-financed group still uses its signature giant
cardboard and paper mache puppets—with heads
so large and exaggerated that they conjure refer¬
ences to abstract sculpture—to take on a myriad
of contemporary issues, including extremist right-
wing politics and the Iraq wars. Performances
have often been staged outdoors, on grassy fields,
while costumed actors bring the gigantic puppets
to life by hoisting them into the air, in the fash¬
ion of a barn-raising. The puppets, along with
the myriad masks, paintings, and other props the
company has produced over the years are housed
in a one hundred-year-old barn that now serves a
museum for the organization.
The Insurrection Mass with Funeral March for
a Rotten Idea is a recurring show, part pageantry
and part faux-religious ritual, that exorcises "rot¬
ten ideas"—political and economic events, poli¬
cies, and ideologies—after offering a playful cri¬
tique of them. Modeled after a traditional Catholic
mass and historical witch hunts, the performanc¬
es end with readings, the playing of a fiddle, and
hymns; audience members are invited to partici¬
pate. Bread, a symbol of compassionate, commu¬
nal living, has been served at every performance
since 1962.
 PROJECTS 121

TANIA BRUGUERA
IMMIGRANT MOVEMENT
MOVIMIENTO INTERNATIONAL
INMIGRANTE
2011-

Since April 2011, Cuban artist Tania Bruguera

has been operating a flexible community space,
housed in a storefront on Roosevelt Avenue
in Corona, Queens, which serves as the head¬
quarters for Immigrant Movement International.
Engaging both local and international commu¬
nities, as well as social service organizations,
elected officials, and artists focused on immigra¬
tion reform, Bruguera has been examining grow¬
ing concerns about the political representation
and conditions facing immigrants. "As migration
becomes a more central element of contemporary
existence, the status and identity of those who
live outside their place of origin starts to become
defined not by sharing a common language, class,
culture, or race, but instead by their condition
as immigrants," Bruguera has said. "This proj¬
ect seeks to embrace this common identity and
shared human experience to create new ways for
immigrants to achieve social recognition."
IM International, co-presented by Creative
Time and the Queens Museum of Art, launched
with a "Conversation on Useful Art," an event that
featured moderated conversations with artists,
representatives from local immigrant community
organizations, and local government officials.
Since then, IM International has opened its of¬
fices for use by local community organizations
as an essential part of its mission. The Corona
Youth Music Project holds weekly lessons at IM
International, which provide young children with
the opportunity learn the basic social and motor
skills necessary for playing a stringed instrument.
IM International has also teamed up with Centro
Communitario y Asesoria Legal to provide week¬
ly intakes and workshops on immigrant rights.
In addition to these regular events at the IM
International offices, IM International organizes

Clockwise from top left: The office of Bruguera's Immigrant Movement Inter¬
national is located in the diverse neighborhood of Corona in Queens, New York.
Immigrant Movement International provides a space for outreach activities for
the local immigrant community. (Courtesy Thnia Bruguera and Creative Time)
122 LIVING AS FORM

group outings and programs, which aim to bring

to light the immigrant condition. Most recently, CEMETI ART HOUSE
as part of "Make a Movement Sundays," a group TRADITIONAL ART AND
participated in the visitor program at the Elizabeth
CULTURE PROGRAM
Detention Center in Elizabeth, NJ. Participants
met with immigrant detainees to learn about their 2007-2008
experiences in order to combat the increased
privatization of the detention center system since
September 11th.

Cemeti Art House is the oldest art space in

Yogyakarta, a city with no established infrastruc¬
ture for the arts, but with an active, politicized
CAMP contemporary art scene. In 2007 and 2008, Cemeti
PAD.MA partnered with ten Yogyakarta-based NGOs to
2008 -
build a relief program for five villages in the after-
math of the massive earthquake that destroyed
regions in South Asia. Called the Traditional Art
and Cultural Program, this series of carnivals,
workshops, and performances mobilized area res¬
idents to organize themselves in choreographed
parades and lavishly costumed dances in an ef¬
In the age of YouTube, online video archives fort to revitalize traumatized communities. The
aren't a novel concept. But Pad.ma, short for program resulted in collaborations between local
Public Access Digital Media Archive, offers cul¬ contemporary and traditional artists.
turally and politically relevant footage that users Cemeti was founded in 1988 by artists Mella
can edit, annotate, and distribute for free—trans¬ Jaarsma and Ninditiyo Adipurnomo, who were
forming notions of authorship, discourse, and looking to fill the lack of viable venues for alter¬
digital activism in the process. Co-initiated by the native art practices. Since then, the organization
Mumbai-based art space CAMP and other advo¬ has hosted residencies that allow artists to pro¬
cacy groups who work in the disciplines of law, mote their work nationally, and on the interna¬
information technology, and human rights, Pod. tional art circuit. In 2010, Cemeti launched "Art
ma contains several hundred hours of densely an¬ and Society," a series with focus on alternate,
notated, transcribed, and open-access material, process-oriented practice, rather than the pro¬
primarily culled from users in Bangalore, Mumbai, duction of objects intended for gallery exhibition.
and Berlin. Users can view the videos, which in¬ The organization has also privileged the voices
clude interviews with artists, media criticism, and of artists in political discourse. "The days of a
global healthcare polemic, via an interface that common enemy have passed and commenting on
looks similar to video-editing software. the social and political circumstances through
Since the 1990s, changes in video technol¬ revolt or provocation is no longer the only way,"
ogy, and imaging practices in general, have actu¬ says Jaarsma. "Recent art discourse shows us the
ally served to limit public access to large archives, need to comment sensibly taking into account the
particularly historically valuable images. Pad.ma perspective of the global market and neo-liberal
offers an experimental approach for creating and developments. Artists are taking an active part
sharing video, as well as knowledge, that moves in the current changes. The motto is: 'If you want
beyond the finite limitations of documentary films change, start with yourself; you can no longer
and the ubiquitous online video clip. blame the government for everything.'"
Above: The post-earthquake revitalization program spanned five villages in the
Bantul area near Yogyakarta. The yearlong Traditional Art and Culture Prograrn
included workshops, carnivals, and performances. (Photographs by Dwi 'Oblo'
Prasetyo, Courtesy Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
 PAUL CHAN
WAITING FOR GODOT
IN NEW ORLEANS

When artist Paul Chan visited New Orleans for In the artist's words, "seeing gave way to
the first time in November 2006—a little more than scheming," and Chan began to collect feedback
a year after Hurricane Katrina—he was struck by from New Orleanians on the idea of staging a free,
the disquieting stillness: no construction crews outdoor production of the play in the Lower Ninth
yelling over clanging drills, no cranes visible on Ward. One piece of advice that had been given to
the skyline, no birds singing in the distance. In Chan came to define the artist's approach to the
the ravaged, bleak landscape of the Lower Ninth project: "If you want to do this, you gotta spend
Ward, Chan recognized the solemn scenery of the dime, and you gotta spend the time." Working
Samuel Beckett's iconic stage play Waiting for closely with director Christopher McElroen of the
Godot. The artist perceived "a terrible symmetry Classical Theater of Harlem, a cast that included
between the reality of New Orleans post-Katrina Wendell Pierce and J. Kyle Manzay, and New York-
based public art presenter Creative Time, Chan
and the essence of this play, which expresses in
stark eloquence the cruel and funny things people spent the nine months leading up to the produc¬
tion engaging New Orleans artists, activists, and
do while they wait for help, for food, for tomorrow.

Above: J. Kyle Manzay (Estragon) and Wendell Pierce (Vladimir) perform Wait¬
Opposite: Artists from all over Indonesia took part in Traditional Art and
ing for Codot in New Orleans in 2007 (Photograph by Donn Young, Courtesy
Culture. The program's aim was to revitalize performing and visual arts in the
Creative Time).
traumatized areas. (Photographs by Dwi 'Oblo' Prasetyo, Courtesy Cemeti Art
House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
126 LIVING AS FORM

organizers to help shape the play and broaden the programs, theater workshops, and conversations
social scope of the project. with the community. A "shadow" fund was set up
The production was ultimately comprised of to match the production budget and was later
four outdoor performances in two New Orleans distributed to organizations located in the Lower
neighborhoods—one in the middle of an inter¬ Ninth Ward and Gentilly.
section in the Lower Ninth Ward and the other in
the front yard of an abandoned house in Gentilly.
However, with sustainability and accountability
in mind, the project evolved into a larger series of
events including free art seminars, educational

Above: Mark McLaughlin (Lucky) and T, Ryder Smith (Pozzo) perform Waiting
for Godot in New Orleans. (Photograph by Paul Chan. Courtesy Creative
Time).
 PROJECTS 127

and to create a national lead-awareness campaign

MEL CHIN ET AL. through the Fundred Dollar Bill Project.
OPERATION PAYDIRT/ The Project is a national campaign to raise
awareness and support by primarily recruiting
FUNDRED DOLLAR
schoolchildren (though anyone interested in
BILL PROJECT participating is welcome) to draw "Fundred" dol¬
2006 - lar bills, artistic interpretations of hundred dollar
bills on a pre-designed template. The drawings
will be delivered, via an armored truck—which has
been retrofitted to run on waste vegetable oil—to
Congress to garner support of the proposed solu¬
tion. In 2010, Fundred's armored truck set out on
an 18,000-mile tour across the country, collecting
nearly 400,000 "Fundred" dollar bills from thou¬
When artist Mel Chin traveled to a post-Katrina sands of schools.
New Orleans in 2006, he learned that the city's The solution has also gone national—
soil contained more than four times the amount of Operation Paydirt is now in collaboration with
lead deemed safe by the Environmental Protection the EPA in Oakland, California, on the first urban
Agency—a condition that existed long before the implementation of Paydirt's protocol of lead neu¬
hurricane damaged the land. He also learned that tralization. Operation Paydirt continues HUD-
they city had no plans to repair it. Chin found that sponsored urban field trials in New Orleans. Chin
treating lead-contaminated soil, a major contribu¬ says, "Awareness is not enough. We are aware that
tor in a lead-poisoning epidemic that affected over there is lead in the blood and brains of children
30 percent of New Orleans' inner city youth, could who can't learn and in the bones of young men in
cost $300 million. Operation Paydirt/Fundred prison. We must move into action with resolve to
Dollar Bill Project was conceived in New Orleans deliver the voices of the people in opposition to
as a two-fold initiative: to find a solution to the these realities, along with a solution to effectively
environmental threat through Operation Paydirt end this threat to children across America."

Above: The interior walls of the New Orleans Safehouse, which is pictured
above, are lined with thousands of hand-drawn Fundred Dollar Bills (Courtesy
Endotherm Labs).
Clockwise from top: University of Arizona students, faculty, and visitors hand
over bags full of Fundred Dollar Bills to the armored truck in Tfempe, AZ,
Schoolchildren from all over the country were asked to draw Fundred Dollar
Bills, artistic interpretations of hundred dollar bills on a pre-designed template
(Courtesy Fundred Dollar Bill Project).
 PROJECTS 129

On the hundredth anniversary of the first

CHTO DELAT? Russian Revolution, collective Chto Delat? (What
(WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) is to Be Done?) organized activists in protest of
contemporary labor inequities on the square at
ANGRY SANDWICH
Narva Gate in St. Petersburg, the site of the origi¬
PEOPLE OR IN PRAISE nal uprising in 1905. In this contemporary stag¬
OF DIALECTICS ing, Chto Delat? invited low-income workers who
2006 normally wear sandwich boards advertising local
businesses to participate by wearing new boards
bearing language from Bertolt Brecht's poem, "In
Praise of Dialectics", as well as a series of ques¬
tions: "Are you being exploited? Are you exploit¬
ing somebody? Is exploitation inevitable?" The
first Russian Revolution was a violent and failed
attempt to dislodge government; Angry Sandwich
People aimed to reflect on the political implica¬
tions of this failure.
Chto Delat?, which takes its name from
Vladimir Lenin's historic political pamphlet, con¬
sists of poets, artists, philosophers, singers, set
designers, critics, and writers who appropriate the
iconography and terminology of Communism in
their work. They work as "art soviets," inspired by
the councils formed in Russia at the beginning of
the 20th century. Relying heavily on political and
artistic theory, Chto Delat? explores the idea of
"participatory democracy," and the history of the
word "solidarity," through exhibitions, artworks,
and projects in public space.

ABflA
EHHblM
HACI/IJlbE
roM
B E UH AET
0 3EMJ1E DOC nncr\/ni—r
Above, top to bottom: Low-income workers in St. Petersburg gather at the
Narva Gate to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the first Russian
Revolution. Workers carry sandwich boards bearing language from Bertolt
Brecht’s "In Praise of Dialectics." (Courtesy Chto Delat?).
130 LIVING AS FORM

affordable solutions that empower individuals to

SANTIAGO CIRUGEDA participate in the design of their cities, Cirugeda
CASA ROMPECABEZAS has often asked, "How can the citizen play an im¬
portant role in the development and construction
2002-2004
of the environment?" Puzzle House proposes one
possible answer by separating citizenship and
property rights, and dispersing urban planning
among those with the least access to the process.

Casa Rompecabezas, or Puzzle House, con¬

sists of glass panes, metal beams, and unpainted
drywall—a plain, sturdy structure that conjures
both Modernist architecture as well as industrial
detritus. Designed by architect Santiago Cirugeda CAMBALACHE COLECTIVO
to be constructed, deconstructed, and transport¬ (CAROLINA CAYCEDO,
ed quickly, his adaptable building slipped on and ADRIANA GARCIA GALAN,
off of empty lots in Seville, Spain, for two years,
and provided shelter for a range of urban needs.
ALONSO GIL, AND
This included safe living space for the homeless FEDERICO GUZMAN)
as well as for squatters; a performance and exhi¬ MUSEO DE LA CALLE
bition venue for artists; and a multi-use meeting
1999 -
area for community activists.
Since 1996, Cirugeda has developed Recetas
Urbanas, or "urban prescriptions," like Puzzle
House, strategies that sidestep the city's restric¬
tive planning and construction laws enabling
anyone to solve housing issues autonomously,
without the mediation of architectural specialists.
Because Seville, like most cities, requires govern¬
ment-issued permits in order to build permanent
structures on public land, Puzzle House was de¬ El Museo de la Calle, or "The Museum of the
signed as an impermanent structure—located on Street," is a large wooden cart on wheels—a carro
privately-owned property with permission from esferado—where people can exchange or donate
the owner. Each installation had a specific pur¬ used objects as part of an alternate economy that
pose and a finite lifespan, at the end of which values recycling and a do-it-yourself ethos above
the inhabitants would disassemble the house in profit. This mobile flea market, which originated
several hours and vacate the lot. The blueprint in Bogota, Colombia (a city with no formal recy¬
was equally simple to follow, so new users could cling program), travels to other locales in order to
replicate it once a new site was located and a new expand its collection and increase the number of
purpose identified. The budget for Seville's Puzzle global participants.
House included nothing beyond the cost of cheap, El Museo de la Calle was first conceived of by
readily available materials since there were no Colectivo Combalache, or "Barter Collective," a
permit or rental fees. group of artists that worked in El Cartucho, a for¬
Cirugeda's projects promote communal land- merly depressed neighborhood of Bogota located
use over highly regulated and bureaucratized only seven blocks away from the Presidential
public ownership. Through his practice of creating Palace that was demolished in order to serve as
 PROJECTS 131

the site of The Third Millennium Park. After wit¬

nessing the bartering practices of homeless peo¬
ple and members of other disadvantaged groups
who lived in the area, the artists began swapping
goods—including clothing, books, and children's
toys—as a way to participate in the community,
form relationships with the people they shared
the space with, and also to continue the spirit of
El Cartucho as a site of local culture that no longer
exists. Despite its name, El Museo de la Calle does
not operate in the manner of a traditional muse¬
um. Its contents aren't preserved on pedestals or
behind glass; instead, they function on the street
and in the home, enabling audience interaction.

Clockwise from top right: TVvo women barter their goods in Plaza Che at the
National University in Bogota. Columbian schoolchildren stand next to El Veloz
(“The Swift"), the large wooden cart on wheels containing objects for barter
Onlookers view a display of objects available to barter. (Courtesy Cambalache
Collective).
132 LIVING AS FORM

Inspired by Horace McCoy's They Shoot

PHIL COLLINS Horses, Don't They?, a novel about dance mara¬
THEY SHOOT HORSES thons that emerged during the Great Depression,
Collins' displayed his horses in two channels on
2004
opposing walls of darkened museum galleries,
first in Britain and then internationally. Both his
project and its namesake thrived by falsely glam¬
orizing and deeply humanizing ordinary people
living amid conflict.
In September 2000, riots at the Al Aqsa
mosque in Jerusalem sparked a decade of violence
In 2004, artist Phil Collins recruited teenag¬ in Palestine, resulting in a death toll of over 6,000.
ers in Ramallah to dance to pop music against Yet Collins' video, like many of his projects, avoids
a hot pink backdrop, without intermission for overtly political messages or lurid accounts of life
an entire day, while he filmed them in a single in contested territories. Instead, he reveals per¬
take. The resulting seven-hour video, they shoot sonality and character that come through when
horses, captures their sincere, marathon perfor¬ people are celebrated, and by turns exploited, in
mance, carried out despite power outages, calls to front of a camera by performing uncontroversial
prayer, and technical failures. In sweatbands and acts. He has invited Morrissey fans in Istanbul
jerseys, the teens spun on their backs to Olivia to record Smiths covers; interviewed former talk
Newton John, moved with slow, deliberate rhythm show participants who were victimized by un¬
to Madonna, and scissored their arms to OutKast ethical production antics; and, on the cusp of the
until finally sliding to the floor in exhaustion as Iraqi war, persuaded Bagdad residents to sit for
Irene Cara crooned "Fame"—a song about hope, screen tests for a non-existent Hollywood movie.
perseverance, and immortality.

Above and opposite: The teenagers danced uninterrupted for eight hours for
Collins' video (Courtesy of Shady Lane Productions in Ramallah).
PROJECTS 133
134 LIVING AS FORM

and shape the world." Support Structure delved

CELINE CONDORELLI into a range of arenas, such as art, politics, urban
AND GAVIN WADE renewal, and education. Through each iteration,
Condorelli and Wade aimed to build a universally
SUPPORT STRUCTURE adaptable structure that still privileged specific
2003-2009 needs over generic, monolithic ones.
Support Structure launched with the project
"I Am A Curator," at the Chisenhale Gallery in
London, which offered storage, archival, and or¬
ganizational space for artwork, and provided an
interface between the public, the work, curators,
and gallery staff. "I Am A Curator" also allowed
Chisenhale Gallery's visitors to be a curator for
Support Structure was an architectural inter¬ one day, using artworks housed in an architectural
face, created by architect Celine Condorelli and environment constructed inside the gallery. Their
artist-curator Gavin Wade, that could be continu¬ "music for shopping malls" employed existing
ally reinvented by its users for different purposes, commercial icons of the mall—Muzak and shop¬
such as housing objects or facilitating working ping bags—to reflect on the components of the
environments. In each iteration of the project, space that make this environment tick. "What type
the infrastructure allowed the people within it to of cultural and experiential knowledge does a mall
consider the meaning of the space, as well as the produce?" they asked. "Music for shopping malls"
meaning of "support": "While the work of support¬ treats malls as both high and low culture, and as
ing might traditionally appear as subsequent, un¬ choreographed spaces, designed and organized
essential, and lacking value in itself," Condorelli as interior civilizations that are cut off from the
writes about the project, "[it is also a] neglected, outside world, yet completely mired in the global
yet crucial mode through which we apprehend economy and its cultural infrastructure.

as puertas
del edificio de
administracidn han
quedado abiertas...

I HEATH MILL. LANE

 PROJECTS 135

Above: Phase 1 (Art) of Support Structure took place as part of the exhibition “I
Opposite: Phase 9 (Public) of Support Structure was the development of
am a Curator" at London's Chisenhale Gallery (Photograph by Per Huttner).
Eastside Projects, a new artist-run space and public gallery in Birmingham
(Photograph by Stuart Whipps).
 V JUBKap
r* '
t-

U*."' a >2u4 V7m

 PROJECTS 137

munities—from small towns to groups organized

CORNERSTONE around social justice issues, like reproductive
THEATER COMPANY rights and environmental protection—to produce
theater that reflects local concerns, histories, and
LOS ILLEGALS AND TEATRO
efforts. Community members are then cast in the
JORNALEROS SIN FRONTERAS production.
(DAY LABORERS THEATER Los Illegals, which premiered at Cornerstone
WITHOUT BORDERS) in 2007 and then traveled to other cities, evolved
into Teatro Jornaleros Sin Fronteras, a small tour¬
2007
ing production that enlists day laborers to engage
in dialogue both on and off the stage. Directed by
Juan Jose Magandi, a day laborer who first acted
in Los Illegals, the company produces two to three
plays a year at job sites for approximately 150
audience members. Full-time ensemble members
For six months, playwright Michael John write the scripts, which often convey difficult or
Garces spent his days in a Home Depot parking lot painful subject matter in a raucous, rallying, co¬
in Hollywood and on a street corner in Redondo medic format. For example, on-the-job accidents
Beach, two of the most prominent—and contro¬ may be exaggerated for the sake of emphasizing
versial—day laborer job sites in Los Angeles. He the harsh realities of working without healthcare
waited in line with undocumented workers seek¬ benefits. Despite the inherent dangers of visibil¬
ing jobs, listened to their stories, and formed ity, few day laborers decline to participate when
relationships with members of this historically offered the opportunity, says Garces, who now
voiceless group. Then, as part of his residency serves as Cornerstone's artistic director. "In the
at LA's Cornerstone Theater, he wrote the play social justice movement, it's hard to pin down
Los Illegals, a fictional account of day laborers cause and effect. There's a big difference between
caught in the criminal justice system. Since its being represented in the media, and standing up
inception. Cornerstone has embedded profes¬ to represent yourself. To be able to change the
sional playwrights and actors in a variety of com- meta-narrative; that's empowering."

Above: Los Illegals evolved into Tbatro Jornaleros Sin Fronteras, a small tour¬
Opposite, top to bottom: Day laborers perform in Los Illegals, which premiered
ing production that enlists day laborers to engage in dialogue both on and off
at Cornerstone Theatre in Los Angeles in 2007 (Courtesy John Luker/Corner-
the stage (Courtesy Sam Cohen/Comerstone Theater Company).
stone Theater Company). Day laborers perform in a production of Tbatro Jomale-
ros Sin Fronteras (Courtesy Sam Cohen/Cornerstone Theater Company).
138 LIVING AS

ALICE CREISCHER AND

ANDREAS SIEKMANN
EXARGENTINA
2002-2005

When Berlin-based artists Andreas Siekmann

and Alice Creischer began investigating
Argentina's 2001 economic collapse and the en¬
suing public uprisings, they wondered: Why is the
crisis always depicted in the media by burning
tires and street barricades, rather than corporate
buildings and shopping malls? In other words,
why were signs of the downfall highlighted in
lieu of its causes? And can the use of such stock,
iconic images be avoided? The artists moved to
Buenos Aires to search for answers. Within the
first few weeks of their stay, they joined citizens
in street battles, the occupation of factories,
and confrontations with police. Siekmann and
Creischer then sought ways to accurately depict
this political moment by collaborating with artists
to produce ExArgentina, three years of immersive
projects that included a conference in Berlin, an
exhibition in Cologne, the publication of a book,
and a second exhibition in Buenos Aires.
These events reflected various methods of
coping with economic hardship and enacting re¬
sistance without relying on stereotypical or dis-
empowering images of struggle or discord. For
example, the screen-printed posters of artists/
activists used during demonstrations; suits from
a now-defunct clothing factory decorated with
descriptions of the G8 meetings and also current
working conditions in the country; and a vast map
of the Argentinian crisis as it related to the global
economy.

This page, right: These drawings accompanied the chapter openings of the
publication Creischer and Siekmann produced; from the top, the chapter titles
are Negation, Militant Investigations, Cartography, and Political Narration
(Courtesy Alice Creischer and Andreas Siekmann).
PROJECTS 139

Above, clockwise from top left: Suits from the defunct Brukman textile factory in
Buenos Aires are adorned with ephemera depicting the economic hardship in the
country. A small ribbon on one of the suits describes the current working conditions
in Argentina. Ex-Argentina was exhibited at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne in 2004
and at the Palais de Glace in Buenos Aires in 2006. (Photographs by Sol Arrese)
140 LIVING AS FORM

from photography and video to performance and

MINERVA CUEVAS public intervention, based on detailed research, to
THE MEJOR VIDA CORP skewer corporations. For example, her Del Monte
campaign, critiqued the privatization of natu¬
(BETTER LIFE CORP)
ral resources in South America, and more recent
1998 -
work considers the environmental and historical
repercussions of the oil industry in Mexico.

Minerva Cuevas' protests against capital¬ DECOLONIZING

ism don't take the form of riots or picket lines. "In ARCHITECTURE
Mexico, there are demonstrations every day, but I
don't think they work anymore," Cuevas has said.
ART RESIDENCY
"People are too used to them." Instead, the artist OUSH GRAB
uses her web-based nonprofit corporation, Mejor (THE CROW’S NEST)
Vida Corp. ("Better Life Corp.") to distribute prod¬
2008
ucts and services—including basic needs such as
access to transportation and affordable food—for
free. Since 1998, she has offered pre-validated
subway tickets, pre-paid envelopes for domes¬
tic and international mailing, student ID cards
that allow users to receive discounted rates, and
barcode stickers that reduce the price of food in
supermarkets. Less obviously functional items
include so-called "safety pills" for late-night sub¬ Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency
way rides (so riders don't fall asleep). Participants is a Palestinian art and architecture collective
in the project can also contribute money—not to and a residency program based in Beit Sahour,
Cuevas' project, but to others in need. Mejor Vida Palestine. Organized by architects Sandi Hilal,
Corp. redistributes the donated funds to panhan¬ Alessandro Petti, and Eyal Weizman, DAAR exam¬
dlers and provides documentation of the donation ines the possible re-usage of existing architecture
to the donor. Orders for barcodes, subway tickets, in occupied territories—a process they refer to as
and other products can be placed through Mejor "Revolving Door Occupancy."
Vida Corp.'s website, which is organized much like In 2006, the Israeli army evacuated Oush
a commercial business site, except that it adver¬ Grab (literally translated as "The Crow's Nest"),
tises institutional critique—"We wonder if in fact a hilltop military site at the edge of Beit Sahour,
the National Lottery helps to finance public as¬ Bethlehem, from which colonial regimes had
sistance...if so, where is it?"—instead of the con¬ governed Palestine for centuries. When Israeli
sumption of goods. settlers took control of the abandoned build¬
Cuevas' works tweak existing social and eco¬ ing, Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency
nomic systems to suggest possibilities for more (DAAR), along with other Palestinian and inter¬
equitable conditions, often by offering alterna¬ national activists, reclaimed Oush Grab as public
tives such as her MVC products, or "S.COOP," space and initiated plans to convert it into a multi¬
a new currency she introduced at London's use park. To generate interest as well as support
Petticoat Lane Market. She uses a range of media for the plan, DAAR hosted bingo games, film
 PROJECTS

screenings, prayer sessions, and tours of the Land

with the help of NGOs and the Local municipality.
The Israeli settlers retaliated by marking the old
structure with graffiti, which DAAR responded to
by organizing community cleanup measures. In
addition, after discovering that same hilltop was
also a roosting ground for thousands of migrating
birds, DAAR punctured the structure with holes in
order to transform it into both an observatory and
a nesting place.

A B

Clockwise from top: The hilltop military site Oush Grab ("The Crow's Nest )
was evacuated in 2006 by the Israeli army. Decolonizing Architecture’s render¬
ing of the site illustrates plans for conversion into a multi-use park. (Courtesy
Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency).
142 LIVING AS FORM

JEREMY DELLER
BATTLE OF ORGREAVE
2001-

The memory of labor clashes in working-class ed into violence, particularly on the part of law
neighborhoods often lives on in family folklore enforcement. In preparation for the re-enactment,
and community history. But the 1984 National the artist spent months researching the strike-
Union of Mineworkers' strike in South Yorkshire's pouring over court testimonies, oral accounts,
Orgreave still felt palpable and present to resi¬ contemporary newspaper reports and film foot¬
dents of this small village seventeen years later age—in order to reconstruct events as accurately
as they gathered for a re-enactment organized as possible.
by British artist Jeremy Deller. Commissioned by London-based Deller acts as curator, pro¬
the London-based arts organization Artangel and ducer, and director in his projects, which revolve
public television broadcaster Channel 4, Deller around his engagement with perceptions and
enlisted historical re-enactment expert Howard memories. In 2009, he organized It Is What It Is:
Giles to orchestrate the filmed production. One Conversations About Iraq, a collaborative com¬
third of the more than 800 participants were for¬ mission of Creative Time, the New Museum and
mer miners and police officers, many of whom had 3M, that culminated in a cross-country road trip
been involved in the original strike. and series of conversations about the Iraq War
Once again, the miners gathered at the local at public sites. In tow was the ultimate conversa¬
coking plant, then marched to a nearby field when tion starter: a car destroyed in a bombing on Al-
the police arrived. Deller and Giles took pains to Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad in March 2007.
match the intensity of the '84 strike, which erupt¬

Above: More than 800 people—many of them former miners and police—par¬
ticipated in Deiler's re-enactment of 1984's Battle of Orgreave (Photograph by
Martin Jenkinson, Courtesy Artangel).
 PROJECTS 143

Above: Re-enactors play the role of strikers dodging an unprovoked charge

from the mounted police (Photograph by Martin Jenkinson, Courtesy Artangel).
144 LIVING AS FORM

Above: Strikers from the re-enactment sport yellow badges that identify them
as members of the National Union of Mineworkers. (Photograph by Martin
Jenkinson, Courtesy Artangel).
PROJECTS 145

LVnftli
146 LIVING AS FORM

house, pavilion, and an elaborate, fruitful garden.

MARK DION, Puett and Dion invite visitors to inhabit the land
J. MORGAN PUETT, as if it were a studio, camp out, and embrace its
natural resources as media. Many come to col¬
AND COLLABORATORS laborate on performances, films, books, and other
MILDRED’S LANE projects—particularly those that explore daily life
1998 - practices, such as eating, shopping, and sleeping.
Each summer, Puett and Dion host themed
sessions for three weeks; in 2010 the session
Town & Country explored the divisions between
urban and rural life through poetry readings,
and workshops based on Thoreau's Walden. This
past summer, a group of artists, engineers, and
In 1998, artists J. Morgan Puett and Mark environmentalists devised a "complete aquatic
Dion transformed a 92-acre Pennsylvania farm, environment for humans and non-humans" by
built in the 1830s, into Mildred's Lane, a mecca for studying sustainable hydrology, the history of
experimental living and art production. The three- aquariums, and architecture. The original farm¬
building compound serves as a creative retreat at house, now Mildred's Lane Historical Society and
the end of a long dirt road, housing an apiary, tree Museum, houses an archive of past projects.

ro’lf
if
*
-.,-12

3 V - W-?: 1 B vA I** JHwl

Above: Pablo Helguera and Academia de los Nocturnos presented work while
guest chefs b in June 2011 (Courtesy Mildred’s Lane).
 PROJECTS 147

Top to bottom: Participants at Mildred's Lane enjoyed a Social Saturday dinner

with artist Fritz Haeg in 2010. For a Social Saturday Supper Club in 2011, a selec¬
tion of readers, including Robert Fitterman of The Word Shop, read their work.
(Courtesy Mildred’s Lane),
148 LIVING AS FORM

iteration of the SUD festival, addressed the theme

MARILYN DOUALA-BELL "Water and the City." Host to thirty events includ¬
AND DIDIER SCHAUB ing public art installations and performances, the
festival also offered fourteen short-term (15 days
DOUALART to one month) residencies that allowed guest art¬
1991 -
ists from abroad to participate.

Doual'art is a nonprofit cultural organization

and research center founded in 1991 in Douala,
Cameroon, by husband and wife team Didier ELECTION NIGHT
Schaub and Marilyn Douala-Bell. Created to fos¬ HARLEM, NEW YORK
ter new urban practices in African cities, doual'art 2008
invites contemporary artists to engage with the
city of Douala in order to mold its identity and to
bridge the gap between the community and con¬
temporary art production. In particular, the orga¬
nization offers coaching and support to artists
whose research and work are centered on urban
issues.
The group uses art as an instigator of eco¬
nomic and social change, especially as a means
of fighting poverty and indigence. By produc¬ On November 4, 2008, people across the
ing site-specific interventions and hosting ex¬ U.S. celebrated the election of Barack Obama-
hibitions, lectures, residencies, and workshops on streets, at polls, and in bars. Yet, in the pre¬
doual'art works as an intermediary between social dominantly African-American neighborhood of
and economic actors, local collectives, and the Harlem, New York, the mass, spontaneous erup¬
general population. It fosters cultural and artistic tions of spirit seemed unified, at times even
initiatives as a tool for bridging divides between choreographed, as if residents had been waiting
different urban populations, in turn promoting so¬ backstage, maybe not for the curtain to lift, but for
cial cohesion, doual'art implements a participato¬ the glass ceiling to finally shatter. Minutes after
ry approach to cultural practice, negotiating with Republican nominee John McCain conceded the
local communities, NGOs and authorities their race to Obama, thousands of people poured out
specific needs and aspirations and involving art¬ of their homes and businesses onto the intersec¬
ists as facilitators of the development processes. tion of 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell,
In 2007, doual'art hosted the first Salon Jr., Boulevard waving banners, line dancing, and
Urbain de Douala (SUD 2007), a weeklong pub¬ breaking out in song as they paraded through the
lic art festival that gave artists free rein to explore neighborhood. Police officers charged with pa¬
urban issues specific to Douala. Proposals ad¬ trolling the scene clasped Obama T-shirts, while
dressed contemporary issues like urban mobil¬ people climbed atop cars to record the festivities
ity, tradition vs. modernity, African continental with their cell phones. With the camera crews'
integration, and the art world and cultural policy, bright lights beaming on them, revelers built ice
and resulted in performances, temporary installa¬ sculptures, beat drums, painted their faces, and
tions, happening, concerts and film screenings. blared music from speakers, which were eventu¬
Three years in the making, SUD 2010, the second ally quieted before the broadcast of the president-
 PROJECTS 149

Above: On Nov. 4th, 2008, a massive celebration broke out in Harlem, New York,
after the announcement that Barack Obama had won the presidential election
(Photograph by Spencer Platt, Courtesy Getty Images),
150 LIVING AS FORM

elect's speech—an event that, for many, signified a

power shift beyond the usual torch-passing from FALLEN FRUIT
one political party to the next. PUBLIC FRUIT JAM
In the 1920s, Harlem incubated a flood of ar¬
2006 -

tistic production, the formation of black cultural

and political organizations, and an overall col¬
lective expression within the community. The
post-election demonstrations commemorated the
history of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as the
energy of grassroots activism that the Democratic
campaign had embodied in its last few months.
The night also conjured a more typical American
phenomenon: the endorphin-induced euphoria of In 2004, Fallen Fruit—the artists David Burns,
sports fans after a winning game. As one blogger Matias Viegener, and Austin Young—created
wrote the day after, "Not since the Giants won the maps of fruit trees growing on or over properties
Super Bowl has New York come together like this." in Los Angeles within a five-block radius of their
homes, and then distributed the maps to the pub¬
lic for free. Property laws regarding the ownership
of trees, even those on private land, are ambigu¬
ous in Los Angeles: When branches and foliage
extend beyond one neighbor's yard to another,
maintenance rights extend as well. And when fruit
hangs over fences and sidewalks in the urban en¬
vironment, passersby arguably have the right to
pluck it. By making these potentially contested
areas in Los Angeles visible. Fallen Fruit encour¬
aged the city's residents to consider their implica¬
tions and also to explore this car-centric region on
foot, thereby socializing with new people under
new conditions.
The group's Public Fruit Jam project takes this
outreach effort one step further: Since 2006, they
have invited the public to bring their own home¬
grown or street-picked fruit to events at museums
or galleries in order to make jam. Without working
from recipes, they ask people to sit at tables with
strangers, negotiate ingredients, and engage in
discussion. For example, "If I have lemons and you
have figs, we'd make a lemon jam (with lavender),"
the artists explain on their website. These "jam
sessions" stem from the seeds of Fallen Fruit's
practice—a reconsideration of public and private
land use, as well as relations between those who
have resources and those who don't. "Using fruit
as our lens, [we] investigate urban space, ideas of
neighborhood and new forms of located citizen¬
ship and community," says Burns.

Above: Children carry signs of support for Barack Obama in Harlem on election Opposite, clockwise from top left: Fallen Fruit post jam-making instructions for
night, 2008 (Photograph by Spencer Platt, Courtesy Getty Images). the event attendees to follow. The public brings different kinds of fruit and works
without recipes, which results in unique jam flavors, Attendees participate in a
Public Fruit Jam at Machine Project, Los Angeles (Courtesy Fallen Fruit).
152 LIVING AS FORM

In 1991,five Iranian artists, Farid Jahangirand

BITA FAYYAZI, Sassan Nassiri, Bita Fayyazi, Ata Flasheminejad,
ATA HASHEMINEJAD, and Khosrow Flassanzedeh, took over an aban¬
doned house in Tehran, Iran, and used it as both
KHOSROW HASSANZADEH,
studio space and found object—a place to col¬
FARID JAHANGIR AND laborate, and also explore the physical and politi¬
SASSAN NASSIRI cal meaning of urban architectural detritus. They
STUDIO spent two months creating various projects in
the house, including paintings, installations, and
1991
sculptures. An installation of wallpaper peeled
away from the walls in long strips, broken vases
spilled over countertops and out of cabinets, and
atmospheric projections of images like El Greco's
Burial of Count Orgaz filled the relatively spare
rooms of the house.
At the end of the two-month period, they
opened the project to the public, as well as other

Above: In 1991, five Iranian artists took over an abandoned house in fitehran and
treated it as an art piece (Photograph by Behnam Monadizadeh),
 PROJECTS 153

artist collaborators. During the artists stay, the

house maintained its status as abandoned prop¬
erty—no effort to renovate it occurred—while it
also evolved into an active, lived space. After the
run of the show, the artists demolished the house,
carrying out its original, intended fate.

Above and right: Over the course of two months, the artists created instal¬
lations using various materials in the house (Photograph by Farid Jahangir).
After that time, they opened the house up to the public (Photograph by Afshin
Najafzadeh). At the end of the exhibition, the house was destroyed (Photograph
by Afshin Najafzadeh).
154 LIVING AS FORM

FINISHING SCHOOL
THE PATRIOT LIBRARY
2001 -

The Patriot Library is a nomadic collection

of books, periodicals, and other media deemed
potentially dangerous by the Federal govern¬
ment once The Patriot Act took effect after the
acts of terrorism on September 11, 2001. These
documents cover aviation training, chemistry,
propaganda, tactical manuals, tourist informa¬
tion, and weaponry—general topics that were
likely researched by the World Trade Center at¬
tackers. "However, we don't believe the pursuit of
knowledge is in itself dangerous," says Finishing
School's Ed Giardina. "Individuals should be al¬
lowed access to all media free of governmental
oversight and intimidation." Finishing School
conceived of the project after many conversations
with librarian Christy Thomas, who witnessed the
government's violation of library patrons' right to
privacy without judicial oversight. Understanding
the American Library Association's privacy stan¬
dards, The Patriot Library doesn't keep records
of visitor's personal information or use of mate¬
rials. The project, co-organized by Thomas and
Finishing School, was first installed in Oakland's
Lucky Tackle gallery in 2003.
Los Angeles-based Finishing School works
with experts from other fields to investigate and
take on alternative approaches to activism, partic¬
ularly environmental, social, and political issues.
In 2008, the collective launched Little Pharma,
which examines alternative medicines and life¬
styles as a viable antidote to some of the drug
industry's pathologies. Little Pharma consists of
a series of workshops, roundtable meetings, lec¬
tures, weblog, community medicinal garden, and
a drug-themed bike ride.

Top: At Oakland's Lucky Hackle gallery, The Patriot Library's reference website
could be used to browse the book collection. Above and opposite; Posters
advertising The Patriot Library, (Courtesy Finishing School and Adam Rompell/
Lucky Thckle)
PROJECTS 155
156 LIVING AS FORM

FREE CLASS FRANKFURT/M

ART WORKERS COUNCIL
2007-

The Art Workers Council is a forum initiated

by Free Class Frankfurt, a group that began as a
reading club at the art school Staedelschule, and
expanded to include members from outside the
student body. This self-organized artists' associa¬
tion addresses art and politics via reading groups,
seminars, collaborative exhibitions, parties, and
public events—all non-academic frameworks that

Books counter economic disparities that result in lim¬

ited access to the arts and arts education. In April
2010, Art Workers Council staged a demonstra¬
tion against wage labor to promote "a social revo¬
lution that won't be satisfied with formal promises
of freedom, but sees communism of the 21st cen¬
tury as the solid self-determination of everybody,"
according to their manifesto:
"Art is no wage labor. Artistic freedom prom¬
ises its producers to themselves decide about
the means, ways, and content of production. This
formal independence from the standards of sur¬
plus value production still feeds the contradicting
promise of art to allow self-determined produc¬
tion, despite capitalism. This assumed salvation
of artistic refusal of wage labor is the humiliating
competition for a place among those 5 percent,
who at least temporarily can survive from their in¬
come as artists. One who is not yet part of those
chosen few, is allowed to hope for the slightly bet¬
ter chance of getting a place in the state-funded
residency carousel, traveling from one gentrifica-
tion project to another. This includes free studio-
usage and pocket money, but continuities of polit¬
ical commitment and solidarity organization can
barely take place in this context."

Above: Posters advertising The Patriot Library (Courtesy Finishing School and
Adam Rompell / Lucky Thckle).
 PROJECTS 157

FRENTE 3 DE FEVEREIRO
2004 -

On February 3rd, 2004, Brazilian dentist Flavio

Sant'Ana was in the wrong place at the wrong
time—or, so the story goes. As he made is way
down a street in sprawling Sao Paulo, SantAna—a
young black man—was shot in the head and killed
by the city's military police. In the aftermath of the
tragedy, the police claimed that they had mistaken
SantAna for the perpetrator in a robbery and that
his death was nothing more than an unfortunate
accident. The mainstream media quickly perpetu¬
ated this narrative. However, a counter-narrative
soon emerged and Sant'Ana's death became a
touchstone for racial injustice in Brazil.
For one group, made up of artists and academ¬
ics, the event revealed "racial democracy as a de¬
liberate attempt to deny perverse social practices
punctuated by the legacy of slavery." Adopting
the name Frente 3 de Fevereiro the self-described
"research and intervention group" began creating
overtly political projects to challenge the main¬
stream narrative and bring public awareness to
the killing. First, the group fabricated a plaque
that was placed at the exact spot where SantAna
nmer in einem Arbeiterklub. was murdered. The text on the plaque served as
a memorial for SantAna but also made a clear
case for what had actually transpired. Later, Frente
■rklub", Auffiihrung eines Stiickes von Meyerhold.1
pasted posters throughout the city asking the
provocative question, "Who polices the police?
Police racism."
Frente 3 de Fevereiro's outreach culminat¬
ed in the fifty-minute video Zumbi Somos Nos:
Cartografia do Racismo para o Jovem Urbano {We
are Zumbi: A Cartography of Racism for Urban
Youth), a poetic manifesto on racism that has
been screened internationally. The group contin-

1bp to bottom: Members use a reading room in a workers' club in Germany.

Free Class Frankfurt layers a contemporary image with a vintage photograph
of a performance in a typical German worker’s club. (Courtesy Free Class
Frankfurt)
158 LIVING AS FORM

Above: Frente 3 do Fevereiro created a horizontal monument to commemorate

the death ot Flavio Sant’Ana, a young black dentist wrongfully murdered by Sao
Paulo military police in 2004 (Courtesy of Rente 3 de Fevereiro),
 PROJECTS

ues to advocate for racial justice by contextualiz¬

ing information the public receives through mass
media and creating new forms of protest pertain¬
ing to racial issues.

i; &ii : \ m

msilAiUK i*k>i 1 f; :£—'■

tv • .sfcSaWin.iat. \\
LaURQXL ».
r, fm.. £ - - \ •

lbp to bottom: During Rio de Janeiro's Carnival in 2010, Fkente 3 de Fevereiro's interven¬ Above: The "We Are Zumbi" flag hangs outside a Homeless Movement occupation
tion HaitiAqui (Haiti Here), a 3-foot inflatable ball, connected the past and present condi¬ in downtown Sao Paulo as part of the resistance to keep the building (Photograph
tions in Haiti with the conditions in the slums of Rio de Janeiro (Photograph by Cns Ribas), by Julia Valiengo).
Signs created by FYente 3 de Fevereiro reading, "Save Black Brazil" and "Where are the
blacks?" (Courtesy Ftente 3 de Fevereiro); “We are zombies" (Photograph by Peetssa),
160 LIVING AS FORM

THEASTER GATES
THE DORCHESTER PROJECT
2009-

Since 2009, artist and urban plannerTheaster

Gates has purchased three abandoned buildings
on Chicago's South Side and refitted them with
remnants of the city's urban landscape, includ¬
ing wooden floors that once lined an old bowling
alley, and windows that served as doors in a mu¬
seum. The renovated structures—a former candy
store, a single-family home, and a duplex—also
house pieces of Chicago's cultural history: In an
effort to preserve the collections, Gates acquired
14,000 books from a now-defunct bookstore and
60,000 antique lanternslides from the University
of Chicago's archive. Last year, he purchased
8,000 vinyl records when a Hyde Park record shop
closed. The Dorchester Project, named after the
street his buildings occupy, has become an ex¬
pansive redevelopment effort, with the help of ar¬
chitects, students, and city officials.
What began as a mission to rescue architec¬
ture and objects has evolved into a larger mission
to bring artistic and social change to the South
Side, a historically underserved neighborhood.
The Dorchester Project serves as an incubator for
community artists and as an informal gathering
space where the public can meet for dinner, attend
performances, and engage in discussions about
art, urban blight, and possibilities for renewal.
While Gates' project has been largely touted as a
positive development, it has also generated criti¬
cism—in the form of hate letters.

Above: Remnants from Chicago landmarks were repurposed to create the

fagade and decorate the interior of the Dorchester Project building (Courtesy
of the artist and Kavi Gupta Chicago | Berlin).
PROJECTS 161

WSB

Above: The building houses a collection of 60,000 antique lanternslides from

the University of Chicago (top), 14,000 books Gates acquired from a now-
defunct bookstore (middle), and 8,000 vinyl records from a closed Hyde Park
record shop (bottom), (Courtesy of the artist and Kavi Gupta Chicago | Berlin)
162 LIVING AS FORM

landmines, that divides the Western Sahara terri¬

ALONSO GIL AND tory from Morocco. ARTifariti is an international
FREDERICO GUZMAN art festival that was launched in 2007 in response
to the violence and repressive conditions that the
ARTIFARITI militarized "Wall of Shame" engenders. This an¬
2007 - nual event, comprised of exhibitions, workshops,
and symposia, takes place in the refugee camps
and in the oasis town of Tifariti, part of the so-
called "Liberated Territories" or "Buffer Zone" of
Western Sahara.
Initiated by artists Federico Guzman and
Alonso Gil, ARTifariti accepts proposals from art¬
ists across the globe. A team of curators chooses
six projects that generally involve local materials
and resources and prompt permanent, structural
For years, the Moroccan government and a change in Sahrawi. For example, in 2010, the fes¬
local Sahrawi dissident group have been at an tival supported a series of children's workshops in
impasse over ownership of occupied land in the a neighboring town. The school-aged participants
disputed territory of Western Sahara in North painted a mural of Western Sahara that was used
Africa. The conflict has resulted in a myriad of as a backdrop while they re-enacted bombings,
human rights violations in Sahrawi refugee camps bank robberies, and other events that mark the
along a 2,700-kilometer sand wall, studded with lives of their Sahrawi peers.
 PROJECTS 163

Above: Artist Robin Kahn bakes a loaf of bread in the desert outside of Tifariti,
Opposite: Kneita Boudda prints T-shirts at Sahara Libre Wear workshop, a fash¬
Western Sahara, as part of Dining in Refugee Camps: The Art of Sahrawi Cook¬
ion label created by Alonso Gil in collaboration with the Sahrawi community
ing (Courtesy ARTifariti).
(Photograph by Paula Alvarez, Courtesy ARTifariti)
164 LIVING AS FORM

PAUL GLOVER
ITHACA HOURS
1991 -

In Ithaca, New York, you can mow a lawn to pay

for a movie ticket, or change a light bulb for a cup
of coffee—not through direct barter, but by using
a local alternative currency called Ithaca HOURS.
Nearly 500 businesses, including banks, contrac¬ aa ssr- avtnzc asiings

tors, restaurants, hospitals, landlords, farmer's 273-8025 Just Ash Anyone!

markets, and the local Chamber of Commerce,
accept HOURS, which are worth 10 dollars, or
roughly the average pay in Ithaca. Since its in¬
ception, over 110,000 HOURS have been issued,
and millions of dollars in value have been traded
through the system, which is locally referred to as
the "Grassroots National Product." The bills are U-OKB THAN 200 BUSINESSES TAKE WHERE VO \ TWgY'KE ISUXO
HOOFS, tNOOCWfr A 6AW, ruese hOufS I to peone iamq
counterfeit-proof, serialized notes, produced in THEATERS. A 60n/UNGr MUM
HEAtfH UL’SSy FAKMHSS, AMP
COMC FROM?/ 65MP IN TH£
._ COuRCN FROM TUB
50 ON. WSTGFWHATW back PA06,ro ee
denominations of 2 HRS, 1 HR, 1/2 HR, 1/4 HR, weeo i$ usrev THg£e. au. U5TeU IN TWe PARER AS
me apverhscrs vwe -rue money. -w&m
UQUF6...MV VOUCfiHKM
1/8 HR, and 1/10 HR. AHY&OPY TO TAKE HOAft, pf*£
ZT E*€RV60JV IN TOWN CAW
Vv 06e TMfcM P0K ANYTHfNCr.
r J05T W, AND SMOH 7U£M
Author and activist Paul Glover created usr. wo cam K£e? that cop/.

the Ithaca HOURS system in 1991 as a way to

strengthen the local economy by backing it with
community labor, rather than national debt. Since •rnm afb fumy of reasons. ©Swce AW HOUR- **0.00, ©WfTH BerfeR HoORiV
fivMBi A TWO. FOR VRAPtNCr. Wfc'RE KAfONCr THE HOURLY INCOME, PEOFtE ARE MORE
Vswcs WfcRE APPlNCr TO I TXACA'S WACre. THAT peN£FI16 V/ORKCRS, A SEE TO AFfCacp lOCAUH-
the tender is only valid within a 20-mile radius, $51,000 Or HOURS SfNCtf _
anp eus»*es5es,TOO; . ^
MAY ASK FOR 4^
MAPC CRAFTS ANP KXQ...UKE
AT THE FARMERS* MARKETS...
L99L- peon^ ON TR MORE THAN ON€ PER TrJ amp other uxAt. S£fty»ces.
trade is limited to residents and businesses with¬ AMP M0R£ TRADING- HOUR, 80T HOURS RfiMNP
OS THAT VVCAUV COMES
THAT MORE LOCAL.
peopie can start gcw/esses
FROM AMP OOJNCr TH/N06 Th6V UY£.
in the region; to that end, the currency promotes eyervonb pes«?vt6
FArR f*V.
local shopping and reduces dependence on trans¬
port fuels. "HOURS reminds us that wealth comes
from labor, and everyone deserves fair pay," Glover
T\JC 4
C/ AI UfUtO^ CcctfAl UcJCh
writes on his website. "We printed our own money
because we watched Federal dollars come to town,
shake a few hands, then leave to buy rainforest
lumber and fight wars. Ithaca's HOURS, by con¬
trast, stay in our region to help us hire each other.
While dollars make us increasingly dependent on
transnational corporations and bankers, HOURS
reinforce community trading and expand com¬
merce which is more accountable to our concerns
for ecology and social justice." Ithaca HOURS is
one of the largest, and oldest, alternative curren¬
cies in the United States.

7bp to bottom: Ithaca HOURS are printed in five denominations (Courtesy

Paul Glover). Glover, along with artist Jim Houghton, created a cartoon that
explains the purpose and use of HOURS (Designed by Paul Glover, Art by
Jim Houghton).
 PROJECTS 165

of most foundations or government funding agen¬

JOSH GREENE cies, requires only a simple project description
SERVICE-WORKS sent in the body of an email message, and an item¬
ized budget. While anyone is eligible for a stipend,
2006 -
those awarded grants are typically projects that
can be realized with roughly $300, within three
weeks, and are in tandem with Greene's personal
interests in "exchange, interaction, storytelling,
and problem solving."
"I have a particular fondness for projects
that grow out of and deal with real-life situations,
be they political, personal, or environmental,"
Greene says. "I also enjoy work that incorporates
risk, humor, pathos, and absurdity."
Some of the projects Greene has funded in¬
For the past ten years, Josh Greene has clude a mobile replica of a front stoop that fostered
been working both as an artist and a waiter in a impromptu conversations in Nashville, Tennessee;
high-end San Francisco restaurant. One night a a call for writers requesting impersonations of
month, Greene donates his tips—between $200 George W. Bush lamenting his presidency's fail¬
and $300—to another artist through his micro¬ ures; and a cake party for first graders. Each entry
granting project Service-Works. Approximately on the Service-Works website includes a brief
twenty-five applicants a month submit pitches to narrative about how Greene earned the money
the program through Greene's website. He under¬ that went toward the project. While the projects
writes one proposal per round and displays the he funds are disparate in content and form, each
idea online. Greene is the sole juror, and the ap¬ reflects his interest in connecting his labor to an
plication process for Service-Works, unlike those artist's work.

kina i

I am fairly certain that this new job is not for me. After my first night
of training I found myself longing for my old job. 1 went as far as
contacting my former manager and seeing if I could have my old job
back. He said he filled my spot.

A few weeks have gone by since that first night of training and there
have been moments in which 1 have felt that everything would be ok.
I reason with myself that my discontent has to do with it being a new
situation. But in a way, this is the opposite of reason. I have been the
new guy a couple of handfuls of times in my service-industry career and
usually the beginning stages of jobs arc characterized by excitement
as opposed to dislike.

Tiru Hcringcr bartered two painting* of

the Fair Oak* area for the Und Brother* This night did not stand out in any particular way except at the end of
Mortuary in exchange for the cremation of
the shift I told myself that after tomorrow night’s shift - my last one
her father.
before a two-week vacation-1 will tell them that it is not working out
for me and give my notice.

Above: With Greene's $273 grant, Tina Heringer made paintings to barter with
a mortuary in exchange for the cremation of her father (Courtesy Josh Greene).
 LIVING AS FORM

FRITZ HAEG
SUNDOWN SALON
2001-2006

Los Angeles-based artist and architect Fritz

Haeg bridges public and private spheres in his
inclusive, community-oriented actions. For his
Edible Estates project in 2005, he replaced sub¬
urban lawns—the ultimate modernist moat—with
gardens full of native plants that encouraged
neighbors to talk to each other, use their prop¬
erties communally, and grow the land into an
environmentally productive space. Likewise, his
Animal Estates (2008) were homes for animals
that had been displaced by humans, usually situ¬
ated on the premises of commissioning museums.
These makeshift sanctuaries included a beaver
pond located in a courtyard and an eagles' nest
placed in an outdoor foyer.
From 2001 to 2006, Haeg used his own estate,
a geodesic dome on Los Angeles' Sundown Drive,
to host semi-public gatherings of artists, neigh¬
bors, and other collaborators in which participants
gardened, knitted, read poems, played music, or¬
ganized pageants, performed yoga, showed visual
art work, screened films, and simply exchanged
ideas. These so-called Sundown Salons, which
began as a small group of friends, expanded to
include a wide range of artists including My
Barbarian, Pipilotti Rist, Eve Fowler, Chris Abani,
and Assume Vivid Astro Focus, among others.
"The salons provided an alternative to the isolated
solitary creator in the studio. Instead, the salon
celebrated the truly engaged human, responding
to their time, environment, community, friends,
neighbors, weather, history, place," Haeg writes.
Haeg, via Sundown Salon, also staged
similar events at the Schindler House in West
Hollywood in collaboration with the MAK Center.
In September 2006, after thirty events, Sundown
Salon was converted into Sundown Schoolhouse,
an alternative art school where "public interac¬
tion, physical connectedness, and responsive¬
ness to place are valued above all else."

Above: Sundown Salon #29 (Dancing Convention, July 9, 2006) was a dance
workshop that took place in a geodesic dome (Photograph by Fritz Haeg).
 PROJECTS 167

Top row: Sundown Salon #11 (February 22, 2004, organized with Sabrina Bottom: Sundown Salon #28 (Young Ones, June 18, 2006) was organized with
Gschwandtner & Sara Grady) was a celebration of extreme knitting, art, craft, Joyce Campbell and Iris Regn as an opportunity for local children to participate
and the handmade, where guests were invited to wear things they made and in salon events and projects, and for parents and children to establish a like-
bring projects to work on (Photograph by Jeaneann Lund). minded local network (Photograph by Fritz Haeg).
168 LIVING AS FORM

erals through water, not soil. The resulting asep¬

HAHA tic conditions have proven to be safer for those
FLOOD with immunodeficiency disorders. The vegetables
that Haha grew—including spinach, kale, arugula,
1992-1995
and collard greens—also contained anti-oxidants
that could possibly enhance the effectiveness of
treatments.
With the help of a network of thirty neighbor¬
hood volunteers, Haha transformed the garden
into a vast resource hub for the AIDS/HIV com¬
munity, which they intended to hand off to a social
In 1992, the collective Haha planted a hy¬ service organization at the end of their temporary
droponic garden that grew therapeutic herbs project, Rood. The group held lectures and work¬
and leafy, green vegetables in an empty Chicago shops, provided informational materials, and of¬
storefront, and distributed the produce on a week¬ fered the storefront as a meeting space and public
ly basis to local AIDS and HIV patients. From the forum for discussion about sex education, con¬
sidewalk, the long rows of small plants, boxed traceptives, nutrition, treatment, healthcare, and
in perforated containers under artificial lights, questions of personal and collective identity.
looked more like a scientific laboratory than a Rood was commissioned by Sculpture
functioning garden. Yet for Laurie Palmer, a found¬ Chicago's seminal exhibition. Culture in Action,
ing member of Haha, the interconnected plastic a two-year project that helped transform the role
tubes captured the spirit of community, and that of audience in public art from spectator to par¬
of the human body itself—"Complex, intricate ticipant. "We were already interested in creating
networks," she says, "which were at the basis of change through our work as artists," Palmer says.
all of our interventions." Unlike outdoor gardens, "And believed that incremental change was the
hydroponic gardens transport nutrients and min¬ fine-grained substrate that would make it happen."

i
 PROJECTS 169

Above: A school group helps with the storefront community hydroponic garden
Opposite: Haha took over a vacated storefront on Greenleaf Street, where
on Greenleaf Street in Chicago's North Side (Photograph by Haha, Courtesy
they planted a hydroponic garden to provide produce for local AIDS and HIV
Sculpture Chicago),
patients (Photograph by Haha, Courtesy Sculpture Chicago)
170 LIVING AS FORM

tural centers throughout the city—from public pla¬

HELENA PRODUCCIONES zas to modest artist-run spaces. Examples of past
FESTIVAL DE performances include Spanish artist Santiago
Sierra's installation of an enormous American flag
PERFORMANCE DE CALI on the wall of the Tertulia Museum; French artist
1997-2008 Pierre Pinoncelli's amputation of his pinkie finger
in protest of the kidnapping of 2002 presiden¬
tial candidate Ingrid Betancourt; and a concert
by Las Malas Amistades, a Casiotone art school
band whose independently produced CDs have
attained cult status among college students.
Helena Producciones is a nonprofit, multi¬
disciplinary collective that expands definitions
For eleven years, Helena Producciones' of visual art by organizing events that promote
Festival de Performance de Cali played a key role local culture and community-initiated activism.
in the cultural life of Cali, Colombia, a city with The collective, which includes artists Wilson
a notable shortage of resources and support net¬ Diaz, Ana Maria Millan, Andres Sandoval, Claudia
works for the arts. The festival provided a forum Patricia Sarria, and Juan David Medina, often of¬
for both emerging and established international fers institutional critique through its work, as well
artists to create performances that were interac¬ as perspectives on local conditions, alternative to
tive and politically motivated, and defied tradi¬ the routine social and economic conflict endemic
tional boundaries between artist and audience. in Colombia. The collective was also responsible
Artists were invited to participate by invitation for Loop, a semi-weekly television program that
and through an open call for submissions. The aired in Cali from 2000-2001 and mimicked the
five-day festival would also include workshops, variety show format in order to report on the ac¬
street interventions, and talks held in various cul¬ tivities of local artists and punk bands.

Above: Members of the Puerto Tejada school of fencing compete in a match

using machetes (Courtesy Helena Producciones).
 PROJECTS 171

STEPHEN HOBBS AND

MARCUS NEUSTETTER
URBANET-HILLBROW/
DAKAR/HILLBROW
2006

While conducting site research for an urban

redevelopment project in Johannesburg, South
Africa, Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter
were stopped at the Hillbrow border by two franco¬
phone immigrants, who warned the artists against
entering the inner-city neighborhood with a cam¬
era-suggesting that it might be stolen. Inspired
by the exchange, Hobbs and Neustetter asked a
group of Senegalese immigrants to draw maps
of Dakar, which the artists then used to navigate
the city during their two-week residency in May
2006. The project, titled UrboNET - Hillbrow/
Dakar/Hillbrow, became their collective contri¬
bution to the Dak'Art Biennale fringe program
"Dak'Art OFF." The resulting exhibition, held at
the Ker Thiossane residency space, was com¬
prised of wall paintings of the maps and projec¬
tions of photographic stills that reflected Hobbs'
and Neustetter's tour of Dakar on foot and docu¬
mented their interactions with people they met
along the way.
The exhibition was designed as a reflec¬
tion on racial and ethnic changes in the so¬
cial fabric of Dakar and in the artists' home¬
town of Johannesburg. UrbaNET was included
in Johannesburg's "Sightings/Site-ings of the
African City" conference, held at the Wits I nstitute
of Social and Economic Research in June 2006.
The project's last iteration was an audio-visual
presentation and discussion forum in which
Senegalese immigrants were able to examine and
compare the findings from Johannesburg and
Dakar.

7bp to bottom: Attendees enjoy the Seventh Festival de Performance de Cali in

2008. For the Coco Show, a market event organized by Helena Producciones,
artisans displayed and sold their products in the main street in Cali. (Courtesy
Helena Producciones)
172 LIVING AS FORM

the labor of its founder, Fran llich, a media art¬

FRAN ILICH ist, writer, and activist. The Spacebank network
SPACEBANK allows participants to "purify their money" by in¬
vesting in socially conscious projects involving
2005-
art and activism, including a community farmers
market, through a micro-financing program. As
Spacebank's mission states, "We help you reach
your objectives ... without hurting others."
llich operates Spacebank under his umbrel¬
la D.I.Y. media conglomerate Diego de la Vega,
which takes its name from the 'true' identity of
Spacebank is a virtual community investment the fictional pulp character Zorro. Diego de la
bank that uses traditional capitalist trading struc¬ Vega, a limited liability corporation that llich
tures in tandem with an alternate, fictional cur¬ started with fifty pesos, now hosts a web server
rency in order to promote anti-capitalist values. (Possibleworlds.org), a research and development
Spacebank clients can open functioning bank initiative on narrative media (Ficcion.de), a col¬
accounts, invest in established stock exchanges, lective online radio (Radiolatina.am), a communi¬
buy bonds, and trade, all using the Digital Maoist ty newspaper (elzorro.org), and a think-tank called
Sunflower network currency, which is backed by Collective Intelligence Agency (ci-a.info).

Cuentas en Spacebank

11 Mexico
■ USA
■ Austria
H Espana
■ Alemania
■ Turquia
■ Argentina
I Colombia

Above: Although account holders are located primarily in Mexico, people from
all over the world have opened Spacebank accounts (Courtesy Fran llich).
 TELLERVO KALLEINEN AND
OLIVER KOCHTA-KALLEINEN
COMPLAINTS CHOIR
2005 -

As organizers of Complaints Choir, Tellervo

Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen have heard
it all: "My dreams are boring." "My grandmother
is a racist." "My neighbor organizes Hungarian
folk dances above my bedroom." "I am fat and
lazy and half-old." Since 2005, the artists, who
live in Helsinki, Finland, have invited people to
sing their gripes in unison, in public, and online.
The process is simple. First, invite others. Then,
find a good musician. Once complaints are col¬
lected, written in verse, and rehearsed, partici¬
pants are asked to record a public performance
and submit it to the Complaints Choir website,
a warehouse for songs with submissions from
Japan to Chicago. Complaints include the overtly
political—for example, social injustices in a small,
Brazilian town-to the deeply personal, like hav¬
ing too much sex on the brain. "The private, the
personal, can be very political," Kalleinen and

Tbp to bottom: The Complaints Choir of St. Petersburg performing in 2006

(Photograph by Yuriy Rumiantsev). The Complaints Choir of Helsinki rehearses
in 2006 (Photograph by Heidi Piiroinen).
174 LIVING AS FORM

Kochta-Kalleinen write on their website. '"I have

too much time!' can be seen as a personal trag¬
edy, but also points to a major defect in capitalis¬
tic society, which sidelines people because they
are of no use in the production cycle." In Cairo,
Egypt, a recent complaints choir drew so much in¬
terest and such large crowds, that it evolved into
the "Choir Project," an ongoing, local version that
generates reflections and concerns about politi¬
cal conditions in the region.
Kalleinen and Kochta-Kalleinen make work
that often documents daily experiences, such as
on-the-job mishaps, and doctor-patient relation¬
ships. The artists first got the idea for Complaints
Choir while living in Finland, where the word for
those who complain literally translates to "com¬
plaint choir." They compiled their first choir in
Birmingham, England, with the help of two arts or¬
ganizations; since then, over seventy choirs have
formed around the world.
 PROJECTS 175

opening and closing of the exhibition. However,

AMAL KENAWY the second iteration was cancelled before the
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS show's end, in fear of inciting further conflict on
the street.
2010

SURASIKUSOLWONG
MINIMAL FACTORY/
($1 MARKET)/
RED BULL PART/ (WITH D.J.)
2002

In December 2010, while citizens across the

Middle East rose in widespread political unrest,
fifteen men and women crawled across a busy
Cairo intersection on their hands and knees, at
the instruction of Egyptian artist Amal Kenawy.
The performers, who included Kenawy's brother,
a curator, and a dozen hired day laborers, moved
slowly in a single file line, impeding traffic and
drawing a large, emotionally charged crowd. Some
passersby were annoyed by the halt of midday Black Friday. Christmas Eve. End-of-season
travel; others protested the potential critique of sales. If you've ever visited a shopping mall, a de¬
the state that triggered the act, as well as the sub¬ partment store, or an outlet center you've experi¬
missive behavior of the men in line. Many people enced the frenzy and emotional high of material
filmed and photographed the performance, which consumption that fascinates Thai artist Surasi
took place during the opening of 25th Alexandria Kusolwong. Imagine a dimly-lit, factory-like space
Biennale and an international curatorial workshop scattered with long tables in primary colors. Each
in Cairo, organized by Tate. The artist and partici¬ table is heaped with a seemingly random assort¬
pants were eventually arrested, and briefly impris¬ ment of goods, like a clandestine rummage sale;
oned, once heated tempers turned violent. On the washing baskets, soup ladles, footballs, space in¬
surface, the action seemed to simply jar the daily vader machines, inflatable toys, and footballs. As
routine of people on the street; yet, their ensuing you peruse the space, a DJ pumps loud, energetic
reactions reflected an underlying conservatism, dance music and a counter offers cold cans of Red
and undercurrent of tension rampant in the region. Bull. Other shoppers swarm over the abundance
Kenawy's Silence of the Lambs was commis¬ of goods, piling baskets high with colorful items,
sioned for the exhibition Assume the Position at all on sale for $1 each.
Cairo's Townhouse Gallery for Contemporary Art, This is Kusolwong's Minimal Factory/($l
and included photographs and videos as well as Market)/Red Bull Party (with D.J.), part of his
newspaper clippings of the event. The perfor¬ touring Market project. Exploring the intersection
mance was scheduled to occur twice, marking the of art, consumption, and community, Kusolwong

Opposite, top to bottom: The Complaints Choir of St. Petersburg performing in

2006 (Photograph by Yuriy Rumiantsev). The first Complaints Choir was formed
in Birmingham in 2005 (Photograph by Springhill Institute).
176 LIVING AS FORM

1 EURO
BLINKY
MARKET
(OUMME
KISTE)
2006

recreates a typical Thai market with cheap goods ucts. His interactive installation Golden Ghost
purchased en masse in Bangkok. As shoppers (The Future Belongs To Ghosts), which was com¬
fawn over the Thai-manufacture goods—made missioned for Creative Time's 2011 exhibition
precious by their exotic origin and the gallery set¬ Living as Form, was composed of large piles of
ting—Kusolwong intends the thumping music and multicolored, tangled thread waste—a byproduct
beverage service to draw out the social interac¬ of textile production. Hidden within the thread
tions inherent to the consumer experience. waste were gold necklaces designed by the artist.
Kusolwong's practice navigates between pub¬ Visitors were invited to dig through the sea of del¬
lic and private spaces, playing with concepts of icate knots in search of the jewelry. Every week,
both economic and cultural values, and the dia¬ the artist added another piece of jewelry to what
logue between people, art, and consumer prod¬ he called the "economic landscape."

Top to bottom: At the 1 Euro Blinky Market (Dumme Kiste) in 2006 at West- Top to bottom: 1,000 Lire Market (La vita continual, 2001, featured various
faelische Kunstverein, Munster, Germany, over 2,000 everyday objects from everyday objects sold for 1,000 Lire in the main square of Casole d’Elsa, Si¬
Thailand were sold for one euro each. For the Cork Caucus in 2005, Kusolwong enna, Italy. The i 0 Kronor Market (ohne die Rose tun wir's nicht) featured Thai
invited various local market vendors to take part in 1 Euro BangCork Market, goods for sale for ten Kronor each at the Rooseum Center for Contemporary
which took place over three days, (Courtesy of Surasi Kusolwong) Art, Malmo, Sweden, in 2004. (Courtesy of Surasi Kusolwong)
 PROJECTS 177

The first step in solving problems may be

BRONWYN LACE learning how to talk about them, and by appreci¬
AND ANTHEA MOYS ating what Johannesburg-based artists Anthea
Moys and Bronwyn Lace consider to be the vastly
EN MASSE
underappreciated components of the creative pro¬
2010 -
cess: "those aspects of becoming inspired, brain¬
storming, sharing, and debating." In 2010, they
launched En Masse, a several-year, multi-step
effort to suggest working models for environmen¬
tal activism by first bringing together a group of
forty-nine artists, architects, science educators,
9 engineers, and curators at the Bag Factory Artists'
Studios, where Lace serves as education direc¬
000 <P009Q0<PCQO(P<W®00®©$C5GPG<
^66®^ 0 0©©<PO 99 Q<> <P 99 9^^^^ ® ^ ^ wW ^ tor-then implementing their ideas in subsequent
phases. Attendees of these initial workshops par¬
is btt tTfrrrr:
*/• t»ft tow: r;: tin .•, / s / / ; />
ticipated in eight three-hour conversations. Lace
JJJJJJJJJJUjj and Moys presented the results of the workshop
sessions in an exhibition, which included instal¬
©O pftcC oo OOOOO O O 00000600 o e oOptoQ Qt>Q lations, audio recordings of the conversations,
0t^Vfe©6>>fe> G>9~te06~» o © &&©G>06 0 60O6© drawings, and textual documentation.
The discussions and exhibition in 2010 in¬
troduced participants to one another and then
encouraged people to develop ideas in collabora¬
tion. For example, Metro Mass—a proposed solu¬
tion to Johannesburg's problematic public trans¬
portation-calls for over 5,000 suburbanites from
the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area to
give up their vehicles on a given day.

Top: Lace and Moys produced a series of workshops, exhibitions, performanc¬

es, and a book. Bottom row: The installation of En Masse included linked text
and images (Courtesy Bronwyn Lace and Anthea Moys).
178 LIVING AS FORM

negative portrayals of young people involved in

SUZANNE LACY riots, violence, and conflicts with police. This
THE ROOF 1$ ON FIRE event, however, which was organized by artist
Suzanne Lacy in conjunction with TEAM (a group
1994
of teens, educators, artists, and media workers),
was designed as a positive media spectacle, with
young people depicted as citizens rather than li¬
abilities. For five months, Lacy met weekly with
teachers and teens, including those from a nearby
probation program, to discuss issues important
to them, and to craft a message for civic lead¬
For one afternoon in 1994, two hundred ers about the role of young people in Oakland's
and twenty high school students in Oakland, future. The Roof Is On Fire reflected the crux of
California, sat in parked cars on a rooftop garage those discussions, as well as Lacy's decades-long
and talked to each other about violence, sex, gen¬ mission to counter misleading media images with
der, family, and race. The teens spoke candidly, empowered, community-oriented actions. Since
without any kind of script, while an audience of the 1970s, she has created performances that
nearly one thousand people—including numer¬ offer alternative narratives and interpretations of
ous reporters and camera crews—walked from car news coverage. For example. In Mourning and In
to car, leaning in and bending over, to hear their Rage presented a public ritual on the steps of Los
conversations through rolled-down windows. The Angeles' City Hall in response to coverage of the
resulting footage of the performance, called The murders of 10 women in December 1977. While
Roof Is On Fire, was aired locally on multiple net¬ the stories focused on the random nature of the
works and nationally on CNN. violence, Lacy's collaborative performance was a
Oakland teens were already accustomed to call to action, and reframing of the killing spree
receiving media attention, though largely through from a feminist perspective.

Above: Four Oakland teens that participated in Lacy's The Roods On Fire
candidly discuss pressing topics while an audience listens in (Courtesy
Suzanne Lacy),
 PROJECTS 179

Above: The RooIIs On Fire took place on the rooftop of an Oakland parking
garage one evening in 1994 (Courtesy Suzanne Lacy).
180 LIVING AS FORM

LAND FOUNDATION
THE LAND
1998-

In 1998, artists Rirkrit Tiravanija and Kamin

Lertchaiprasert bought a rice field in Sanpatong,
a village 20 minutes outside of Chiang Mai,
Thailand. At the time, flooding in the area had
rendered rice cultivation difficult; instead, they
began cultivating, and experimenting with, no¬
tions of utopian, socially responsible living. The
Land became a testing ground for meditation and
ideas, such as ecologically conscious systems
that don't rely on the use of electricity or gas, but
call for self-sufficiency, sustainable practices,
and natural resources. For example, harnessing
bio-mass (or fecal matter) to generate power;
creating fishing ponds filled with purified water;
building kitchens modeled to support communal
living; and installing meditation rooms.
Since purchasing the property, they have
invited artists from around the world, including
SUPERFLEX, Tobias Rehberger, Philippe Parreno
and Frangois Roche, to create projects and to build
housing structures on The Land. They also began
growing rice once the ground was viable again,
and donated the food to local villages—communi¬
ties that have been ravaged by the AIDS epidemic
in the region.
Tiravanija is best known for cooking and serv¬
ing Pad Thai to visitors of a Soho gallery (one of
the first instances of so-called "relational aesthet¬
ics" that engages audiences as participants in¬
stead of viewers) while Lertchaiprasert's art often
explores the daily rituals, disciplines, and values
of Buddhism. Though the artists continue to live
on The Land, operations are managed by The Land
Foundation—an independent, anonymous group-
in an effort to disperse ownership among the
space's users, visitors, and inhabitants.

7bp to bottom: American artist Robert Peters and Thai artist Thasnai Sethaseree
designed Asian Provision. Lin Yilin's Whose Land? Whose Art? consisted of
two walls, one constructed in the countryside in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the
other in a Bangkok gallery. Farming at the Land Foundation is open to those
who wish to learn. (Courtesy The Land Foundation)
 PROJECTS 181

7bp to bottom: German architect and installation artist Markus Heinsdorff designed 7bp to bottom: Rice paddy farming is organized in a two-crop annual cycle. Somyot &
the Living Bamboo Dome, which will regenerate by means of renewable construction Thaivijit’s House, by Thai artists Somyot Hananuntasuk and Thaivijit Poengkasemsom, was
approximately every three years, Angkrit's House, a simple structure for one person conceived as a venue for sharing ideas and designed to accommodate a staging area for
designed by Thai artist Angknt Ajchanyasophon, was inspired by housing for Buddhist performances. A Buddhist farming concept inspires the agricultural layout of the rice pad¬
pnests at a monastery m Chiang-Rai, Thailand. (Courtesy The Land Foundation) dies—only one quarter of the area is solid ground while the other three are water, similar to
the composition of the human body, (Courtesy The Land Foundation)
182 LIVING AS FORM

Second Indochina War, [the trail] formed a vast

LONG MARCH PROJECT network of passageways across China, Vietnam,
HO CHI M1NH TRAIL Laos and Cambodia," Long March writes. Their Ho
Chi Minh Trail was envisioned as a "nomadic resi¬
2008-2011
dency," in these same countries, as well as their
international diasporas, with the goal of exploring
interactions the legacy of interactions among the
regions: "How can sensitive misgivings between
cultural and social communities be creatively
engaged so as to create new identifications, and
new possibilities of beneficial engagement where
In 2008, the Beijing-based art collective Long ... prejudices are laid aside?"
March Project launched an expedition across the Founded by artist and writer Lu Jie, Long
Ho Chi Minh Trail, originally a secret system of March Project takes its name from the historic mil¬
jungle pathways during the Vietnam War. For this itary retreat of the Chinese Red Army from nation¬
trip, also called Ho Chi Minh Trail, Long March alist troops in 1945. In 2002, the collective toured
invited international and local curators, artists, the 6,000-mile historical stretch; called A Walking
scholars, and students to re-walk part of the trail Visual Display, Long March brought together 250
while participating in panel discussions, visual artists, curators, writers, theorists, and scholars
art collaborations, and other creative actions in in public parks, community halls, private living
cities on the itinerary. Understanding that his¬ rooms, and government offices to discuss topics
tory is as complex and branched as the 600-mile such as the "ideological legacy of the Cultural
path, Long March's program uses the trail as a Revolution," and "the birth of Communism." The
point of entry into dialogue about Vietnam's past trip was documented through photography, instal¬
and present. "Though internationally understood lations, painting, performances, symposia, and
as a logistical supply route created during the other forums.

Above: The Long March Project uses the geographical pathway of the Ho Chi
Minh trail to reexamine China's socialist and revolutionary past (Courtesy Long
March Project).
 PROJECTS 183

the LA Times launched an investigation into the

LOS ANGELES charges. Though the CIA was eventually acquit¬
POVERTY DEPARTMENT ted, the LAPD's production explored the implica¬
tions of high-level profiteering by enlisting home¬
AGENTS & ASSETS less actors to perform as Congress members and
2001 - CIA officials. Each performance was followed by
discussions between law-enforcement officials,
audience members, and the actors involved.
In 1985, actor John Malpede founded, and
still continues to direct, LAPD, the first perfor¬
mance group in the nation comprised primarily
of homeless and formerly homeless people, giv¬
ing this often silent community a voice and plat¬
form to speak—not simply about the experience of
being homeless, but about the political and civic
Los Angeles Poverty Department is a 26-year- conditions that create poverty, as well as areas
old theater company that employs homeless ac¬ such as Skid Row. Malpede had worked with, and
tors living on the city's Skid Row, one of the larg¬ advocated for the rights of, homeless populations
est homeless populations in the country. In 2001, in New York. The theater company began as an im-
LAPD produced Agents & Assets, a staged perfor- provisational group, and now primarily produces
I mance of the "Report on the Central Intelligence scripted works that address injustices within the
Agency's Alleged Involvement in Crack Cocaine criminal justice system. LAPD's productions are
Trafficking in Los Angeles"—transcripts that were often site-specific installations, as well as public
presented to the House of Representatives after projects with educational programming.

Above: Agents and Assets being performed in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 2009,

(Photograph by Henriette Brouwers).
184 LIVING AS FORM

MAMMALIAN
DIVING REFLEX
HAIRCUTS BY CHILDREN
2006

For one day, fifth- and sixth-grade students

from Toronto's Parkdale Public School provided
haircuts, free of charge, in hair salons across
the city. Using the tresses of mannequin heads,
they trained for one week with professional styl¬
ists, learning how to trim bangs, add color, shave
necklines, create long layers, and use a blow
dryer. While adults provided supervision during
the sessions, most patrons trusted the novice
hairdressers, who worked in pairs or groups, to
make aesthetic decisions like color choices and
hair length, on their own. The project, which later
traveled internationally, culminated in a two-day
series of performances at the Milk International
Children's Festival of the Arts back in Toronto.
Haircuts By Children was organized by
Mammalian Diving Reflex, a Toronto-based arts
and research group that creates very specific in¬
teractions between people in public spaces. For
Out of My League, participants were asked to ap¬
proach strangers who they believed were 'out of
their league' and engage in conversation with
them. Slow Dance with Teacher made high-school
teachers available for one night to slow dance with
their students. The group's name is inspired by a
self-preservation technique triggered by extreme forming a highly specialized, and personal, form
physical duress. For example, when the body is or labor, as well as the often-precocious nature of
suddenly submerged in water or caught in a freez¬ 10- to 12-year-olds, to convey a larger message:
ing environment, all major bodily functions slow If children can be empowered as creative thinkers
almost to a halt, minimizing the need for oxygen, and decision makers, shouldn't they be allowed to
and increasing the chances of survival. To that vote, too?
end, Haircuts leveraged the image of children per¬

Above: A woman enjoys a free haircut from students in Parkdale Public

School’s 5th and 6th grade classes. Opposite: Stan Bevington receives a hair¬
cut from Amahayes Mulugeta and Dailia Linton, (Photographs by John Lauener)
PROJECTS 185
186 LIVING AS FORM

Indians, lead the parade: His signature, three-

MARDI GRAS dimensional geometric designs often weighed
INDIAN COMMUNITY hundreds of pounds, costs thousands of dollars,
and earned him a National Endowments for the
FUNERAL PROCESSION Arts grant, and was the subject of feature-length
FOR BIG CHIEF ALLISON documentary. On July 10, 2005, thousands New
"TOOTIE” MONTANA Orleans residents gathered to march in his funeral
procession, out of respect for his art, and his ad¬
2005
vocacy for this community.
Montana was a long-time, outspoken advo¬
cate for Mardi Gras Indians, who often faced dis¬
crimination from local law enforcement. On the
night of his death, he addressed the City Council,
along with other chiefs, to protest police brutal¬
ity, as well as efforts to squash Mardi Gras Indian
parades and other public gatherings. Moments
Since the 1800s, working-class Blacks in later he collapsed on the floor, and was taken
New Orleans paid tribute to Native Americans to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced
who aided escaped slaves on their routes to safety dead of a heart attack. His funeral procession,
by "masking Indian": building and donning elabo¬ which drew both non-Indians and Indians, was
rate costumes for Mardi Gras, fashioned from lay¬ one of the largest to trickle down the well-known
ers upon layers of feathers, beads, sequins, and parade route from the church to the cemetery;
billowing fabrics dyed in energetic colors. For 52 participants beat tambourines, chanted, and
years, Allison "Tootie" Montana, a construction moved like rhythmic clouds of aqua, orange, red,
worker and chief of the chiefs of these Mardi Gras and yellow smoke.

Above: Members of The Baby Dolls pay their respect to Big Chief Allison Opposite, top to bottom: Mardi Gras Indians attend the funeral of Big Chief Al¬
"Tootie" Montana (Photograph by Keith Calhoun). lison “Tootie" Montana. The funeral took place in Treme, and a large part of the
community turned out to pay their respects. (Photographs by Keith Calhoun)
mmm&m
188 LIVING AS FORM

ANGELA MELITOPOULOS
AND COLLABORATORS
TIMESCAPES/B-ZONE
2005-2006

'\sf

- r
hsWfii£
§ -j/M
m
r-v

For three years, video artists and activ¬

ists from Germany (Angela Melitopoulos and
Hito Steyerl), Serbia (Dragana Zarevac), Greece
(Freddy Viannelis), and Turkey (Octay Ince and
Videa) worked to build a shared video database
called Timescapes, which uses non-linear edit¬
ing to explore collective memory and alternative
forms of filmic representation.
Through this experimental, collaborative
media, the group explored themes of mobility and
migration in "B-Zone territories"—political areas
subject to mutations, wars, and conflicts that re¬
sulted from the rise of European infrastructure
projects and new routes of migration after the
fall of the Berlin Wall. These territories exist at
the crossroads of three major political regions:
Europe, the countries of the former Soviet Union,
and the Arab-lslamic World.
Each of the collaborators participating in
Timescapes/B-Zones hailed from locations along
the "old" European axis between Berlin and Timescapes/B-Zones was conceived of by
Istanbul—one so-called B-Zone—and contributed artist Angela Melitopoulos, who creates time-
images and visualizations that, combined, sug¬ based work, including experimental single-chan¬
gested a psychological landscape of that territory. nel-tapes, video installations, video essays, docu¬
Going beyond a simple accumulation of images mentaries, and sound pieces that focus on issues
and facts, the artists manipulate audio and visual of migration, memory, and narrative.
content as a means of questioning the suppos¬
edly progressive capitalist ideology of integration.
The process has yielded two projects: Behind the
Mountain (70 min., 2005), a video essay on forced
migration in Turkey, and Corridor X (124 min.,
2006), a road movie that travels through the Tenth
European Corridor between Germany and Turkey.

Above: Timescapes1 video database explores "B-Zone territories," which

are the political areas affected by the fall of the Berlin Wall (Courtesy Angela
Melitopoulos),
 PROJECTS 189

Nijni Novgorod
Trans-European Networks (TEN)
At the moment of the outbreak of the wars in
• Helsinki
Yugoslavia in 1992, European Union member states
agreed to build up Trans-European Networks
• Tallinn
(Maastricht Treaty of 1992).

The opening of borders to free passage of persons

Moscow
and goods which today helps to guarantee the
economic and social cohesion of the European
domestic market, is not only an instrument to spur
growth and employment but it is the most important
instrument of European eastward expansion which Riga i
drives capital flow and points the way for future
economic policies.

The Trans-European Networks projects have lead

Klaipeda
to the Pan-European Transport Networks (PETRA)
and the TRACECA Programs connecting Vilnius
Europe with China. Kaliningrad
Minsk*
These programs are valued to be one of the large§dan«k
infrastructure projects of the world.

Berlin • Torun Warsaw • Kiev Corridor 3 across Eastern Europe is

now being planned to extend to China.

Dresden • Lviv

.Prague

Zilina
Nuremberg Ostrava*
* Uzgorod

Chisinau* Odessa
Vienna Bratislava
Salzburg
• Budapest
1<\ Graz
Vio

Ljubljana Bucharest
• Constantza

The Trans-European Networks (TEN) comprise three

sectors: transport, energy and telecommunications.
They primarily consist of ten corridors (Corridor 1-10) Istanbul

Corridors are not only superhighways but also railway

lines, harbours, waterways and pipelines.
Alexandroupolis
The completion of the Trans-European Networks
through public-private partnerships (cost estimation
400 billion Euros). It requires investment in research
and development, international organizations of
experts and the improvement of financial institutions
Igoumentitsa
in collaboration with the European. Investment Bank.

Above; The Trans-European Networks consists of ten corridors that connect

parts of Eastern European (Courtesy Angela Melitopoulos).
 ZAYD MINTY
BLACK ARTS
COLLECTIVE

rcHOi
ASSOR

In the late 1990s, South Africa-based cultural exchange programs, Minty founded the Black Arts
planner and researcher Zayd Minty became aware Collective (BLAC) in late 1998 with an inaugural
that artists in his home city lacked adequate spac¬ seminar held at the Old Granary building in Cape
es in which to openly discuss their practices. It Town.
was also clear that many black artists still felt in¬ For five years, BLAC provided a forum for
visible in post-Apartheid South Africa. According "discourse building" and explored issues of race,
to one artist, who later worked with Minty, the city power, and identity through workshops, semi¬
lacked "a place where I could feel both safe and nars, articles, public art projects, and a website.
intellectually stimulated...[a place] that allowed Intentionally temporary in its duration, BLAC
me to explore the complex and often contradic¬ aimed to address specific, local moments and
tory race politics of post-1994 South Africa." concerns, sidestepping larger "grand narratives"
Drawing inspiration from the Robben Island Artist about race relations. The loose collective of art¬
Residency Program and other successful artist ists, working across media, met regularly to dis-

Top row, left to right: Donovan Ward's Leisure Time billboard sat opposite Bottom row, left to right: A mural on Klipfontein Road was a part of Returning
Guga S'thebe Multipurpose Centre in Langa, South Africa (Photograph by the Gaze (Photograph by Nic Aldridge, Courtesy BLAC). The Leisure Time
Nic Aldridge, Courtesy BLAC), Mustafa Maluka’s postcard Choice was a part billboard by Donovan Ward was designed for Returning the Gaze at the 2000
of Returning the Gaze, an exhibition in Cape Town in 2000 (Art by Mustafa Cape Town One City Festival (Art by Donovan Ward, Courtesy BLAC).
Maluka, Courtesy BLAC).
 PROJECTS 191

cuss contemporary black identity, even at times ally takes place in spaces associated with learn¬
questioning the use of the term at all. ing or communication, such as theaters or reading
The project adopted a three-fold strategy: to rooms—eschewing privileged transfers of knowl¬
create discussions (through the seminar series edge for shared, non-hierarchical exchanges.
and commissioning of articles), to document and Organized by The Mobile Academy's cura¬
publish (through the website project Blaconline), tor Hannah Hurtzig, Blackmarket has occurred in
and to provide a platform for production. Several Berlin, Istanbul, Liverpool, and Jaffa, among other
specific public exhibitions took place during this locations. The Mobile Academy is an umbrella
period, including the exhibition "Returning the for projects she initiates with a rotating group of
Gaze" at the 2000 Cape Town One City Festival. collaborators.
The organization served as both an investigation Hurtzig founded The Mobile Academy in 1999,
into the cultural politics of black identity as it re¬ after a long career in theater, particularly experi¬
lates to art, and a professional resource for black mental German productions focused on disturb¬
artists in Cape Town. ing the illusions inherent in representation, which
influenced both Blackmarket and The Mobile
Academy. For example, unscripted conversations
with non-actors (like call-center workers and poli¬
ticians); incorporating food in performances; and
staging prohibitively long events that forces audi¬
ences to notice their own physical presence and
responses. She creates public access to educa¬
tional resources such as sound archives, film ar¬
chives, and theater installations—projects with an
educational, participatory bent.

THE MOBILE ACADEMY

THE BLACKMARKET FOR
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE AND
NON-KNOWLEDGE
2005 -

Visitors to The Blackmarket for Useful

Knowledge and Non-Knowledge can book 30-min¬
ute sessions with experts on a range of subjects,
from sex and politics to esoteric word games and
the meaning of life. In the fashion of speed dating,
student and teacher sit across from each other,
separated by small, dimly lit tables, while crowds
of people wander and eavesdrop in an effort to
preview the discussions before choosing among
the roughly lo6 topics. This traveling event usu¬

Above: At the Blackmarket for Useful Knowledge and Non-Knowledge No. 10

in Vienna in 2008, up to 100 experts shared their knowledge with participants in
half-hour increments (Photograph by Dorothea Wimmer).
192 LIVING AS FORM

MUJERES CREANDO
DUEDORAS
2001-

In 2001, over 6,000 people traveled from

Bolivia's provinces to its capital La Paz to protest
the loss of their businesses and homes, and ensu¬
ing bankruptcy, due to crippling interest rates on
microcredit loans. Called Duedoras, or "debtors,"
this group of primarily low-income women occu¬
pied the streets while their family members, out
of financial desperation, committed suicide back
home. By July, the demonstrations, which had
generated little response from the government,
escalated: the Duedoras began taking hostages in
city buildings, and engaged in violent confronta¬
tion with the police.
To mitigate the situation, and prompt nego¬
tiations, the self-described anarcho-feminist
collective Mujeres Creando (Creative Women),
began organizing peaceful activities that would
allow the Duedoras to be heard publicly, while
rebuilding relationships with stakeholders. This
included the creation of a public mural bearing
the paint-dipped footprints of protesters (which
symbolized their long journey); a series of finan¬
cial management courses; and other non-violent
street actions.
Founded in 1992 by activists Julieta Paredes,
Maria Galindo and Monica Mendoza, Mujeres
Creando are best known for their anti-capitalist
messages disseminated as elegantly scripted,
public graffiti. Since its inception, the collective
has also published an independent newspaper,
opened a cafe, and broadcast a public interest
television program, while collaborating with uni¬
versities, unions, and rural workers to devise chal¬
lenges to corporate and neoliberal activities.

Above, top to bottom: Mujeres Creando intervene in a clash between insolvent

Bolivian women and the police. The Mujeres Creando have developed the
concept of Estado Proxeneta (Pimp State), as evidenced in this graffiti read¬
ing "Pimp State; I do not want prostitution, I want work," (Courtesy Mujeres
Creando)
 PROJECTS 193

Above: The performance of Virgin Barbie was shown as part of the exhibition
Principio Potosi (Courtesy Mujeres Creando)
194 LIVING AS FORM

VIK MUNIZ
PICTURES OF GARBAGE
2008

"What I want to be able to do is change the

lives of people with the same materials they
deal with every day," says artist Vik Muniz in
Wasteland, a documentary film that follows the
production of his photographic series Pictures of
Garbage. In 2008, Muniz traveled to Brazil, where
he was born and raised, to work with garbage
pickers from Jardim Gramacho, a 321-acre, open-
air dump, the largest in South America, located
just outside of Rio. An informal and marginalized
labor source, these workers scavenge the garbage
that arrives daily, searching for recyclable items to
sell. Muniz enlisted them to help him design, and
then pose for, massive portraits composed of the
collected detritus. The resulting works conjure
classical portraiture in which his collaborators
are elevated to mythical status amid the trash that
looks deceptively like precious material, or thick,
glimmering paint.
Muniz lifted more than just the workers' image
through his art. He paid all participants for their
time and contributed materials. He also auctioned
off the works, and donated his share of the sales
to the Garbage Pickers Association of Jardim
Gramacho, the workers' representative body.
Most significantly, he continued to collaborate
with them to help enact a formal recycling pro¬
gram in Brazil, bring awareness of their labor to
a wider public, and bolster a sense of dignity in
this historically underrepresented community and
more. In the past few years, plans to close Jardim
Gramacho—and implement the first widespread,
national recycling program in the country—have
surfaced.
Pictures of Garbage typifies much of Muniz's
work—near trompe I'oeil in his use of lay materi¬
als from syrup to peanut butter to figurines. To
produce these photographs, which have been ex¬
hibited globally, he spent two years at the land-

Top: Muniz used material from a dump in Rio de Janeiro to create this enor¬
mous portrait of a carlao, a garbage picker, inspired by the Famese Atlas
sculpture (Courtesy Vik Muniz).
 PROJECTS 195

fill, a common practice for the Brooklyn-based

artist who has been invested in supporting non¬
profit organizations in Brazil, particularly those
that offer training and education to underserved
children.

NAVIN PRODUCTION STUDIO

MAHAKAD ART FESTIVAL:
EPIC ARTS IN THE MARKET
2010-2011

Chiang Mai's Warorot Market, which dates

back to the 19th century, is best characterized
by the word "epic": The densely packed stalls
and stores feature inexhaustible rows of wares,
from vegetables and chickens to brightly dyed
textiles and plastic knick-knacks. Likewise, the
market's population has become an equally di¬
verse cross-section of religious and ethnic iden¬
tities over the years. Artist Navin Rawanchaikul
grew up working in his family's fabric store amid
the complex, cultural melange. To celebrate the
market's centennial anniversary, he organized
an arts festival, called Mahakad, inspired by the
market's history, that included site-specific in¬
stallations and events as well as two-dimensional
works such as historical photographs; portraits
of its current inhabitants; and a vast, monochro¬
matic mural depicting 200 community members.
In reference to the international scope of the mar¬
ket, visitors were given maps of the space, and
leaflets designed to look like "passports," which
could be stamped at each art station. After receiv¬
ing ten stamps, visitors were eligible to receive a
free magazine that recounts Mahakad's history.
Directed by Rawanchaikul's Navin Production
Studio, and in collaboration with several commu¬
nity groups, the festival's accompanying activities

Bottom: Rawanchaikul created a large-format panoramic photograph depicting

more than 200 members of the Chiang Mai community—some living, some
long dead (Courtesy Navin Rawanchaikul)
196 LIVING AS FORM

included workshops, a tour of the project sites led

by Rawanchaikul and a panel discussion about
community engagement in contemporary art prac¬
tices. The festivals title references the ancient
Indian text Mahabharata—a complex, network of
characters and plots that reflects the interwoven
relationships embedded in the market.
Rawanchaikul uses the realm of the every¬
day as both the subject and venue of his art. He
often creates his work under the banner of Navin
Production Co., Ltd., his production company that
he founded in 1994 and launched by producing
bottled, polluted water from a canal in Chiang Mai.
In 1995, he initiated "Navin Gallery Bangkok," his
taxicab-turned-mobile art gallery.

NEUE SLOWENISCHE
KUNST (NSK)
EMBASSY IN MOSCOW
1992

Since 1984, Ljubljana, Slovenia-based art

collective Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) has
been creating paintings, posters, music, and
manifestos designed to critique governments
through incisive, satirical jabs. For example, NSK
won a Yugoslavian youth poster contest by slyly
alluding to a famous Nazi painting in its entry;
tweaked Slovenia's national anthem by singing it
in German while wearing military boots; and have
repeatedly adopted the kitschy imagery and lan¬
guage of totalitarianism, from hammer-wielding
workers to heavy-antlered deer, in their diverse
works. In doing so, NSK—which consists of the
band Laibach, visual art collective IRWIN, per¬
formers Noordung, and graphic designers New
Collectivism—tries to dismantle these symbols

Top to bottom: NSK members and guests attend a gathering at the Moscow
Embassy, which was established in a private apartment in 1992. In addition
to hosting lectures and public discussions, the Moscow Embassy presented
paintings, posters, design work, and videos. (Photographs byjoze Suhadolnik)
 PROJECTS 197

and the power structures they represent.

Yet NSK's subversive projects have also been NUTS SOCIETY
sincere, political acts: In 1992, after Yugoslavia 1998-

collapsed, the group virtually seceded from

Slovenia to form "State in Time," its own uto¬
pian micronation. NSK produced national post¬
age stamps, wrote an anthem, and issued pass¬
ports seemingly authentic enough that hundreds
of people used them to cross the border out of
Sarajevo. The group also set up embassies in cit¬
ies across Europe, beginning with its Embassy
in Moscow, an event that launched the "State in
Time" project. The Embassy in Moscow was mod¬
eled after an exhibition series titled Apartment
Art (or APT ART), which was first organized in the
1980s by underground Russian artists looking to
escape official censorship by hosting events in Nuts Society, in Bangkok, Thailand, employs
private spaces. NSK revived this history in its own the language of marketing and consumerism—for
version—a month-long, live installation in a pri¬ example, selling clothing, creating window sig¬
vate apartment, bearing the emblem of a faux state nage, and packaging products—to foster social
embassy on the building's fagade. The event fea¬ consciousness and responsibility in daily prac¬
tured lectures, talks, and visual works (primarily tices. In 2002, the group printed the Thai alpha¬
produced by members of IRWIN) meant to ignite bet on large sheets of paper and hung the post¬
public discussion about pressing social issues in ers in street-level windows. Called A Page From
Eastern Europe. Exercising Thai: A Learning Reform, the project,
commissioned by Art in General, aimed to teach
passersby how to read the Thai alphabet, using
words that represent basic values of social jus¬
tice, such as "shared," "respect," and "tolerance."
Infiltrating spaces in which one would expect to
find advertising and eschewing the consumer
maxim of "more," signage encouraged viewers
to "be adequate, be sufficient, be enough." The
poster design was eventually printed on t-shirts,
which were sold in the storefront of a Cincinnati
art gallery.
For Nuts Society Tattoo Station, Nuts Society
built a tattoo parlor at the Alliance Frangaise
Center in Bangkok, through which they critiqued
global consumerism's lack of moral values using
uniquely designed tattoos. Other projects, like
the Pandora Cookie Project, which fosters child
development through the making of educational
cookies, and The New ABC of Learning promote
positive education through creative, direct en¬
gagement with language. Since forming in 1998,
Nuts Society has worked anonymously and collec¬
tively in both public spaces and arts institutions
with the mission of delivering earnest messages
about civic and global life through humorous and
playful images.
198 LIVING AS FORM

JOHN O’NEAL
JUNEBUG PRODUCTIONS/
FREE SOUTHERN THEATER
1980 -

In 1963 actor, director, and playwright John

O'Neal, a former member of the Student Non¬
violent Coordinating Committee, founded the
Free Southern Theater (FST), which introduced
theater to rural. Southern communities through
live performances, professional training opportu¬
nities, and audience engagement programs with
the goal of exposing social injustices in African-
American communities. Since then, O'Neal has
been a leading advocate of the view that "poli¬
tics" and "art" are complementary, not opposing
terms. When the company dissolved in 1980, after
decades of involvement in the social justice and
Black Arts movements, Free Southern Theater's
last production became the first of its successor,
Junebug Productions.
A New Orleans-based nonprofit, Junebug
continues FST's tradition of developing theater,
dance, music, and other performing arts that re¬
flect the experiences of African Americans in the
South by working with educators and organizers
to produce community projects, and by support¬
ing residencies with high-school students. The
company, which was named after a character cre¬
ated by the SNCC, Junebug Jabbo Jones—a myth¬
ic storyteller who narrates the experience of life in
the Deep South—continues to use the history of
the Civil Rights Movement to explore contempo¬
rary issues addressing equality and justice, such
as the disastrous social and economic conditions
that took root after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the
Gulf Coast in 2005. To that end, Junebug's plays
are informed by O'Neal's longstanding belief that
the work of artists can help the public better un¬
derstand the notion of a "social conscience."

Top: O’Neal in a performance at Junebug Productions, which he founded in

1963 as a cultural arm of the Civil Rights Movement (Courtesy John O'Neal).
 PROJECTS 199

In 2000, artists Ozge Acikkol, Gunes Savas,

ODA PROJESI and Secil Yersel, working as the artist collective
APARTMENT PROJECT Oda Projesi (Room Project), rented a three-room
flat in Galata, a historic urban district in Istanbul
2000-2005
characterized by the mixed income levels of its
residents, and the Istiklal, a well-known pedes¬
trian stroll that runs through it. The area also
serves as an entertainment district where many
immigrants from Eastern Turkey gather when they
first arrive in the city. Apartment Project was Oda
Projesi's organic transformation of the private
space into a multipurpose public one, where art¬
ists, architects, musicians, neighbors, and chil¬
dren would congregate informally to plan projects,
hold get-togethers, and exist communally both
within and outside of the context of art.
Each room was equipped and designed to en¬
courage creative, communal interaction—for ex¬
ample, drawing materials for children, an archive
of art books, and free meeting space. During the
collective's five-year occupation of the apartment
they hosted nearly thirty projects, including youth
theater workshops, and picnics in the courtyard;
exercises in building long-term relationships in
the neighborhood, rather than making objects,
hosting exhibitions, or marketing the produc¬
tion of art. Since its inception, Oda Projesi has
been interested in what space can mean when it
borders both public and private. To that end, the
artists, who self-financed the space, never ad¬
vertised their programs, or held "open hours." In
2005, they were evicted due to a rent increase.

Top to bottom: The architectural plan of the three-room flat in Galata, Istanbul,
rented by Oda Projesi from 2000-2005 for the Apartment Project. The space
was host to nearly 30 projects between 2000 and 2005, including Enk Gon-
grich's Picnic in 2001, Artist Segil Yersel installed Swing in the apartment from
April 22 until May 19, 2000. (Courtesy Oda Projesi)
 PARK FICTION AND
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY
NETWORK HAMBURG
1994 -

When developers bid on a prestigious river- artist Christoph Schafer, and emerged as a viable
bank property in St. Pauli, a poor neighborhood alternate to the city's plan, which favored commer¬
in Hamburg, Germany, residents faced losing the cial interests over the community' desire for recre¬
only land in the area available for public use. But ational space.
instead of protesting, they began picnicking and The group rallied community residents to
pretending that the contested site would soon put the park to use for festivals, exhibitions, and
house a public park rather than a high-rise office talks—activities that demonstrated local culture
building. The project—dubbed Park Fiction—was and encouraged citizens to take control of the
initiated by the local residents' association and urban planning process themselves, rather than

Above: A "planning container” moved around the St. Pauli neighborhood of

Hamburg collecting residents' wishes for the development of the area (Photo¬
graph by Sven Barske, Courtesy Park Fiction).
 PROJECTS 201

seek the city's permission first. Inspired by theo¬

rists Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's concept,
"the production of desires," Park Fiction coined
the phrase "Desires will leave the house and take
to the streets," to stress the residents' imaginative
transformation of the area.
They built a mobile "planning container"—
equipped with a telephone hotline, question¬
naires, maps, and an instant camera—that became
a tool enabling members of the community to trav¬
el throughout the neighborhood to solicit input.
The container, as well as documentation of the
efforts that took place inside of it, was exhibited
at art events, including Documenta 11 in 2002.
This strategy of accumulating cultural capital,
then leveraging it to obtain government support
in the form of funding from the city s Art in Public
Space program, proved successful. In 2005, the
city abandoned plans to sell the property. A few
months later, residents installed the first of their
enhancements to the park: fake, plastic palm trees
and rolling AstroTurf.

Top to bottom: Nearly 1,000 spectators congregated at Park Fiction in July 2009
for a screening of Empire St. Pauli, a documentary about gentrification in the St.
Pauli neighborhood of Hamburg (Photograph by Antje Mohr, Courtesy Park Fic¬
tion). In 2005, a dog park complete with a poodle-shaped boxtree was created
in the park (Photograph by Hinrich Schulze, Courtesy Park Fiction).
202 LIVING AS FORM

The Mexico City-based nonprofit group pro¬

PASE USTED motes civic change and development through
2008 -
conferences that emphasize open dialogue and
community building. Bringing together experts
in various fields—civic engineering, architecture,
art, city planning, design—the platform is unified
by a shared agenda to address the most pressing
needs facing the city. While community outreach
is essential to each project, Pase Usted often en¬
lists specialists to offer solutions where other op¬
tions fail. While their activities vary—ranging from
workshops to salons to exhibitions to public inter¬
ventions—Pase Usted operates as an open source
In 2010, Mexico celebrated the bicentennial network, providing individuals with the techno¬
of its independence movement, fostering a range logical tools needed to promote their ideas.
of events and activities intended to, according On April 23, 2011, Pase Usted, represented by
the country's bicentennial homepage, "revive the Jorge Munguia, participated in a "Conversation on
values and ideals that shaped the nation." In an¬ Useful Art," in Corona, Queens, hosted by Cuban
ticipation of the bicentennial events, nine young artist Tania Bruguera at the headquarters of her
people—from a range of disciplines, committed to project. Immigrant Movement International. The
the sharing of ideas and creation of an open com¬ event, which also included artists Rick Lowe, Mel
munity-founded Pase Usted in 2008. Chin, and Not An Alternative, asked participants

Above: Mexican artist Raul Cardenas (Torolab) discusses health care issues at
a Pase Usted event (Photograph by Ariette Armella),
 PROJECTS 203

to share their work in the field of so-called "Useful

Art." Pase Usted presented their work in Mexico piratbyrAn
City, focusing on the project "Genera," for which (THE BUREAU OF PIRACY)
they made a "call for entries" to anyone with ideas THE PIRATE BAY
on how to better the quality of life in Mexico City.
2003 -
The ten-week program gives funding to ten select¬
ed projects as a way of giving individual people
the resources to actualize their ideas.

Launched in 2003 by the Swedish anti-copy¬

right organization Piratbyran, Pirate Bay is a large
bittorrent tracking website that has reshaped the
technical and legal parameters around file shar¬
ing. Key to this shift is a technology called "peer-
to-peer," which deviates from standard download¬
ing protocol. Traditional downloads transfer files
from a single server. However, in "peer-to-peer"
transfers, no centralized server exists; rather, file
transfers occur between multiple clients, who
send and receive only segments of files. Pirate
Bay tracks files called "torrents" that in conjunc¬
tion with "torrent" programs, can find users who
share a given file. In doing so, file sharing can
occur more quickly: Since multiple locations
distribute the data, no single server can delay or
interrupt file transfers. Likewise, since no single
server can claim responsibility for the distribu¬
tion of the file, copyright laws become harder to
enforce. For example, record labels, film produc¬
tion companies, and software producers are less
likely to sue multiple individuals for sharing files
intended to be used only for personal use.

Above: Harvard education specialist Dr. Gabriel Camara speaks to an engaged

audience about the education revolution at a Pase Usted event (Photographs by
Ariette Amelia).
204 LIVING AS FORM

PLATFORMA9.81 ULTIMEDIA COMPLEX

1999-

PLatforma 9.81 is a Croatian group of archi¬

tects, theorists, designers and urban planners.
Founded in 1999 as an NGO, its aim has been to
generate interdisciplinary debate on the culture of
urban spaces, digitalization of the environment,
effects of globalization, and shift in architectural
practices. They have examined, for example, the
layers in the urban fabric of Zagreb and its recent
building projects, which reveal shifts in power
structures induced by the transition from commu¬
nism to capitalism.
Part of the group has concentrated on the V . HIi
Croatian coast and islands. For the project Tourist
Transformation, Platforma members Dinko Peracic 1 Tjffsf
and Miranda Veljacic researched the rapid chang¬
es marked by global capital and tourism during the
past decade. Their work has been driven by an in¬
terest in transformations in the built environment,
such as the differing expectations, desires, and
experiences of residents versus tourists, or the
seasonal fluctuations. To that end, their practice
traces the precarious balance between the envi¬
ronment and its habitants. They consider what the
landscape might look like tomorrow, and the po¬
tential cultural implications that occur when rela¬
tively untouched regions undergo development.
Peracic and Veljacic have previously worked
in another island location, the Lofoten Islands in
Northern Norway. Their The Weather Project fo¬
cused on the weathers effects on residents and
visitors. They collected proposals from the public

Top to bottom: For their Invisible Zagreb project, the group spent two years
mapping abandoned spaces in Croatia’s capital city (Courtesy Platforma 9.81).
Platforma 9,81 has hosted a variety of activities since its inception in 1999
(Photographs by Josip Ostojic and Dinko Peradic).
 PROJECTS 205

AUDIENCE

UTILIZATION SCHEME
ORIGINAL PROJECT FROM 1978

STAFF

workshops and technics

entrance + info center

e-tinel
media library

entrance

art cinema gymnasium

lecture rooms
UTILIZATION SCHEME
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN 2008

workshops media lab residences

auditorium
auditorium

service area stage constr jction engine room

direction
direction

wardrobe rehearsal offices residence

skate park workshops and technics

czzd-i
Above: "technical drawings showing a Croatian building's original utilization
scheme from 1978 (top) and Platform 9.81's 2008 scheme illustrating proposed
utilization (bottom). (Courtesy Platforma 9.81)
206 LIVING AS FORM

for ways of communicating and sharing these ex¬

periences, such as the building of a lighthouse or PUBLIC MOVEMENT
creation of a line of pocket-sized souvenirs. FIRST OF MAY RIOTS
2010

The recurring May Day demonstrations in

West Berlin's working class Kreuzberg neighbor¬
hood first turned violent as a way to challenge the
city's efforts to silence labor protests during the
late 1980s. However, the riots have now become
less provocative, drawing audiences, as well as
anti-capitalist protesters, from far-reaching lo¬
cales across Europe.
Last year, Israeli artists Dana Yahalomi and
Omer Krieger, who work together under the name
Public Movement, marked May 1 by creating five
|HF §§ radio channels of commentary and music as a
‘ I
~ •"'4 jm. soundtrack for the riots, and loaning visitors free
mobile headsets during the event. Listeners could
choose among the following tracks: two sociolo¬
gists discussing the demonstration while observ¬
ing it; a live musical performance; a pre-recorded
talk by a philosopher; archival material from a
-g: TTr’l-i past May 1 riot; and a DJ playing dance music.
! ill
The project, which was commissioned by Berlin's
Hebbel-Am-Ufer theater, allowed participants
to consider the staged protest as a kind of per¬
formance, and to examine its position within the
history of leftwing resistance to the state in this
region. In doing so, Public Movement reframes the
protest as a demonstration about demonstrations,
rather than a reaction against specific issues.
Yahalomi and Kreiger stage performances in
public space that test the possibilities for collec¬
tive political action. Since 2006, the artists have
organized what they call "manifestations of pres¬
ence, fictional acts of hatred, new folk dances,
synchronized procedures of movement, spec¬
tacles, marches, and re-enactments of specific
moments in the lives of individuals, communi¬
ties, social institutions, peoples, states, and of
humanity."

Above, top to bottom: Platforma 9.81 ran a graffiti contest for artists to decorate
the outside of the building (Courtesy Platforma 9,81). Images of Croatian
buildings whose use has been examined and debated by Platforma 9.81.
(Photographs by Sandro Lendler and Dinko Peracic)
 PROJECTS 207

PUBLIC I
MOVEMENT!
PERFORMING POLITICS
:0R GERMANY.

r
vie 1 i
T «v

mm-.

Above, clockwise from top left: Public Movement is a performative research

body that investigates and stages political actions in public spaces. Members
of Public Movement take part in the performance Also Thus!. (Courtesy Public
Movement)
 Pulska Grupa is a group of architects and ture into civilian space. Workshops took place in
urban planners based in Pula, Croatia, who focus renovated former barracks. Proposals included
on reclamation of public land, and "self-organized galleries and art studios, as well as a university
urbanism" in Pula and along the Adriatic coast¬ center, post offices, and restaurants. A map of the
line. After the end of World War II, the Katarina- area—imagined as a park—was produced to intro¬
Monumenti region of Pula—a restricted military duce the local population to the city's expanded
zone—became the private residence of former space. More recently, Pulska Grupa initiated cul¬
Yugoslovian Communist leader, Josip Broz Tito. tural programming in the Monumenti infrastruc¬
After one hundred years of occupation, the area ture, such as music festivals, in order to generate
was recently demilitarized and opened for poten¬ awareness of the debate over the compound, and
tial new uses. Pulska Grupa organized student to garner support of their plans to implement non-
workshops to generate ideas for public use and to privatized plans for its future. The group's eight
discuss ways to integrate the military infrastruc¬ members, Ivana Debeljuh, Vjekoslav Gasparovic,

Above: When a formerly restricted military zone became open to the public in
2006, Pulska Grupa organized workshops to generate ideas for its use (Courtesy
Pulska Grupa).
 PROJECTS 2C9

Emil Jurcan, Jerolim Mladinov, Marko Percic, Sara

Perovic, Helena Sterpin and Edna Strenja, actively
challenge municipal and state plans for Katarina
by producing publications, demonstrations, and
exhibitions. "We imagine the city as a collective
space which belongs to all those who live in it,"
they write in the group's manifesto, "They have the
right to experience the conditions for their politi¬
cal, social, economic and ecological fulfillment
while assuming duties of solidarity."

7bp to bottom: Pulska Grupa hosted the Post-capitalist City Conference in 2009
(Photograph by Dejan Stifani). A map of the area was produced by Pulska Grupa to
introduce the local population to Pula's expanded space (Courtesy Pulska Grupa).
 LIVING AS FORM

appliances that could be redeemed in domes¬

PEDRO REYES tic shops. From the metal, Reyes created 1,527
PALAS POR PISTOLAS shovels, and planted 1,527 trees across the city.
Called Palas Por Pistolas, the project was origi¬
(PISTOLS INTO SPADES) nally commissioned by the Botanical Garden in
2008 Culiacan. Since then, the shovels, which bear
labels explaining the history of the material used
to produce them, have been installed in numer¬
ous exhibitions, and continue to be used to plant
trees in locales across the globe. "This ritual has
a pedagogical purpose of showing how an agent
of death can become an agent of life," Reyes
In 2008, artist Pedro Reyes collected 1,527 has said.
firearms from residents of Culiacan, a western Trained as an architect, Reyes is known for
Mexican city known for drug trafficking and a high his architectural structures and his performance
rate of fatal gunfire. Almost every resident knows and video work from the early 2000s. Some of his
someone who has been killed in a drug war. The public projects include the penetrable sculptures
weapons were steamrolled into a mass of flattened also known as capulos (2001 to 2009); and Baby
metal on a military base, melted at a foundry, then Marx, a television show that started through his
recast as shovels, which were used to plant trees work with Japanese puppet makers and grew into
on public school grounds. Reyes solicited gun a commercial TV series. Through his expanded
donations by broadcasting announcements on notion of sculpture, he aims to create solutions
a local television station, and, in exchange, of¬ to social problems by creating room for individual
fered vouchers for discounted electronics and and collective agency in the process.

Above: Residents of Culiacan exchanged guns for vouchers that could be used Opposite: During Reyes' campaign, 1,527 guns were collected from residents of
to purchase domestic appliances and electronics (Courtesy Pedro Reyes and Culiacan, Shovels molded from melted-down gun metal were ultimately used to
LABOR). plant trees in CuliacSn (Courtesy Pedro Reyes and LABOR).
PROJECTS 211

fSZ
f—I®
;XL

^ ..W
212 LIVING AS FORM

indefinite long-term isolation is considered cruel,

LAURIE JO REYNOLDS inhumane, and degrading treatment.
The Tamms Poetry Committee was a group of
TAMMS YEAR TEN
artists who started a poetry exchange with men at
2008 -
Tamms to provide them with social contact, and
spread awareness about the harm caused by soli¬
tary confinement. At the urging of the prisoners,
the group began to implement what organizer and
artist Laurie Jo Reynolds called "legislative art"
in order to establish oversight and end the worst
abuses at the supermax. Thus, the Tamms Year
Ten campaign, which was launched at the ten-
year anniversary of the opening of the prison. This
volunteer, grassroots coalition of prisoners, for¬
Tamms C-MAX is a supermax prison in south¬ mer prisoners, families, friends, attorneys, artists,
ern Illinois designed for the solitary confinement and concerned citizens organized hearings be¬
and sensory deprivation of men who have been fore the Illinois House Prison Reform Committee,
violent or disruptive in other Illinois prisons. For introduced legislation, and held dozens of public
at least 23 hours a day, men sit alone in seven- events and demonstrations. Their work resulted in
by twelve-foot cells. Meals are delivered through the creation of a promising Ten-Point Plan for re¬
a slot in the door. There are no phone calls, jobs, form, which has still not been fully implemented.
programming, or scheduled activities. Before see¬ Tamms Year Ten also supports cultural projects.
ing visitors, men are strip-searched and chained Supermax Subscriptions allows people to order
to concrete stools. When the prison opened in magazine subscriptions for men at Tamms. The
1998, prisoners were told they would be there for new Photos for Prisoners project invites prison¬
one year, yet one-third were still there after a de¬ ers to request a picture of anything—real or imag¬
cade. In an international human rights framework, ined—and then finds an artist to fill the request.

Above: A Tamms Year 7bn mud stencil designed by Matthias Hagan outside the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (Photograph by Sam Barnett).
 PROJECTS 213

Johannesburg-based artist Athi-Patra Ruga

ATHI-PATRA RUGA has a habit of inserting himself into challenging
MISS CONGO situations. He once sat in the middle of a basket¬
ball court, mid-game, wearing Jane Fonda-era aer¬
2007
obics gear. He also teetered in stiletto heels and
a black sheep costume atop a hill in Switzerland,
while corralled in a pen with actual, white sheep.
In each case, Ruga—whose work spans perfor¬
mance, video, and fashion—confronts prevailing
racial, sexual and cultural stereotypes by creating
characters that embody extreme manifestations of
those same stereotypes.
In 2006, he conceived of Miss Congo, a char¬
acter dressed in drag and born out of the racial
and gender inequities the artist witnessed while
in Senegal. "[Miss Congo] represented ideas
of displacement, of not belonging," he says. For
one year, Ruga, in character as Miss Congo, trav¬
eled to public spaces and wove tapestries while
passersby observed him. The character eventu¬
ally became the subject of a three-channel video
documentary, Miss Congo, in 2007. The film de¬
picts three of Ruga's performances—solemn and
lonely, but with a distinct undercurrent of humor
and sensuality—that were carried out in Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of Congo. The artist stitches
a tapestry while sitting or lying in anonymous lo¬
cations on the outskirts of the city, performing a
traditionally domestic task far outside the domes¬
tic sphere.
Ruga has called these performances "craft
meditations"—interventions into public spaces
that draw upon his practice of working with tex¬
tiles and cross-dressing to express complex, lay¬
ered notions of cultural and individual identity.
The Miss Congo character also allows the artist to
explore themes of place and belonging, exercising
autonomy by choosing isolation and distance.

Above: Stills from the artist’s three-channel video Miss Congo (2007) show
him weaving and reworking found tapestry in various locations (Courtesy
Whatiftheworld Gallery and Athi Patra Ruga).
214 LIVING AS FORM

THE SAN FRANCISCO SARAI AND ANKUR

CACOPHONY SOCIETY CYBERMOHALLA ENSEMBLE
KILL YOUR TV 2001 -

1994

Years before the television show Jackass en¬ Cybermohalla Ensemble is a collective of
tered the popular imagination, The San Francisco practitioners and writers that emerged from the
Cacophony Society began subverting main¬ project called Cybermohalla, a network of dis¬
stream behavior through public pranks: for exam¬ persed labs for experimentation and exploration
ple, passing pre-lit cigarettes to runners during among young people in different neighborhoods
a city marathon, and pretending to take a group of the city. Cybermohalla was launched in 2001 by
shower in a hotel elevator. The twenty-five-year- two Delhi-based think tanks, Ankur: Society for
old club has altered billboards, infiltrated city Alternatives in Education and Sarai-CSDS. Over
buses in clown costumes, and held formal dress the years, the collective has produced a very wide
parties in laundromats—all in the name of "apo¬ range of materials, practices, works and struc¬
litical, nonsensical non-conformity," according to tures. Their work has circulated and been shown
the group's manifesto. On October 22, 1994, two in online journals, radio broadcasts, publications,
Cacophonists, Kevin Evans and John Law, orga¬ neighborhood gatherings, contemporary and new
nized the event Kill Your TV, during which 500 ful¬ media art exhibitions. Cybermohalla Ensemble's
ly-functioning televisions were smashed, burned, significant publications include Bahurupiya
and dropped from a three-story rooftop. Shehr and Trickster City. Their forthcoming pub¬
The San Francisco Cacophony Society, which lication, in collaboration with Frankfurt-based ar¬
has often been described as a second-wave Dada chitects Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Muller, is a
movement, began as an offshoot of "The Suicide consolidation of the conversations, designs, and
Club," an underground event series launched efforts over the last few years to carve out a lan¬
in 1977 that aimed to get people to experience guage and a practice for imagining and animating
new things, generally in private. Cacophonists, structures of cultural spaces in contemporary cit¬
on the other hand, perform in public, with chap¬ ies. Cybermohalla Ensemble use verse to describe
ters in numerous national cities, including Los their project:
Angeles, Ann Arbor, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and
Chicago. The original San Francisco branch of the "To Stand Before Change"
Cacophony Society was involved early on in the
annual Burning Man festival, and is credited with At times lava, at times water, at times
launching the first SantaCon—a non-religious petrol: it melts, it courses, it burns.
"Santa Claus" convention for those who dress in A shadow we chase because of our sense
holiday gear year-round. The group also served of connectedness.
as inspiration for Chuck Palahniuk's "Project A cunning battle with the measure of
Mayhem," the fictional organization in his 1996 things.
novel Fight Club. A collision of forms of life.
Movement without a fixed shore.
That which does not bend according
to you.
It becomes your own, but you cannot own it.
That which relentlessly takes on different
masks.
 PROJECTS 215

the country; Austrian citizens were asked to vote

CHRISTOPH SCHLINGENSIEF two of the asylum seekers out of the country each
PLEASE LOVE AUSTRIA day, either by phoning in or cast their ballot on¬
line. The remaining contestant would receive a
2000
cash prize and the possibility of Austrian citizen¬
ship through marriage.
As the performance began, Schlingensief
unfurled a flag that read, "Foreigners Out" atop
the container, along with a logo of Austria's best
selling tabloid, Kronenzeitung; the flag referenced
the familiar right-wing slogan of "Germany for
Germans, Foreigners Out." In the end, left-wing
After the Austrian People's Party coalesced groups who were protesting against the Freedom
with the right-wing, anti-immigration Freedom Party's Jurg Haider intervened in the performance,
Party of Austria, artist, filmmaker, and theater pro¬ surrounding the containers and demanding that
ducer Christoph Schlingensief staged a perfor¬ the asylum seekers be let free. They climbed on
mance/reality TV show that allowed the Austrian top of the, and trashed the "Foreigners Out" slo¬
public to vote on the fate of asylum seekers. He gan, eventually evacuating the asylum seekers. In
corralled twelve participants in a shipping con¬ response to this disruption, Schlingensief raised
tainer placed next to the Vienna Opera House for another banner, an SS slogan that had been used
one week, with webcams streaming footage to a by the Freedom Party, "Loyalty is Our Honour."
website. Unlike Big Brother, in which participants While his work shocked people, the artist claimed
vote their least favorite character out of the show, that he was only repeating Haider's own slogans.
Austrians were voting the asylum seekers out of Schlingensief died in 2010.

Above: A sign on the container declaring, "Foreigners Out referenced the

pervasive racism in Austria (Courtesy David Baltzer and Zenit).
216 LIVING AS FORM

FLORIAN SCHNEIDER
KEIN MENSCH 1ST ILLEGAL Finland)

(NO ONE IS ILLEGAL)

1997 -

Franc*,

In German, the article "kein" roughly trans¬

lates as none, or the negation of a preceding
noun. "Kein" can also mean to withdraw or reject,
as in a set of ideas. For media artist, filmmaker,
and activist Florian Schneider, the word acts as a
tool, for understanding how national borders are
maintained in the digital era—and for contesting
those borders: as citizenship status is increas¬
ingly monitored through databases and other
digital information systems, protests against the
civil rights abuses caused by such immigration
controls are becoming equally ubiquitous. In re¬
sponse to these abuses, Schneider launched Kein
Mensch 1st I [legal, or No One Is Illegal at the art fair
Documenta X in Kassel, Germany. This conference
brought together 30 international anti-racism
groups, artists, and other activists, and marked
the beginning of a loose, "borderless" network in
support of reformed labor conditions for undocu¬
mented workers, as well as fair access to health¬
care, education, and housing. The network soon
acquired a virtual presence, with international
chapters organized via email and the Internet, still
an emerging platform at the time. T'rnKs* Sea

Kein Mensch 1st Illegal served as the precur¬

sor to kein.org, Schneider's ongoing, open source
website that facilitates cross-cultural, -disciplin¬
ary, and -geographic collaborations aimed at dis¬
mantling boundaries drawn along those same lines.
Western
Australia

Above: Electronic maps depict locations of refugee rights advocacy groups

that make up the international No One Is Illegal network (Courtesy Florian
Schneider),
 PROJECTS 217

One Saturday morning in 2003, the mayor

KATERINA SEDA of a small, Czechoslovakian village, Ponetovice,
THERE 1$ NOTHING THERE broadcast a message to all 350 residents: He
asked them to go shopping—at the same time. For
2003
the rest of the day, the people continued to syn¬
chronize their routine according to a schedule
that was posted on the village bulletin board. They
simultaneously opened windows, swept porches,
ate dumplings, met for beers, and finally all retired
to bed at 10 pm. Though the regimen, created by
artist Katerina Seda, was strict, members of the
community felt liberated by the shared activities,
an experience many Europeans perhaps associ¬
ated-somewhat nostalgically—with their lives be¬
fore the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989.
Seda, who lives and works in Brno, named the
project after a common saying in Czech provinc¬
es: "There is nothing there." "They feel that every¬
thing important happens in cities or somewhere
beyond our borders," Seda has said. For one year,
she conducted interviews, distributed surveys,
and observed life in the village, which was once
the site of major military battles in the 19th cen¬
tury, but was now largely disconnected from the
socio-political fabric of Europe.
Seda often asks her projects' participants to
recount personal information that she then re¬
presents in order to encourage new reflection
on what their lives can mean. When the artist's
grandmother fell into a deep depression after her
husband's death, refusing to leave her armchair to
perform even basic, hygienic tasks, Seda encour¬
aged the elderly woman to draw, from memory,
every item sold in the hardware store where she
worked as a bookkeeper for 30 years. The activ¬
ity, which yielded hundreds of images, allowed
Seda's grandmother to engage with the past, in
order to re-enter her life in the present. Similarly,
by performing their minute, daily tasks en masse,
Ponetovice residents were empowered to recon¬
sider the larger terms of their citizenship.

Above: Residents of the Czech village Ponetovice participate simultaneously in

everyday actions as part of Seda's 2003 performance (Courtesy the Essl Collec¬
tion, Klostemeuburg/Vienna, Austria and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw).
218 LIVING AS FORM

CHEMI ROSADO SEIJO

EL CERRO
2002

The houses of Naranjito, located outside of

San Juan, Puerto Rico, follow the contour of the
mountain beneath them, rising and falling along
the ridges. This is the first thing Chemi Rosado
Seijo noticed from the foot of the hillside; not the
boarded windows or trash-lined streets—signs of
a declining economy in what was once a thriving
community founded by coffee-plantation work¬
ers. And so, in an effort to draw attention to the
uniquely organic shape of this small town—and
to instill a sense of civic pride among residents
who were increasingly disillusioned with their
economic situation—he began to paint all of
Naranjito's houses green.
During the project, Rosado-Seijo asked
homeowners for permission to paint their homes
a shade of green of their choosing. Many declined
at first, primarily because the color is associated
with the independistas, a local group that sought
secession from the United States. But gradually,
as the color popped out of the terrain and comple¬
mented the hues of the surrounding trees, they
began to agree on condition that he also repaint
other parts of the property such as chimneys,
stoops, and fences in different colors. He enlisted
local youth to help him paint, and held workshops,
conferences and other events that brought posi¬
tive press coverage to a community inundated 15-foot diagram proposed an alternate transporta¬
daily with reports of the endemic unemployment tion option as well as a new aesthetic understand¬
and crime that had overtaken the village. ing of the city. El Cerro was presented at the 2002
Throughout his practice, Rosado Seijo trans¬ Whitney Biennial.
forms public perception by presenting new ap¬
proaches to the urban experience. In 2005, he was
commissioned by the New York-based organiza¬
tion Art in General to explore Manhattan on skate¬
board. He then created a map of the best skate
sites and routes he located during his travels; his

Above: Locals gather in a public park in Naranjuto, previously known for its
heavy crime (Photograph by Edwin Medina, Courtesy Chemi Room).
 PROJECTS 219

Clockwise from top: The painted houses in the Puerto Rican village of Naranjuto
now echo the colors of the nearby mountainside, Swatches show the different
shades of green that were used to paint structures. Visitors entering Naranjuto,
(Photographs by Edwin Medina, Courtesy Chemi Room)
220 LIVING AS FORM

MICHIHIRO SHIMABUKU
MEMORY OF FUTURE
1996

Japanese artist Michihiro Shimabuku's 1996

installation Memory of Future took place in the
car-oriented, decentralized city of Iwakura, Japan.
Given the city's bustling layout, pedestrians are
scarce and communal spaces are often under¬
used, even in commercial districts. Shimabuku
filled an empty plaza with a variety of props, in¬
cluding a papier mache bird's head, flowers, and
a pineapple—intentionally incongruous objects
meant to provoke passersby to stop, enter the
space, and reflect on their relationship to the city.
In drawing attention to previously ignored public
land, Shimabuku asked Iwakura's citizens to con¬
sider new possibilities for activating it.
Shimabuku often tweaks routine experiences
by performing absurdist acts in public passage¬
ways. For example, he shaved off an eyebrow in the
London Underground, and then engaged in dis¬
cussion with shocked and amused witnesses. He
also carried an octopus down a Tokyo street, and
afterward returned the animal to sea. In each in¬
stance, the strange act forced an often-oblivious
public to re-connect with their familiar surround¬
ings and participate in new exchanges.
In addition to engaging the public directly by
creating interactive situations, Shimabuku's in¬
ventive, playful art practice often involves travel
and transformation. He has made pickles while
traveling by canal from London to Birmingham.
He has also biked across specific regions in Japan
looking for deer where none are known to exist—
and, as with all of his projects, meeting passers-
by, making friends, and dispersing stories along
the way.

Above, top and bottom: Shimabuku installed a handmade sculpture in an

unused public plaza in Iwakura, Japan (Courtesy Shimabuku), Opposite: Resi¬
dents of Iwakura engage with props included in Shimabuku's public installation
(Courtesy Shimabuku).
PROJECTS 221

33* |
222 LIVING AS FORM

the years, Simpson's sculptures have operated as

BUSTER SIMPSON civic improvements, and functioning solutions to
BELLTOWN, P-PATCH, urban problems. Simpson's sculptures can often
be seen on the tops of buildings, integrated into
COTTAGE PARK, AND
downspouts, temporarily placed on street corners,
GROWING VINE STREET protecting trees from cars, and in other locations.
1993- His more extensive projects include P-Patch—a
city-owned but community-run garden—occupy¬
ing a spread of land next to Cottage Park, a de¬
velopment of three cottages used as a commu¬
nity center and a space for writers' residencies.
Projects developing the community space in
Belltown address urban sustainability, pollution,
and bio-filtration of urban runoff water.
In the mid-1990s, a diverse group of Belltown
residents organized the Growing Vine Street proj¬
"Get in early, make no assumptions, and treat ect, turning the Vine Street area into a street park
your taxpayer as you would your patron." So says that cleans the environment while providing open
artist and environmental activist Buster Simpson, space for the neighborhood. Over the years, the
who has been initiating community-based inter¬ project has developed into a laboratory for green
ventions in the Seattle neighborhood Belltown solutions designed as temporary prototypes for
since 1993. The area is densely populated; over sustainable improvements.

i iMine
i sens
f nnosT
 PROJECTS 223

Skyway Luggage Seed Bank

Niliulnl tin- tool ol ihr oM Skiwjv l uggjgv .Uanubilunog Buil.l.ng (Jxun to ho rcmnauil a*a ik.tiom compli-M.) a volunteer
Luitix jjx hi'Uvii alhmcil to nurluio ilVdfM»f> an «kl xval. t l.m.r jdalthrm SimI fawn this, volunteer lamkajH ha* been liar voted oml
replanted in outiasc |>l»ter> livedt<> pulhtv Ihese poruNc lamhcapev w >11 initiate an urban reseeding strategy for future “green r»«r
lamkapes Ibri vould prmide a tolerant anil diverge seed bank fur urban tool lanikapes. launch ilate: Spring ?00l

TMSuBirjag 11,

8m Mam OiVw* up anootar porton o) root pio on Groundhog Day.

At the sign of the bell,

they root for tradition
by Don Duncan
Tinas start raocfttt
The Beflto-an Cate's familiar beflsftapcd cegper vjp. with «e
copper cupper, a fcangc* <n front of •-he binding again oiler a day as
the owe
Two years ago. «» owners of ihe popular artisa' fcartgwt at ZXi
Firs Ave. Eroded to late the Pga down every year cn Gruzdhog
Day.
They wooM use a u> coeit *a ecurmous "root pie."
Da :*an p; «aa«S associ, garde. juapi. carrcts.
njiaragai/cefetY toot v-ert potatoes and white post** — things
that come <rjt of the ground 'he wav groundhogs <SV tad Bert War’d,
who owns the cafe a'<c* wvn Pat .yier tol PM Wema
aus»r Simpson, who designed the Utft a»l Wader ttihae. who
cccattacted it. were among that* who paid » cents far foot ptr. cole¬
slaw and a iw .-stuped chocolate cooice.
•ng’e’ne tcoffy into neipmg local arrauC* said Wares, pousttag cut
a sarxev of new worts purchased Cus yoar.
”! naj fleshed <xr iacotr>e ax. and w* spend a bigger percentage
of our gross for art than he l percent that Che city do«.“ WarfcS *41-
el
The copper hell Oirvived the Oven n.-ctly. Patras, win cescured
abccl *3 ponds c* root p>. did Uiewtie

Clockwise from top left: A rooftop garden and seed bank was created using old suitcases from
Opposite: The Beckoning Cistern, part of the Growing Vine Street project, is a
the Skyway Luggage Manufacturing company. A pedestnan walks across the hand-carved
water cistern that receives roof runoff from the 81 Vine Street building. (Courte¬
Poem to Be Worn, located in the First Avenue Urban Arboretum. In Shared Clothesline, Simp¬
sy Buster Simpson). Above; Fabrication of the Belltown Pan, a bell-shaped pan
son installed nine clotheslines across an alley in the Pike Place Market District of Seattle as a
created and used by the Belltown Cafe on Groundhog Day to cook a symbolic,
simple gesture toward reconnecting the gentrifying neighborhood. (Courtesy Buster Simpson)
communal dish (Courtesy Buster Simpson and the Seattle Times)
224 LIVING AS FORM

SLANGUAGE
2002 -

The 1992 riots in Los Angeles left many lots in

the city's center empty, and chain-linked off from
public use. Yet, the chains themselves became
canvases for public expression, when city resi¬
dents started hanging signs for their businesses,
and posting messages, on them. Years later, artists
Juan Capistan and Mario Ybarra, Jr., considered
these re-uses, and their history, when they began
making art together, devising actions and music
performances in the lots—"slanguage," as they
coined it. The word, as well as their practice of
collaborating, repurposing, and creating a new vo¬
cabulary around the urban environment, inspired
them to launch Slanguage, a shared studio space
and gallery in Wilmington, California, outside of
Los Angeles, that took advantage of the lacunae
that arose in the abandoned region. Since then,
the collective, with Capistan, Ybarra, as well as
artist Karla Diaz at the helm, has become a com¬
munity resource for artists in Southern California
that offers a residency program, workshops for
teenagers, public events, and international exhi¬
bitions. The collective's work ranges from local
poetry readings and summer art camps to major
museum exhibitions and commissioned projects.
In line the with organization's origins,
Slanguage members continue to explore the vi¬
sual vernacular of street art, as well as its ste¬
reotypes, in their practice. For example, last year
Capistan, Ybarra, and Diaz co-curated "Defiant
Chronicles" at the Museum of Latin American Art,
a group show that challenged graffiti as a male-
dominated art form. More recently, Diaz organized
"Laced Souls," an exhibition of artist-designed workshops presented by the group's teen council.
athletic shoes produced in collaboration with a Such endeavors combine Slanguage's mission of
local custom sneaker shop. The first "Slangfest," connecting street artists to contemporary art in¬
which took place in Long Beach this past summer, stitutions and the general public to the history of
featured break-dancing lessons and recycled art art in the urban environment.

Top row: Slanguage is a Los Angeles-area artist group that hosts exhibitions, Bottom row, left to right: As part of the 2008 Whitney Biennial, teenagers were invited
leads art-education workshops, and coordinates events (Courtesy Slanguage). to work on a mural in Manhattan's Meatpacking District with Slanguage co-founders.
As part of their three-month residency at MOCA Los Angeles in 2009, members of
Slanguage presented a performance titled Dislexicon which included a headdress
workshop. The Slanguage base is located in Wilmington, CA. (Courtesy Slanguage)
PROJECTS 225
226 LIVING AS FORM

narratives about the project. I n 2006, the Guarana

SUPERFLEX Power soft drink was banned from the 27th Sao
guaranA power Paulo Biennial by the president of the Biennial's
foundation. In response, SUPERFLEX blacked
2004
out the label, and all references to the project
in the exhibition materials. Since then, the proj¬
ect has also served as a reflection on copyright,
trademark, intellectual property, and free speech.
Guarana Power has been exhibited in other exhi¬
bitions, in various forms, to bring attention to the
Brazilian farmers' struggles and their attempt to
find working solutions.
Guarana is a berry grown in the Amazon that SUPERFLEX, founded in 1993 and based in
holds high concentrations of caffeine. In 2000, Copenhagen, create projects that engage eco¬
the main multinational companies that sell drinks nomic forces, explorations of the democratic
produced from the berry merged to form a cartel. production of materials, and self-organization.
This created a monopoly on guarana seeds, which They describe their projects as tools for specta¬
drove prices down by 80 percent, jeopardizing tors to actively participate in the development
the livelihood of Brazilian farmers who cultivate of experimental models that alter the prevail¬
it. Beginning in 2004, SUPERFLEX worked with a ing model of economic production. For Living as
farmers' cooperative to counter the local econom¬ Form, SUPERFLEX was commissioned to create
ic effects of the merger by creating an alternative a life-sized, detailed, and functional copy of the
product—called Guarana Power—that would com¬ JPMorgan Chase executives' restroom inside the
pete with the corporate brands. Olympic Restaurant. The installation, open to the
The artists and farmers collaborated to de¬ public, provided an essential service and also
velop the drink, determine ways to affordably pro¬ asked visitors to contemplate the structures of
duce it, and create marketing campaigns in the power that become imbued in even the most un¬
form of commercials featuring the farmers own assuming architectural spaces.

Above: Guarana Power was bottled and sold at a production bar at the 2003 Opposite: SUPERFLEX developed the drink Guarana Power with local farmers
Venice Biennale (Photograph by SUPERFLEX). in Maues, Brazil to compete with similar corporate products (Photograph by
Jeppe Gudmundsen Holmgreen).
228 LIVING AS FORM

APOLONIJA SUSTERSIC
BONNEVOIE? JUICE BAR
1998

The art fair Manifesta 2 took place in the

Centre de Production et de Creation Artistique
(CPCA)—a former fruit and vegetable warehouse
in the Luxembourg neighborhood Bonnevoie
that was converted into an exhibition venue. For
her contribution to the show, the Ljubljana- and
Amsterdam-based artist Apolonija Sustersic built
a juice bar outside of the building in homage to
the history of the space, and to attract attention to
historic architecture's new role as an experimental
art center in the area. Her installation included a
long, black counter covered in fruits, and a seat¬
ing area, where visitors could congregate before
entering, or after exiting, the exhibition. By plac¬
ing the bar directly in the entryway, Sustersic was
able to draw both art patrons as well as neighbor¬
hood residents into the space—and into a dia¬
logue—about its future in Bonnevoie. The project
included video documentation that recounted the
neighborhood's history.
With formal training as an architect, Sustersic
designs forums for conversation about urban in¬
frastructure, and its effectiveness. For example.
Suggestion for a Day, at the Moderna Museet in
Stockholm, Sweden, offered museum visitors bike
tours of contested architectural sites; an overview
of the urban planning and policy debates those
sites have sparked; and finally, an opportunity to
discuss those issues with experts and municipal
officials. In Video Home Video Exchange at the
Kunstverein Muenster, Germany, she screened
films that address the social function of suburban
architecture (think: Ang Lee's Ice Storm and David
Lynch's Blue Velvet). Then she asked viewers to
produce their own videos about homes and gar¬
dens, and submit them for review, in exchange for
a copy of a screened film.

Top to bottom: The Juice Bar was presented as part of Manifesta 2 in Luxem-
borg, and took place inside a former fruit market. In order to entice a local
audience, the Juice Bar was open to the street. (Photographs by Apolonija
SusterSS)
 PROJECTS 229

7bp to bottom: Still from a video tided How to make your own juice? which was
shown at the exhibition space (Courtesy Apolonija Sustersid). Sustersic s Juice
Bar acted as an in-between zone for the community to explore the contempo¬
rary art exhibition that was taking place inside the building (Photograph by
Roman Mensing).
230 LIVING AS FORM

consisted of student coalitions, Islamic women

TAHRIR SQUARE and labor groups, as well as other historically un¬
CAIRO, EGYPT derrepresented constituents, escalated, due in
part to the sheer number of people in the Square,
2011
as well as the new media-savvy tactics they used.
Since then, the so-called "Arab Spring" has
been celebrated as a political and social media
revolution, with Tweets, YouTube videos, and
Facebook pages garnering as much attention
as the vast on-site demonstrations. While the
actual impact of this technology is still up for
debate, these websites were inarguably an im¬
portant communication tool for protest organiz¬
ers, and Egyptian media outlets, who labored to
For one month in January 2011, Cairo, Egypt, disseminate images of the protests, and the en¬
reverberated as thousands of citizens flooded suing crackdown, to the broader public imagina¬
Tahrir Square in mass protest of former president tion. Likewise, the active commemoration of the
Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-rule, which was marked event—the production of poetry, T-shirts, and slo¬
by human rights abuses, corruption, economic gans—was reflective of the new communication
depression, and food shortages across the region. channels. In February, Mubarak lost the support
The protests transpired for a mere 18 days, yet the of his military, the international community, and
during that time the energy of the crowd, which the United States, and was forced to step down.
 PROJECTS 231

V/ ji IVj * wf

<

used silk-screen printing, a quick, inexpensive

TALLER POPULAR process, to create materials inspired by, and as
instruments for, political events. Taller Popular's
DE SERIGRAFIA members would stand amid mobs of demonstra¬
(POPULAR SILKSCREEN tors pulling ink across screens to print images
WORKSHOP) on t-shirts, and create posters and leaflets, to
be used on site during protests, and as adver¬
2002-2007
tisements in train stations and other public
corridors.
In 2004, the group silk-screened tank tops
in collaboration with the sewing workshop La
Juanita, a fair labor project by Movimiento de
Trabajadores Desocupados de La Matanza
(Matanza Neighborhood Unemployed Workers'
Taller Popular de Serigrafia, or Popular Movement). Taller Popular's designs, often mono¬
Silkscreen Workshop, was a collective of artists chromatic, iconic images appropriated from
and designers that formed during the protests sports marketing and political propaganda, have
following Argentina's 2001 economic collapse. been exhibited in international art exhibitions,
Drawing on Latin America's long history of weav¬ including the Brussels Biennial and the 27th Sao
ing political activism and graphic arts, the group Paulo Biennial.

Opposite: Egyptian protestors focused on political issues, and demanded the

overthrow of President Mubarak (Photograph by Pedro Ugarte, Courtesy of AFP
and Getty Images). Above: Demonstrations in 'Ihhrir Square began in January
2011 (Photograph by Mahmud Hams, Courtesy of AFP and Getty Images).
232 LIVING AS FORM

lished in a book, installed in exhibitions, and rep¬

TEMPORARY SERVICES resented in other ongoing iterations of the project.
PRISONERS’ INVENTIONS "If some of what's presented here seems un¬
impressive, keep in mind that deprivation is a way
2001 -
of life in prison," Angelo has written. "Even the
simplest of innovations presents unusual chal¬
lenges, not just to make an object but in some in¬
stances to create the tools to make it and find the
materials to make it from."
Temporary Services is an art collective including
Brett Bloom, Salem Collo-Julin, and Marc Fischer.
They produce exhibitions, publications, events,
and projects that explore the social context and the
potential of creative work as a service provided to
communities. The group started as an experimental
exhibition space in a working class neighborhood
Prisoners' Inventions was a collaboration of Chicago and went on to produce projects includ¬
between art collective Temporary Services and ing Prisoners' Inventions and the nationally-distrib¬
Angelo, an incarcerated artist in California, who uted newspaper Art Work: A National Conversation
illustrated the inventions of fellow prisoners About Art, Labor, and Economics.
that were designed to fill needs often repressed To investigate the intersection of art, labor,
by the restrictive environment of the prison. The economics, and the production of social experi¬
inventions range from homemade sex dolls and ences, Temporary Services invited over forty orga¬
condoms to battery cigarette lighters and contra¬ nizations and businesses from the Lower East Side
band radios. Angelo created drawings, recreated to operate stalls in a section of the historic Essex
inventions, and worked with Temporary Services Street Market during Living as Form. MARKET re¬
to build a life-size replica of his cell that would turns the space to its original function as a market¬
give visitors a sense of where the inventions were place, but one that is free to use, non-competitive,
designed and produced. His work has been pub¬ and particularly diverse in its offerings.

Above: One of artist and prisoner Angelo's inventions, a battery-

cigarette lighter (Courtesy Tbmporary Services),
 PROJECTS 233

committed to examining and elevating the qual¬

TOROLAB ity of life for residents of Tijuana and the trans-
SURVIVAL UNITS/ border region through a culture of ideologically
advanced design."
TRANSBORDER TROUSERS
2004-2005

MIERLE LADERMAN UKELES

THE BEGINNING
In The Region of the Transborder Trousers OF MY ARCHIVE
(La region de Los pantalones transfronterizos),
1976 -

Torolab, a Tijuana-based collective of architects,

artists, designers, and musicians, use GPS trans¬
mitters to explore daily life in the border cities
Tijuana and San Diego. For five days, the col-
| lective carried GPS transmitters, wore Torolab-
designed garments including a skirt, a vest, two
pairs of pants, and sleeves that could be worn with
; t-shirts, each with a hidden pocket for a Mexican
passport. They also kept records of their cars' fuel
consumption. The GPS and fuel data was then fed "The sourball of every revolution: After the
into a computer and visualized (using software revolution, who's going to pick up the garbage
reprogrammed by Torolab) as an animated map. on Monday morning?" Over forty years ago,
Each tracked Torolab member appeared as a col¬ Mierle Laderman Ukeles wrote these lines in her
ored dot on an urban grid surrounded by a circle Manifesto for Maintenance Art, 19691, a treatise
whose diameter indicated the amount of fuel left on work, service, home, life, and art that called
in his or her tank. upon service workers, of all kinds, to change the
Torolab has also produced the Transborder world through routine maintenance and preserva¬
pant, wide-legged, denim trousers that serve as tion, rather than commercial development. Eight
part of a Survival Suit for border crossing. The years later, Ukeles was appointed the first artist-
pants are designed with a series of flat, interior in-residence with the New York City Department
pockets to protect important documents from of Sanitation, a position she still holds and uses
the trials of a long journey through rough ter¬ to explore the social and ecological implica¬
rain. One pocket is intended specifically to hold tions of waste management. Her work has largely
a Mexican passport; another accommodates a been exercises in outreach—sometimes literally:
laser-read visa card. However, the pants are not In 1977, Ukeles began interviewing New York
intended exclusively for use by Mexican immi¬ City sanitation workers for her Touch Sanitation
grants. For Americans, who often don't need to Performance. This multivalenced work included
show any form of identification to cross the bor¬ Handshake and Thanking Ritual, in which the art¬
der, the pockets can be used for money, credit ist shook hands and personally thanked each of
cards and pharmaceuticals purchased cheaply the city's 8,500 sanitation workers over an elev¬
en-month period, and Follow in Your Footsteps,
south of the border.
Torolab was founded by Raul Cardenas where Ukeles, working eight- to sixteen-hour
shifts, followed sanitation workers on their routes
Osuna in 1995 as a "socially engaged workshop
234 LIVING AS FORM

in every district throughout the city and mirrored

their motions as a street dance. In 1985, she built
Flow City, a visitor center at the 59th Street Marine
Transfer Station where the public could view used
and recyclable materials as they moved through
the sanitation system. Most recently, she has
launched plans to reclaim the Fresh Kills Landfill,
a 2,200-acre landfill on Staten Island that houses
the World Trade Center debris that accumulated
after the buildings' destruction.
Ukeles' projects mark her longstanding belief
that "art should impinge on the daily life of every¬
one and should be injected into daily prime-time
work-time." The Beginning of my Archive tracks
another characteristic of Ukeles' practice—her de¬
tailed correspondence with workers, bureaucrats,
and other stakeholders, as well as her own articu¬
lation of her so-called "Maintenance Art."

Tbp and bottom: For Tbuch Sanitation, Ukeles shook hands with 8,500 NYC
Sanitation workers (Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York).
 PROJECTS 235

"What is the sound of the war on the poor?"

ULTRA-RED In 2007, the self-described militant sound collec¬
WAR ON THE POOR tive Ultra-red asked fifteen international artists
and activists to record a one-minute audio piece
2007
in response to this question, which they compiled
for the first volume of an ongoing series. The re¬
sults ranged from field recordings, re-appropriat¬
ed sounds, mini-symphonies, and spoken rants—
both literal and abstract. For example, a reading
of words taken from prisoners' intake cards at a
Philadelphia penitentiary; sounds captured when
squatters took over the offices of a fruit and veg¬
etable factory; a silent hiss.
Ultra-red was founded by two AIDS activists,
Marco Larsen and Dont Rhine, who first collabo¬
rated to counter police harassment during Los
Angeles' inaugural syringe exchange program.
Realizing that video documentation would deter
users from participating in the exchange, Larsen
and Rhine began recording sounds as a way of
monitoring law enforcement, a practice the blos¬
somed into a series of installations and perfor¬
mances. Since then, Ultra-red has expanded
into an international group that explores acous¬
tic space, social relations, and political struggle
though so-called "Militant Sound Investigations,"
as well as radio broadcasts, texts, and actions in
PpHs T: public space.
THIS IS
'Hi SOUND |j
OF THE , IW
WAR ON •
THE POOR t

Above and right: Sound interventions produced by Ultra-red

included artists' responses to the question, "What is the sound of
the war on the poor? ” (Courtesy Ultra-red).
236 LIVING AS FORM

UNITED INDIAN URBAN BUSH WOMEN

HEALTH SERVICES SUMMER LEADERSHIP
POTAWOT HEALTH INSTITUTE
VILLAGE
1994 -

The Summer Leadership Institute is the femi¬

nist dance troupe Urban Bush Women's ten-day
intensive training program that melds the per¬
"Good health goes beyond the individual. It forming arts with community activism in move¬
must include the health of the entire community ment classes, workshops, field trips, community
including its culture, language, art and traditions, renewal events, and the development of new cho¬
as well as the environment in which it exists." reographies. Each day begins with a dance class
These are the words of Jerry Simone, chief execu¬ followed by discussions groups on topics such as
tive officer of United Indian Health Services, a "undoing racism," and understanding cultural dif¬
50-year-old healthcare organization that empha¬ ference through storytelling. The Institute, which
sizes the role of art, and sustainable practices, began in Tallahassee, now takes place in New
alongside allopathic medicine in its facilities. In Orleans to mobilize city performers in the ongo¬
1994, the UIHS broke ground for Potawot Health ing recovery of Hurricane Katrina.
Village in northern California, now a 40-acre farm Choreographer and founding artistic director
with an outpatient medical clinic, community food Jawole Willa Jo Zollar formed the seven-woman
garden, orchard, childrens camp, and a wildlife ensemble in 1984 to develop a "woman-centric
reserve. perspective" on social justice issues. The troupe
The wildlife reserve, called Ku'wah-dah-wilth takes inspiration from both contemporary dance
("Comes back to life" in the native Wiyot lan¬ practice and traditions from the African Diaspora;
guage), spans twenty acres of restored wetlands often, Urban Bush Women performances consist
devoted to preservation of natural habitats, parks, of bold, powerful movements and intimate, nar¬
and traditional agricultural and spiritual programs. rative gestures—a vocabulary that offers alter¬
Produce from the garden is distributed through a nate notions of femininity, politics, and personal
bi-weekly produce stand or a subscription mem¬ history. The troupe has also collaborated with
ber service between June and December. Another numerous artists working in a range disciplines
two acres are dedicated for growing medicinal from jazz musicians, poets, and visual artists.
herbs. And an additional one-acre garden, the Ish- This year, the troupe produced "Resistance
took Basket and Textile Demonstration Garden, and Power," a series of works that typify the ap¬
provides a workspace for traditional basketry as proach of Urban Bush Women to exploring history:
well as information on the negative effects of pes¬ Though the choreography is rarely literal, the mes¬
ticides and chemicals on weavers and gatherers sages—stories that take on issues surrounding
of fibrous plants. race, inequity, and the process of empowerment-
are clear. "The arts are very powerful in address¬
ing social change, and it's not where people often
look first," Zollar has said. "But the arts connect
people not to how they think about social issues,
but to how they feel about them. Once you're clear
about how you feel, then action becomes more of
a possibility."
 PROJECTS 237

US SOCIAL FORUM
2007 -

The U.S. Social Forum gathers tens of thou¬

sands of activists over several days with the goal
of building a unified, national social justice move¬
ment across the country. Since its inception, two
forums have taken place, in Atlanta in 2007 and
in Detroit in 2010. Each forum drew over 15,000
activists, and offered a multitude of programs,
including workshops, arts and culture perfor¬
mances, activities for children and youth, direct
actions, tours, and fundraising initiatives. The
event has attracted organizers—a younger, ethni¬
cally diverse crowd from a range of fields—inter¬
ested in developing new "solutions to economic
and ecological crises."
Inspired by the World Social Forum—which,
starting in 2001 brought together international
activists fighting against neoliberal globaliza¬
tion—the U.S. Social Forum began to take shape in
2005. The planning committee was formed by the
group Grassroots Global Justice and was com¬
prised of over forty-five organizations, including
Amnesty International USA, the AFL-CIO, and the
U.S. Human Rights Network. Despite the breadth
of the event, and vast attendance, the USSF,
has received little press coverage in the main¬
stream media.
Detroit was a particularly apt host city for
the USSF because of its persistently declin¬
ing economy, lack of jobs, and other inequitable
conditions that have come into central focus in
recent years. The tagline for the event, Another
U.S. Is Necessary," marks the spirit of the USSF,
and the desire to overhaul economic systems and
government practices—also reflected in the recent
"Occupy Wall Street" movement, as well as other
protests cropping up in municipal plazas across
the globe. Over 1,000 USSF workshops took
place, which veered away from standard meeting
formats toward more collaborative efforts.

Above: Urban Bush Women perform "Scales of Memory" at the

Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2008
(Courtesy Urban Bush Women).
238 LIVING AS FORM

Sweden. Mounting actual pieces of IKEA furni¬

BIKVAN DER POL ture within the outline of Absolut's iconic bottle
ABSOLUT STOCKHOLM: shape, Absolute Stockholm constituted a cheeky
mash-up of two global Swedish corporations.
LABEL OR LIFE, CITY
Using the billboard as a springboard, Bik Van
ON A PLATFORM? der Pol explored relations between ideas, ideals,
2000-2001 propaganda, and personal investment in the past.
To build on the themes of the project, the pair se¬
lected a number of public spaces in Stockholm
that had played a significant role in Sweden's past
and the development of the "Swedish model."
These spaces were then host to public meetings,
small events, and interventions intended to foster
connections between residents and visitors. In
particular, participants were asked to interrogate
the idea of "publicness," and the meaning of pub¬
Imaging walking into a museum gallery and lic space in a city where public places often disap¬
seeing your favorite P0ANG chair from IKEA. pear in favor of pragmatic capitalist developments.
Your BJURSTA table is there as well, and bal¬ Since Bik and Van der Pol began working
anced on top of it is your AROD lamp. It's an en¬ together in 1995, their installations, videos, and
tire room composed of IKEA products, Laid out drawings have interrogated physical, and cul¬
as it might be in your own home. But there's one tural, time and space. For example, in 2007, they
critical distinction: the whole familiar living room designed a screening format and guidebook for
set up is affixed directly to the museum wall. In the Istanbul Biennale's Nightcomers video pro¬
2001, Rotterdam-based Bik van der Pol—the col¬ gram throughout the city that broadened public
laborative practice of Liesbeth Bik and Jos Van access to the "high culture" event, as opposed to
der Pol—created a three dimensional, life-size the traditional design of an exclusive screening
billboard at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, structure.

L 5 J
p6H] 1
Above: Absolut Stockholm took place all over the city of Stockholm and is a
search for the life 'behind the labels’ (Photograph by JN van der Pol).
 PROJECTS 239

Above, top to bottom: Absolut Stockholm took place all over the city of
Stockholm and is a search for the life 'behind the labels'. Absolut Stockholm
combined a New York Absolut Vodka billboard with IKEA furniture. (Photo¬
graphs by Jos van der Pol)
240 LIVING AS FORM

Above: Bik van der Pol installed Absolut Stockholm, a life-sized reproduction
of a New York ad for Absolut Vodka, at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm
(Photograph by JN van der Pol).
 PROJECTS 241

Dutch artist Wendelien van Oldenborgh's ongoing

WENDEUEN VAN collaborative project, A Certain Brazilianness, she
OLDENBORGH invited people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, in¬
cluding second- and third-generation immigrants
MAUR1TS SCRIPT from the former colonies, to the Mauritshuis to
2006 read a scripted multiple-voice dialogue compiled
from official and unofficial historical accounts of
Maurits' governorship. Two participants read each
character, while others, including audience mem¬
bers, engaged in discussion about the historical
issues raised by the script relative to contempo¬
rary culture. The live, staged event was recorded
as a 67-minute film, called Maurits Script.
Rotterdam-based van Oldenborgh employs
The renowned art institution the Mauritshuis, diverse voices in her investigation of the public
in The Hague, was once home to Johann Maurits sphere. She often uses the format of an open film
van Nassau, the former governor of colonial North shoot, collaborating with participants in different
East Brazil (1637-44), who was considered to have scenarios, to co-produce a script and orient the
exercised a more enlightened, tolerant rule than work towards its final outcome, which can be film
many other colonial governors. Forthethird part of or other forms of projection.

Above: A performer recites from van Oldenborgh's script at Johan Maurits van
Nassau's residence in The Hague (Photograph by Wendelien van Oldenborgh,
Courtesy Wilfried Lentz Rotterdam).
242 LIVING AS FORM

EDUARDO VAZQUEZ VOINA

MARTIN 2007-

FARO DE ORIENTE
2000 -

FARO de Oriente, or East Lighthouse, is a

government-funded cultural center, and arts and
crafts school in Mexico City intended to serve
areas of the city that lack access to cultural ser¬ For the past year, the irreverent Russian art
vices. Founded by poet and educator Eduardo collective Voina has been laying low, on the run
Vazquez Martin, the space is located in the city's from the police thanks to their incendiary street
Iztapalapa borough, one of most densely populat¬ actions that have ranged from absurdist pranks
ed and underprivileged communities in Mexico. that suggest institutional critique—throwing live
All classes and workshops offered at FARO are cats at McDonald's cashiers—to illegal, overtly po¬
free, and range from theater and music to jump liticized acts—flipping over parked police cars. In
rope and fabric printing. 2008, on the eve of Dmitri Medvedev's election,
In 2000, architect Alberto Kalach discovered Voina staged perhaps their most notorious perfor¬
a 24,500 square meter abandoned building, and mance, Fuck for the heir Puppy Bear!, a three-part
divided the space into galleries, workshops, a li¬ action carried out over the course of two days for
brary, an outdoor forum, gardens, and parkland. which five couples, including a pregnant woman,
Designed as both cultural resource and civic out¬ had public sex in Moscow's Timirayzev State
reach, the school serves as a forum for community Museum of Biology.
meetings, and a social service information hub. Two years later, on the anniversary of Che
FARO, which also hosts a pirate radio and televi¬ Guevara's birthday, members of the group painted
sion station as well as a print magazine, was the a 65-meter-tall, 27-meter-wide phallus on a draw¬
first such community center to open in the city; bridge in an action outside the Federal Security
three more have been erected since then. The Service in Saint Petersburg. Two of the group's
three-building space also houses a library, com¬ members, Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolayev,
puter lab, gym, childcare facility, welding room, have been arrested for "hooliganism motivated by
and carpentry workshop. hatred or hostility toward a social group." Though
Conceived as a cultural center and space for they have been released on bail, they artists face
artistic production, FARO follows a pedagogical up to seven years in prison. Since its inception,
model that emphasizes dialogue and seeks to cre¬ membership in the collective has expanded,
ate a space for diverse expression. Through these somewhat virally, to more than 200 participants.
services, the center fosters community develop¬ Though the collective's actions often read like
ment as well as the improved use of urban spaces high-concept pranks, they're motivated by a seri¬
and city infrastructure for culture and art. ous desire to call out corruption and complacency
Eduardo Vazquez Martin was born in Mexico in modern-day Russia. Speaking to the New York
City in 1962. He has been involved in a number Times in January, 2011, about the drawbridge ac¬
of Mexico City's cultural projects and publications, tion, Voina member Alexey Pluster-Sarno said, "It
and is currently the Director of the city's Museum of is monumental, heroic, romantic, left-radical, an
Natural History and Environmental Cultura (Museo act of protest. I like it as a piece of work, not just
de Historia Natural y de Cultura Ambiental). because it is a penis."
 PROJECTS 243

Tbp to bottom: Voina's action Dick captured by KGB was performed on June 14,
2010. In less than a minute, members of the group painted a 65-meter-tall, 27-me¬
ter-wide phallus on a drawbndge outside the Federal Secunty Service in Saint
Petersburg. (Courtesy Voina, in partnership with the Brooklyn House of Kulture)
244 LIVING AS FORM

MARION VON OSTEN

MONEYNATIONS
1998, 2000

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, new na¬

tions emerged. So did border policies that limited
migration from Central and Southeastern Europe
into the West, and labor practices that exploited
workers and propagated new cultural stereotypes.
MoneyNations—a network of artists, theorists,
and media activists—formed in 1998 to create
public discussion around the racist and discrimi¬
natory practices that developed across Europe
in the decade after Communism fell. The group,
which convened twice within a two-year period,
also questioned outdated assumptions about dif¬
ference, the "center," and the "margin," as well as
left-wing criticism that often affirmed these ideas.
"Even anti-racist campaigns tend to depict mi¬
grants as victims who have been criminalized for
the purpose of achieving certain political goals,"
wrote artist and key organizer Marion von Osten in
"Euroland and the Economy of the Borderline," an
essay she published in 2000 describing the polit¬
ical climate that prompted MoneyNations to form.
She creates collaborative forums—exhibitions, in¬
dependently published books, and films—to chal¬
lenge capitalism, sometimes by using capitalist
practices to do so.
MoneyNations launched by inviting cultural
producers from contested regions to develop
communication platforms that didn't simply in¬
clude "non-Western voices" within Western in¬ tion and activism initiated by artists, over official
stitutions, but allowed those voices to lead the legislative or economic policies.
conversation. Their three-day event and media The second MoneyNations event occurred in
workshop at Zurich's Shedhalle in 1998 yielded 2000 at Vienna's Kunsthalle Exnergasse. This time,
a webzine, video exchange, photographs, instal¬ participants aimed to challenge existing power
lations, and a print publication. Alternatives to structures in Europe by experimenting with so-
top-down panel discussions, which often limit called grassroots broadcast media. The network
discourse to scripts, and stunt audience partici¬ launched mnFM, an on-air and online audio data¬
pation. In this arena, participants focused on the base and exchange platform, and MoneyNations
new collective and individual identities formed in TV, an open video-exchange between middle,
post-1989 Europe by considering cultural produc¬ central, and southeastern European producers.

Above: MoneyNations arranged collaborative forums (top), exhibitions, and

events (middle) and invited cultural producers to launch communication plat¬
forms for non-Western voices (bottom), (Courtesy Marion von Osten)
 PROJECTS 245

Top to bottom: MoneyNations was organized by Marion von Osten

to discuss the discrimination that developed across Europe after
the fall of Communism. Exhibitions and events took place in Zurich
and Vienna. (Courtesy Marion von Osten)
246 LIVING AS FORM

Game (1965), for which Watkins used a Vietnam-

PETER WATKINS era newsreel style to capture scenes from an
LA COMMUNE 18th-century battle, point to the critique of mod¬
ern media and community involvement evident in
(PARIS, 1871)
La Commune.
1999

WIKILEAKS
2007 -

La Commune (Paris, 1871) is a 375-min-

ute docudrama reconstructing the events of
the Paris Commune in its 1871 struggle against
the Versaillais French forces. The filming took
place in an abandoned factory on the outskirts In April 2010, a shocking video of an American
of Paris that was outfitted to resemble the 11th helicopter firing upon a group of Iraqi journalists
Arrondissement, one of the poorest working- on the ground in Bagdad stunned mainstream
class districts at the time of the Commune's sup¬ media and the diplomatic world, and inspired a
pression, and the scene of some of the conflict's global debate about the relationship between
bloodiest fighting. news outlets and the governments they report on.
The cast included 220 people from Paris and The video, titled Collateral Murder, was released
the provinces, most of them lacking prior acting by WikiLeaks, a whistle-blowing non-profit orga¬
experience. People with conservative political nization that, since its inception, has aimed to
views were deliberately recruited to act in roles shine light on the operations of governments and
opposed to the Commune. The cast members were corporations around the world. Founded by for¬
encouraged to do their own research into the his¬ mer computer hacker Julian Assange, as well as a
torical events, as well as to improvise and to dis¬ group of technologists, dissidents, and activists,
cuss the events during the filming process. Even WikiLeaks is guided by the premise that democra¬
after the shooting was over, the cast's involvement cy works best when citizens are aware of state and
with its ideas continued in different ways; for ex¬ military operations, and can hold governments ac¬
ample, a weekend of public talks organized by one countable to their actions.
of the actors, featuring presentations and debates Historically, large media groups consult with
on the Paris Commune. government sources before releasing potentially
English director Peter Watkins has been ex¬ sensitive information, in order to leverage these
perimenting with the ''newsreel style" seen in relationships for greater access to information.
La Commune since the 1950s. He is particularly WikiLeaks has challenged this process by es¬
interested in the play between reality and artifi¬ chewing such negotiations and releasing clas¬
ciality that the medium of documentary film calls sified memos, diplomatic cables, videos, and
up—the "high-key" Hollywood lighting tempered other materials directly to the public via its web¬
by the emotions and faces of real people. Earlier site. "Publishing improves transparency, and this
films like The Forgotten Faces (1960), a recreation transparency creates a better society for all peo¬
of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, and The War ple," states WikiLeaks' mission. "Better scrutiny

Opposite: Wikstrom repeated her original performance in 2009 at the ICA Maxi
supermarket in Kalmar, Sweden (Photograph by Oscar Guermouche).
 PROJECTS 247

leads to reduced corruption and stronger democ¬

racies in all society's institutions, including gov¬ ELIN WIKSTROM
ernment, corporations and other organizations. A WHATWOUILD HAPPEN
healthy, vibrant, and inquisitive journalistic media
IF EVERYBODY DID THIS?
plays a vital role in achieving these goals. We are
part of that media." WikiLeaks' critics, with the 1993
U.S. government at the helm, have countered that
the organization's practices have endangered mil¬
itary and intelligence personnel as well as their
civilian sources.
WikiLeaks operates with a small, all-volunteer
staff as well as a network of 800 to 1,000 experts
who advise on issues such as encryption, vet¬
ting information, and programming. Its material
is housed on servers around the globe, outside For her contribution to a group exhibition in
of the jurisdiction of any single institution or Malmo, Sweden, Elin Wikstrom moved a bed into
government. a grocery store, and lay silently under the covers
every day, from morning until close, during the
three-week run of the show. She installed an elec¬
tronic display sign overhead that read, "One day, I
woke up feeling sleepy, sluggish, and sour. I drew
the bedcovers over my head because I didn't want
to get up, look around or talk to anyone. Under the
covers I said to myself, I'll lie like this, completely
still, without saying a word, as long as I want. I'm

' 4 Jr.; # If 4 *4
^ V ■

f* . m

m
248 LIVING AS FORM

^-a ,i ,* ,i (i \i

Above: Wikstrom lay on a bed in the middle of the store in Kalmar during busi¬
ness hours for seven days (Photograph by Oscar Guermouche).
 PROJECTS 249

not going to do anything, just close my eyes, and

let the thoughts come and go. Now, what would WOCHENKLAUSUR
happen if everyone did this?" MEDICAL CARE FOR
Wikstrom's presence drew mixed reactions
THE HOMELESS
from shoppers, as well as a range of discussions
in the store—a place where otherwise nothing un¬ 1993-
predictable happens, according to the artist. An el¬
derly woman stood by the bed daily, and read pas¬
sages from the Bible, while a young man pulled up
a stool and read his poems to her. Another pinched
Wikstrom's toe. "What is this? A real person or a
mannequin?" he asked. "It's a work of art," his com¬
panion responded.
Within the art world, the acronym ICA gener¬ Austrians are insured under their country's
ally refers to "Institute of Contemporary Art." In universal health coverage. Yet, the homeless
Sweden, the letters also represent the name of often go without treatment due to a highly bu¬
one of the largest supermarket chains. By host¬ reaucratic system that favors those with proof
ing the exhibition in a grocery store, local artists of residency. When the Vienna-based collective
were granted a new venue amid the closing of WochenKlausur was invited to present work at the
many of the city's exhibition spaces. Meanwhile, contemporary art space Vienna Succession, they
the show also brought performative works, such as organized a free mobile clinic in the Karlsplatz,
Wikstrom's piece, to a wider public. a plaza near the gallery generally populated by
many homeless people. The clinic, which was run
out of a van and equipped to facilitate basic medi¬
cal treatment, was initially designed as a proto¬
type intended to operate for 11 weeks. This was

Above: The clinic's van, now run by Caritas, travels to public spaces around
Vienna and provides health care for homeless people (Courtesy WochenKlausur).
250 LIVING AS FORM

1993. The van still travels daily to public spaces

throughout Vienna, providing medical care to over
600 people per month.
The collective—a group of eight artists—raised
70,000 Euros from commercial sponsors in order
to purchase the van, medical equipment, supplies,
and licensing required to operate the facility on
public property. However, paying physicians' sala¬
ries proved to be a larger obstacle, since the only
viable funding source—the city government—re¬
fused to participate. But after WochenKlausur
enlisted a German reporter to interview Vienna's
chancellor, the city acquiesced to the request,
and continues to support two full-time positions.
Medical Care for the Homeless was the first of
nearly 30 endeavors WochenKlausur has launched
in the past 17 years, each designed to create im¬
mediate impact on a pressing local issue. The col¬
lective travels to different cities upon invitation by
arts institutions, reads local papers, talks to resi¬
dents, and then identifies precise actions that can
be carried out within a given timeframe, in order
to institute sustainable change. The projects have
ranged from establishing a pension for sex work¬
ers in Zurich to recycling materials from museums
into objects useful to homeless shelters, soup
kitchens, and clothing distribution centers.

WOMEN ON WAVES
2001 -

Women on Waves rocked the boat well before

setting sail in 2001. Lead by physician Rebecca
Gomperts, this women's healthcare advocacy group
aimed to provide abortion services in countries
where the procedure is illegal. They built a seafar¬
ing abortion clinic registered in The Netherlands,

Top: The Women on Waves ship Aurora prepares to sail to Ireland

(Courtesy Women on Waves). Above: The first Latin American abor¬
tion hotline was officially launched in 2008 in Ecuador when a banner
was hung on the Virgen del Panecillo in Quito (Photograph by Mrova,
Courtesy Women on Waves).
 PROJECTS 251

anchored it 12 miles away from harbors in inter¬

national waters, where they could operate under
Dutch law, and attempted to safely bring women
on board. Yet, media buzz resulted in strong resis¬
tance including military intervention as the ship
approached Portugal and pelts from fake blood
and eggs in Poland. No surgical abortions were
performed at sea, and only fifty women received
abortions of any kind on the vessel. "But the boat
created a lot of controversy, which has always been
important to the campaign," says Kinja Manders,
project manager for Women on Waves. "Our goal
has always been to stir public debate, and to send
the message that abortion is not simply a public
health issue—it's a social justice issue."
The small team, a mix of healthcare special¬
ists and activists, provided contraceptives, preg¬
nancy testing, information about STDs, and pre¬
scribed the abortion pill (RU-486) aboard until
2008. While the sea voyages have ended. Women
on Waves has exhibited the boat in international
exhibitions, in homage to the organization's roots
in the arts: early funding was provided by the
Mondriaan Foundation, and Gomperts earned a
degree in art before attending med school. "We've
always been interested in the link between activ¬
ism and art," Manders says, "and in finding cre¬
ative and conceptual solutions that are on the
edge." The organization now exists online and
educates women on safe, self-induced abortions, a
medically uncontroversial, but politically charged
practice; how to obtain abortion pills; and where to
seek accurate information and counseling before
and after an abortion.

Above: The Portuguese Navy blocks the Women on Waves ship from enter¬
ing Portugal (Photograph by Nadya Peek, Courtesy Women on Waves).
 LIVING AS FORM

THE LEONORi; ANNENBERG

PRIZE FOR ART AND
SOCIAL CHANGE
 THE LEONORE ANNENBERG PRIZE FOR ART AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Starting in 2008, Creative Time has had the honor of

bestowing The Leonore Aiji nenberg Prize for Art and
Social Change to three dislji nguished artists who have
committed their life's work to promoting social justice
in surprising and profound ways. The $25,000 prize is
presented annually at the Creative Time Summit and
has been generously su pported by the Annenberg
Foundation.

The prize is directly in li ne with the achievements of

Mrs. Annenberg's generous spirit, passion for humani-
tarian efforts, and devotio n to the public good. The
award also furthers Creatiye Time's long commitment
to commissioning and pres Anting groundbreaking, his-
torically important artwork and fostering a culture of
experimentation and chang e.
254 LIVING AS FORM

started an international rumor resulting in a loss

THE YES MEN of $2 billion for Dow.
2003 -
In their most notorious prank to date, The
Yes Men, the 2009 recipients of The Leonore
Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change, de¬
signed and distributed fake editions of three
world newspapers. On November 12, 2008, they
distributed a fake edition of The New York Times in
NYC and LA. The lead headline proclaimed, "Iraq
War Ends." Their fake edition of The International
Herald Tribune, on which Greenpeace collaborated
Founded by self-described "impostors" Andy and which was distributed in Brussels, NYC, and
Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, The Yes Men work Beijing, coincided with an international climate
to raise awareness around pressing social issues, change summit in Brussels. It declared, "Heads
specifically targeting "leaders and big corpora¬ of State Agree on Historic Climate-Saving Deal."
tions who put profits ahead of everything else." When the summit failed to produce a solid agree¬
Known for their public pranks and parodies, the ment, The Yes Men updated the online edition to
duo agree their way into the fortified compounds read, "World Actually Not Saved." On September
of commerce and politics and share their stories 21, 2009, a bogus New York Post distributed in
to provide the public with a glimpse at the inner New York City read "We're Screwed," again com¬
workings of corporate and political America. An menting on worldwide climate change.
early project took the form of a satirical website, Over the years the group has also launched
www.gwbush.com, which drew attention to alleged some very unconventional products—from the
hypocrisies and false information on President Dow Acceptable Risk calculator, a new industry
G. W. Bush's actual site. On December 3, 2004, standard for determining how many deaths are ac¬
the twentieth anniversary of Bhopal disaster in ceptable when achieving large profits, to Vivoleum,
India, Bichlbaum posed as a spokesperson from a new renewable fuel sourced from the victims of
Dow Chemical—the company responsible for the climate change. The gonzo political activists have
chemical disaster—for an interview with the BBC. produced two documentary films, The Yes Men
Announcing on live television that the company (2003) and The Yes Men Fix the World (2009),
intended to liquidate $12 billion in assets to as¬ which was awarded the prestigious audience
sist victims of the Bhopal incident, Bichlbaum award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Nation Sets Its Sights ,,n

in
Building San* Eco’ o" ...
\"v -

••
 THE l.EONORE annenberg prize for art and social change

HALLIBURTON

Above, top to bottom: The inflatable costume SurvivaBatl claims to be a self

Opposite: A New Yorker takes in the shocking news
contained living system for corporate managers for surviving disasters caused
New York Times cover (Courtesy Steve Lambert).
by global warming. The Yes Men pose as corporate executives. (Courtesy
Steve Lambert)
256 LIVING AS FORM

providing essential social services to residents.

RICK LOWE Now functioning as a non-profit organization, the
PROJECT ROW HOUSES project continues to be emblematic of long-term,
community-engaged programs, and has been ex¬
1993-

hibited around in world in museums, and other art

venues.
Since Project Row Houses' inception, Lowe—
the 2010 recipient of The Leonore Annenberg
Prize for Art and Social Change—has privileged
art as a catalyst for change, a word that he has
considered carefully. "It used to be that you could
In 1993, artist Rick Lowe purchased a row assume a progressive agenda when you heard the
of abandoned shotgun-style houses in Houston, word 'change,'" he says. "But language is shifting.
Texas', Northern Third Ward district, a low-income Clarity is missing." The project first took root after
African-American neighborhood that was slot¬ a conversation he had with a high school student
ted for demolition. He galvanized hundreds of who questioned the efficacy of making art ob¬
volunteers to help preserve the buildings, first by jects in the quest for social justice. Inspired, Lowe
sweeping streets, rebuilding facades, and reno¬ looked to the work of artist John Biggers, who
vating the old housing's interiors. Then, with fund¬ believed that art holds the capacity to uplift tan¬
ing from the National Endowment for the Arts and gible social conditions, before intervening in the
private foundations, the growing group of activ¬ Northern Third Ward.
ists transformed the blight-ridden strip into a vi¬ Project Row Houses has grown from 22 hous¬
brant campus that hosts visiting artists, galleries, es to 40, and includes exhibition spaces, a liter¬
a park, commercial spaces, gardens, and as well ary center, a multimedia performance art space,
as subsidized housing for young mothers, ages offices, low-income housing, and other amenities.
18-26, looking to get back on their feet. Called In 2003, the organization established the Row
Project Row Houses, the effort has restored the House Community Development Corporation, a
architecture and history of the community, while low-income rental-housing agency.
1 wSfLXrjr'-'’ ^ .i v- • }v 1
1 \
**
1 4

it
:
,

. bags <r S
|Is

i n
u
M jVJ
A ftvl

Clockwise from top; Lowe discovered this abandoned block and a half of row houses
e clapboard duplex structures were built to provide hous-
in Houston's Northern Third Ward in 1993. Visitors attend the opening of Project Row
families (Photograph by Enc Hester, courtesy Project Row
Houses Round 33 in October 2010. Artist Andrea Bowers contributed Hope in Hindsight
as part of Round 33 at Project Row Houses. (Photographs by Enc Hester, courtesy
Project Row Houses)
 LIVING AS FORM

traveled to private parties, the local hairdresser's

JEANNE VAN HEESWIJK salon, shops, nightclubs, poetry readings, school
1993 -
events, municipal meetings, and festivals—wher¬
ever residents would gather to discuss issues
important to them. CHORA still operates the Vibe
Detector by offering the equipment for use free of
charge, as well as technical assistance and mar¬
keting advice.
Van Heeswijk is the 2011 recipient of The
Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social
Change. Since 1993, she has created public art
"If you really want to contribute to changes that mediates relationships among neighborhood
in social structures, you need time." Jeanne van residents by initiating different modes of com¬
Heeswijk took this ethos to heart in Valley Vibes, munication around pressing issues. For one of
her effort to gather the voices of East London's her first projects, she organized a joint exhibition
residents, who in 1998 began witnessing gentrifi- between Amsterdam's Buers van Berlage art mu¬
cation—or the replacement of local culture for cor¬ seum and the Red Cross that addressed notions
porate business—in their neighborhood. As part of of human dignity in an age of violence. In 2008,
the project, van Heeswijk built a "Vibe Detector," she revitalized the Afrikaander market in South
a simple aluminum storage container on wheels Rotterdam by bringing artists, vendors, and con¬
that functions as a mobile karaoke machine, radio sumers together to rebuild stalls, rethink the se¬
station, and recording studio, equipped with a lection of wares for sale, and create a new econo¬
professional sound kit and DAT recorder. my within this struggling neighborhood.
At the projects launch, van Heeswijk enlisted
members of the architecture and urban-planning
research group CHORA to occupy sidewalks (a
la street food vendors) and ask residents to use
the available equipment to record their stories,
music, performances, or any other signifier of
local culture that countered the regeneration tak¬
ing place in the neighborhood. The Vibe Detector

Above: Van Heeswijk created Norway's first hospital soap opera with II Runs in Above: Valley Vibes took place in parts of East London designated for regen¬
the Neighbourhood at the Stavanger University Hospital in 2008, when Stavan¬ eration, like this section near Deptford (Courtesy of Jeanne van Heeswijk and
ger was the European Capital of Culture (Photograph by Jeanne van Heeswijk), Amy Plant).
 DIT IS EEN
FREEHOUSE
TESTMOMENT.

Met dit pakket is het bouwen voor elkaar.

Z V; ' |K? cn h*
\ Is Jr
■ f 1
1
1 1 1

Top row, left to right: The Blue House, one of the buildings in a planned develop¬ Bottom: Van Heeswijk, with architecl Dennis Kaspori, offered children a collective
ment in Amsterdam, was turned into a place for research into the history, develop¬ learning environment with the project Face Your World, Urban Lab Slotervaarl in
ment, and evolution of expenmental communities. Tomorrows Market is a project Amsterdam in 200S (Photograph by Dennis Kaspori).
based on cultural production as a means of economic growth [or the redeveloping
Afrikaariderwijk neighborhood of Rotterdam. (Photographs by Ramon Mosterd)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art from 1991—2011
was generously made possible by:

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

PROJECT SUPPORTERS

Living as Form was made possible by:

The Lily Auchincloss Foundation

Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo
The Danish Arts Council Committee for Visual Arts
Stephanie & Tim Ingrassia
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Bella Meyer & Martin Kace
The Mondriaan Foundation
The National Endowment for the Arts
The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts,
Design and Architecture
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Emily Glasser & Billy Susman

ARTWORKS.
arts.gov

Living as Form (the Abridged, Nomadic Version) is curated by Nato

Thompson and co-organized by Creative Time and Independent
Curators International (ICl), New York.
CREDITS

Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art from 1991-2011: Creative Time Staff:

Nato Thompson, Editor Anne Pasternak, President and Artistic Director

Sharmila Venkatasubban, Managing Editor
Garrick Gott, Designer Jay Buim, Leonhardt Cassullo Video Fellow
Clinton Krute, Copyeditor Merrell Hambleton, Development Associate
Ann Holcomb, Proofreader Katie Hollander, Deputy Director
Cynthia Pringle, Proofreader Marisa Mazria Katz, Artists on the News Editor
Sadia Shirazi, Fact Checker Christopher Kissock, Digital Marketing and
Merrell Hambleton, Editorial Assistant Communications Associate
Phillip Griffith, Intern Zoe Larkins, Executive Assistant
Madeline Lieberburg, Intern Cynthia Pringle, Director of Operations
Rachel Ichniowski, Intern Lydia Ross, Foundation and Individual Giving Associate
Winona Packer, Intern Danielle Schmidt, Associate Director of Events
and Membership
Curatorial Advisors: Justin Sloane, Designer
Jessica Shaefer, Interim Director of Communications
Caron Atlas, Negar Azimi, Ron Bechet, Claire Bishop, Brett Kevin Stanton, Production Assistant
Bloom, Rashida Bumbray, Carolina Caycedo, Ana Paula Cohen, Leila Tamari, Programming Assistant
Common Room, Teddy Cruz, Soffa Hernandez, Chong Cuy, Nato Thompson, Chief Curator
Gridthiya Gaweewong, Hou Hanru, Stephen Hobbs, Marcus Sharmila Venkatasubban, Curatorial/Editorial Fellow
Neustetter, Shannon Jackson, Maria Lind, Chus Martinez,
Sina Najafi, Marion von Osten, Ted Purves, Raqs Media Additional thanks to former Creative Time staff who were
Collective, Gregory Sholette, SUPERFLEX, Christine Tohme, involved with the project:
and Sue Bell Yank
Leah Abir, Artis Curatorial Fellow
Creative Time Board of Directors: Aliya Bonar
Shane Brennan
Amanda Weil (Board Chair), Philip E. Aarons, Steven Alden, Anna Dinces
Peggy Jacobs Bader, Jill Brienza, Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo, Rachel Ford
Suzanne Cochran, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Marie Douglas, Dana Dina Pugh
Farouki, Thelma Golden, Michael Gruenglas, Sharon Hayes, Sally Szwed
Tom Healy, Stephanie Ingrassia, Liz Kabler, Stephen Kramarsky,
Patrick Li, Bella Meyer, Vik Muniz, Shirin Neshat, Amy Phelan,
Paul Ramirez Jonas, William Susman, Elizabeth Swig, Felicia
Taylor, Jed Walentas
COLOPHON

Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art From 1991-2011 Co-published by:

© 2012 Creative Time Creative Time Books

59 East 4th Street, 6th floor
Foreword © 2012 Anne Pasternak New York NY 10003
www.creativetime.org
Living as Form © 2012 Nato Thompson
Creative Time Books is the publishing arm of Creative Time,
Participation And Spectacle: Where Are We Now? Inc., a public arts organization that has been commissioning
© 2012 Claire Bishop adventurous public art in New York City and beyond since
1972.
Returning On Bikes: Notes On Social Practice
© 2012 Maria Lind The MIT Press
55 Hayward Street
Democratizing Urbanization and the Search for Cambridge, MA 02142
a New Civic Imagination © 2012 Teddy Cruz www.mitpress.mit.edu

Microutopias: Public Practice In The Public Sphere MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts
© 2012 Carol Becker for business or sales promotional use. For information, please
email special_salesiilmitpress.mit.edu or write to Special Sales
Eventwork: The Fourfold Matrix of Contemporary Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge,
Social Movements © 2012 Brian Holmes MA 02142.

Living Takes Many Forms © 2012 Shannon Jackson First edition, 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in ISBN 978-0-262-01734-3
any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including
photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) Library of Congress Control Number: 2011941569
without permission in writing from the publisher.
10 98765432
Designed by Garrick Gott

Design assistant: Maggie Bryan

Typefaces: Geometric 213 and 712 by Bitstream
and Mercury by Radim Pesko

Printed and bound in Hong Kong by Paramount

Production supervision: The Production Department,

Sue Medlicott and Nerissa Dominguez Vales
 AIWEIWEI RICK LOWE
ALA PLASTICA MAMMALIAN DIVING REFLEX
JENNIFER ALLORA AND GUILLERMO CALZADILLA MARDI GRAS INDIAN COMMUNITY
LARA ALMARCEGUI AND BEGONA MOVELLAN ANGELA MELITOPOULOS
ALTERNATE ROOTS ZAYD MINTY
FRANCIS ALYS THE MOBILE ACADEMY
APPALSHOP MUJERESCREANDO
JULIETA ARANDA AND ANTON VIDOKLE VIKMUNIZ
CLAIRE BARCLAY m NAVIN PRODUCTION STUDIO
BAREFOOT ARTISTS NEUE SLOWENISCHE KUNST (NSK)
BASURAMA NUTS SOCIETY
BIJARI JOHN O'NEAL
BREAD AND PUPPETTHEATER ODA PROJESI
TANIA BRUGUERA PARK FICTION AND THE RIGHTTOTHE CITY
CAMP NETWORK HAMBURG
CEMETI ART HOUSE PASE USTED
PAULCHAN PIRATBYRAN (THE BUREAU OF PIRACY)
MELCHIN PLATF0RMA9.81
CHTO DELAT? (WHAT IS TO BE DONE?) PUBLIC MOVEMENT
SANTIAGO CIRUGEDA PULSKAGRUPA
CAMBALACHE COLECTIVO PEDRO REYES
PHILCOLLINS LAURIE JO REYNOLDS
CELINE CONDORELLI AND GAVIN WADE ATHI-PATRA RUGA
CORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY THE SAN FRANCISCO CACOPHONY SOCIETY
ALICE CREISCHER AND ANDREAS SIEKMANN THE SARAI PROGRAMME AT CSDS AND ANKUR
MINERVA CUEVAS CHRISTOPH SCHLINGENSIEF
DECOLONIZING ARCHITECTURE ART RESIDENCY FLO RIAN SCHNEIDER
JEREMY DELLER KATERINA SEDA
MARK DION, J. MORGAN PUETT, CHEMI ROSADO SEIJO
AND COLLABORATORS MICHIHIRO SHIMABUKU
MARILYN DOUALA-BELL AND DIDIER SCHAUB BUSTER SIMPSON
ELECTION NIGHT, HARLEM, NEW YORK SLANGUAGE
FALLEN FRUIT SUPERFLEX
BITA FAYYAZI, ATA HASHEMINEJAD, KHOSROW APOLONIJASUSTERSIC
HASSANZADEH, FARID JAHANGIR AND TAHRIR SQUARE
SASSAN NASSIRI TALLER POPULAR DE SERIGRAFI A
FINISHING SCHOOL (POPULAR SIUKSCREEN WORKSHOP)
FREE CL4SS FRANKFURT/M TEMPORARYSERVICES
FRENTE 3 DE FEVEREIRO TOROLAB
THEASTER GATES MIERLE LADERMAN UKELES
ALONSO GIL AND FEDERICO GUZMAN ULTRA-RED
PAULGLOVER UNITED INDIAN HEALTH SERVICES
JOSH GREENE URBAN BUSH WOMEN
FRITZ H AEG US SOCIAL FORUM
HAHA BIK VAN DER POL
HELENA PRODUCCIONES JEANNE VAN HEESWIJK
STEPHEN HOBBS AND MARCUS NEUSTETTER WENDELIEN VAN OLDENBORGH
FRAN ILICH EDUARDO VASQUEZ MARTIN
TELLERVO KALLEINEN AND OLIVER KOCHTA-KALLEINEN VOINA
AMAL KENAWY MARION VON OSTEN
SURASI KUSOLWONG PETER WATKINS
BRONWYN LACE AND ANTHEA MOYS WIKILEAKS
SUZANNE LACY ELIN WIKSTROM
LAND FOUNDATION WOCHENKLAUSUR
LONG MARCH PROJECT WOMEN ON WAVES
LOS ANGELES POVERTY DEPARTMENT THE YES MEN

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