First it was their rather positive coverage of 2007’s Anarchist Book Fair here in New York, and now it’s a somewhat lighthearted, yet provocatively titled, look at the shopdropping phenomenon: “Anarchists in the Aisles? Stores Provide a Stage.”

In truth, the article is only kinda sorta about anarchism. The title refers to artist Packard Jennings’ recent project, just in time for the Christmas shopping season, where he produced a series of Anarchist dolls, black clothing, Molotov cocktail and all, and placed them alongside other would-be presents in the toy aisles of unsuspecting stores. He then documented an attempt to purchase one of the dolls at a Target store, where the manager hilariously spots the unfriendly-to-families poleeemical text. Must be one of those crazy anti-globalization kids, he suspects!

And perhaps he’s right (although Mr. Jennings is much closer to 40 than 18). I love much of his work, especially the pamphlet for his “A Day at the Mall” project, but I’m still not even sure if his Anarchist doll is meant to be a stereotype-affirming, satirical ribbing of anarchists, or a genuine attempt at political (or economic) subversion. The packaging features some rather esoteric political commentary (for the lay-shopper), including such gems as:

“Pretend to denounce Kropotkin and the other prominent Anarchists who declared their support for the Allies in the First Imperialist World War.”

A rather insid-y, inside joke from one radical to another, to say the least. Apparently the whole thing is just meant to mess with the head of the average consumer, who couldn’t possible know (or care) what to do with this statement if it were even read in the first place. The article attempts to explain Jennings’ motives:

“When better than Christmas to make a point about hyper-consumerism?” asked Mr. Jennings . . . [he] said he hoped to show that even radical ideology gets commercialized.

Eh? Maybe I’ve had ten too many vegan egg nogs this holiday season, but it seems like the only one attempting to commercialize radical ideology in this situation was Packard Jennings (and why would that be such a bad thing, if sincere?). Last time I checked, radical ideologues only pop into the commercial realm when some hack director needs a paper-thin villain for a James Bond flick. Corporations are pretty good at aping the look and tactics of radical ideologies (most notably, the very concept of culture jamming itself — think the Aqua Teen fiasco), but if they ever actually embraced, say, radical libertarian or genuinely egalitarian ideology — let’s just say I’d like to see how that all plays out.

Nevertheless, Jennings’ Anarchist dolls are hilarious, if nothing else, and any time the New York Times mentions anarchism without either (a) linking it to destructive chaos, or (b) re-hashing the assassination of President McKinley, then it should probably be heralded as a resounding victory for the side of the anarchists. But sadly no, the Times isn’t quite ready to endorse a society without rulers just yet.

// image ripped from Packard Jennings’ website.

There’s a ton of military advertising out there in desperate need of subversion. For anyone that thinks that the military already has way too much influence on American culture, military billboard liberation can be a fun and effective, though slightly dangerous, activity. You don’t even need any artistic ability whatsoever, because if all you do is frustrate them enough so that they take the ad down (or do it yourself), you’ve been successful. Here are but three examples of worthy efforts, from the Army, the Navy, and the Marines, respectively. Anyone got one for the Air Force?

If you’re in NYC next Monday, you definitely don’t want to miss this. Actually, I was debating whether I should even post anything, considering that the more people who know about it, the less chance I’ll have of getting in!

Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History

December 10th, 6:30 - Recital Hall

The SDS Comic Show, a traveling exhibit drawing upon the book Students for a Democratic Society: a Graphic History, will be open at the CUNY Graduate Center in December. Come see the exhibit and join us for a book signing and panel discussion for Students for a Democratic Society: a Graphic History, scripted by Harvey Pekar and others and edited by Paul Buhle, editor of the 1960s SDS magazine Radical America. Harvey Pekar, real-life star of the award-winning film and the book series American Splendor (and sometime Letterman Show guest), will deliver a talk on comics and politics, followed by a panel including Buhle, former SDS-NY regional officer, Weatherman Jeff Jones, and members of the New SDS.

So queries Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. As wonderful as the song is, I found it odd that, as the credits roll at the end of the performance, you can hear Ms. Jones exhorting the crowd to “go out and vote to make a difference.” Isn’t tax resistance more likely to be practiced by those who’ve come to believe that voting can’t make a difference — or, at least, not enough of a difference?

Perhaps it’s understandable considering that the video was recorded in late August 2004, only a couple of short months before the Presidential election that many thought was going to end the Iraq War. But I wonder if she feels differently now, because I can’t think of a more hyped election in my lifetime than that one, where it seemed that so many people were inspired to make a difference through their vote. And yet, it made no difference whatsoever. Four more years of Bush, four more years of war, four more years of torture, four more years of shrinking liberties, four more years of expanding inequality.

Are peaceful people going to make the same mistake again? Do they really believe that cluster-bomb loving, Iraq-War supporting Hillary Clinton is going to make a difference? Hell, we may even wind up with Giuliani in charge, Mr. Firm Hand himself, and even Obama has already talked about invading Pakistan. Really, what political choice do people have who want to stop this war? What if we all stop paying taxes?

// Thanks for the link, Delo!

There are a group of students at Columbia University that are participating in a hunger strike. They are pissed off about the ongoing problem of racism there, as reflected in recent symbolic attacks directed towards faculty (nooses and swastikas), an ethnocentric curriculum, and the university’s planned expansion into Harlem (which would displace thousands). From their online petition, where I’ve added my name in solidarity with their efforts:

We demand a Core Curriculum that is inclusive not only of the canon of Western European thought, but that seeks to build a deep understanding of the multicultural society that we live in and the power relations that constitute it.

We demand a sustainable expansion that does not displace 5,000 people and bulldoze a neighborhood in Harlem, one of the most important communities in the United States.

We demand an administration that is responsive to institutional racism, supports its students, and proactively works to create a climate in which nooses and swastikas are not the order of the day.

We demand support and autonomy for the Ethnic Studies program, which is crucial to a critical intellectual experience in a progressive university.

We are concerned for both the well-being of the strikers and the campus community, which has been so starved by the indifference of the administration. We express our solidarity with the hunger strikers and urge the university administration to fulfill these demands as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

You can keep updated on all things Hunger Strike at their informative blog. Also, a curious political art installation popped up on the Columbia campus yesterday. I’m not sure if it’s explicitly associated with the hunger strike, but it’s one of the more thoughtful and provocative pieces I’ve seen there.

The piece appeared to be a contemplation on Mexican immigration into the U.S., especially highlighting the horrible conditions that Mexican workers face both in their native country, and as illegal workers here. There were [maybe a hundred or more?] newspapered headstones attached to the chained borders around the grassy areas in the quad, each containing a fact or story about Mexican immigrants. To my knowledge it was only up for a day. I snapped some hurried pics as my camera battery died:

>> UPDATE: Ok, geesh, I just noticed that the bottom picture mentions a town in El Salvador, so the installation was obviously about more than just Mexican immigrants.

There’s some badass war resistance going on in Olympia, Washington. More people are beginning to figure out that if we want to stop this war, we’re going to have to do it ourselves, because it’s increasingly obvious that the Democrats in Congress have no intention of doing so. This means we must directly interfere in the war process by any means available to us — whether war tax resistance, counterrecruitment, or as these fine folks are doing, blockading militarized ports. Unfortunately, violent reprisals by hired thugs (err . . . police officers) are a very real consequence of such actions, and activists who are willing to put their safety on the line are to be applauded for their courage (because they’re awesome!). From Next Left Notes:

Wednesday night over 150 people gathered at the Port of Olympia to demonstrate against the militarization of the port. Demonstrators, both members of PMR (Port Militarization Resistance) and others, decided to block the convoys. People sat down in lines to block convoys leaving the port and cops came in to push them back and assault them. The next several hours saw similar displays of civil resistance. More cops came onto the scene. More convoys left the port, running into resistance on many streets. Several people came close to getting run over by Stryker vehicles that were traveling at high speed. Small barricades went up as well and a number of people defended themselves and their community from the cops by pushing them back. People were chased by cops and in return cops made fools of themselves by tripping over their own feet, falling down and being too out of shape to run after and catch up with the evasive resisters.

Sinn Steiner of Olympia SDS was arrested earlier in the night and a few people were detained. Olympia SDSer Emiliano Guevara was clubbed in the face by cops, causing his lip to split open….

What was amazing about the night was the level of resistance displayed. Never before, in the port actions in Olympia, Tacoma and Aberdeen, have people displayed these levels of resistance, adapting quickly to changing situations and fighting back. There was something beautiful that happened Wednesday night. Liberals, radicals and everyone in between were working together. They were on the same page and because of this they were able to act in the manner they did. It was a true expression – no, a true act of solidarity….

You can read the whole report at Next Left Notes. The above picture is taken from Robert Whitlock’s Flickr page, at which there’s a large photoset documenting the event.

Josh and Icky from the Just Seeds collective have been posting an engaging piecemeal travelogue from their trip to Europe. Their search for art and politics has led them to Rum 46 in Århus, the village squat of Christiana in Copenhagen, and the Papier Tiger Archiv in Berlin, to name only three. Check it out at their excellent blog (which seems to be updated more frequently than the old Visual Resistance blog).

Europe Communique(s) #1 Ungdomshuset, #2 Rum46, #3 MOPP, #4 Christiana, #5 Berlin (with more to come).

Well, the series isn’t quite as politically motivated as the above image suggests, but at least it’s quite a bit different than the sterile way the arts are covered by television here in the US (that is, when at all). I think there are going to be three episodes in total, with only the first two having aired so far. And did I mention that you can download them for free?:

Not Quite Art

The art show that believes there is life outside the galleries.

Host Marcus Westbury, founder of the This is Not Art Festival in Newcastle and the former director of Next Wave Festival in Melbourne, takes on a tour of how the art world looks from the other side.

Ep. 1 ICONS AND OPPORTUNITIES Tuesday October 16 at 10pm, ABC TV

Why do we spend far more money building sterile palaces to dead artists and their artefacts than supporting living ones?

Presenter Marcus Westbury travels to his home town of Newcastle, Australia where the cultural vision looks a lot like a real estate development. He then takes a trip to the Scottish city of Glasgow, where DIY culture has transformed an post-industrial casualty to a hub of happening culture in Europe.

Marcus puts forward the question of whether you can buy culture by building an iconic building or even franchising a McLouvre or McGuggenheim? Or is culture a messy, dirty thing that comes from the bottom up, refuses to behave, is borderline illegal and breaks a lot of occupational health and safety rules?

To download videos, click or right-click and ’save as’:

* Episode 1 (MP4) (WMV)

* Episode 2 (MP4) (WMV)

For those who treasure both anarchist and artistic practice, 2007 has been an especially good year, having already seen the release of at least two excellent resources examining the links between the two traditions. Published earlier this year, Realizing the Impossible: Art Against Authority is a collection of essays from the point of view of the creative anti-authoritarian practitioners themselves, mostly artists-as-activists, who generally eschew the artworld-proper of Chelsea and MoMA in favor of direct interventions, street art, and anarchist propaganda.

Allan Antliff’s Anarchy and Art: From the Paris Commune to the Fall of the Berlin Wall, released in late July, takes a somewhat more traditionally academic, art historian approach, filling in some of the gaps in Art Against Authority. Antliff’s investigation is less about self-identified anarchists forging their artistic creations for the purpose of fomenting political revolution, than an uncovering of anarchistic trends or themes overlooked by the usual art-historical narratives. This serves a vital purpose, as Antliff is well aware, because while much has been written about art and politics, any discussion of anarchism by art historians is widely avoided in favor of blanket acknowledgments of general Leftist or Marxist politics.

For example, in my own experience, I remember falling in love with painter Gustave Courbet’s brash style and transgressive subject matter during a 19th Century Painting course – the way he shoved his idealistic depictions of the working class into the faces of the wealthy, self-important aristocratic gatekeepers of high-art style – but I don’t remember hearing too much about his friendship with anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, or the anarchist politics that informed Courbet’s work. Antliff corrects such oversights and more, detailing Courbet’s connection with the Paris Commune and Proudhon’s anarchist program.

From there, Antliff weaves his way through Neo-Impressionism, Dada, Russian Revolution-era anarchism, and beyond. One of the more revealing passages is a chapter-length interview with political artist Susan Simensky Bietila. Bietila attended art school at Brooklyn College during the politically explosive years of the mid-1960’s, and has much to say about the repressive techniques of art professors at that time (most notably, Ad Reinhardt). Bietila describes an art faculty that was not only slow to support the wave of 60’s campus activism, but that actively discouraged any connection between artistic and political activities, instead forcing their version of aesthetic purity – namely, abstract art – on their students. She is quick to make a connection between such forms of aesthetic censorship and the specter of McCarthyism hovering over that period – not to mention the ways in which the U.S. government used abstract art for its own reactionary purposes – concluding about Reinhardt: “What an angry, thoroughly negative man. Every single thing that he is against, I advocate. Quite extraordinary.”

In the true spirit of anarchism, Antliff’s Anarchy and Art is not an attempt to write an authoritative history of anarchist art. Instead, together with Art Against Authority, we are given a wide-ranging collection of fragmented narratives, which, when pieced together, bring us closer to understanding the often overlooked importance of anarchism in creative artistic practice. As contemporary social movements continue to be influenced by anarchist principles, and artists further blur the line between art making and political activism, one can only hope that more such investigations about art and anarchism continue to appear.

So this student gets gang-tackled and then tasered for asking John Kerry too many questions at a public forum hosted by his university. Now, let’s go over the charges here:

1. Asking too many questions — GUILTY

2. Annoying some of his fellow students and John Kerry — GUILTY

Book him, Danno! Bring out the tasers!! Send him to jail!!! I can’t decide what’s more disturbing: is it that (a) these security officers treated this poor student like he was some kind of risk to national security, or (b) that while he screamed for help from his fellow students to intervene, they merely watched in amusement as Mr. Kerry pressed on with his comments, as if the rather forceful arrest were a mere comical inconvenience?

The Miami Herald’s coverage is here.

The student’s website, here.