Imagine music, theater, comedy acts, puppets, parades, and games in states all over the US as people wait to cast their vote… in your mind, is it there to entertain the voters, or to celebrate past political struggles?
Two groups will offer contending visions from either side of the debate this election day. One, a decentralized, self-organizing, and nonpartisan group of creatives, will set out to:
Help alleviate potential frustration brought on by waiting in line for hours by entertaining, aiding, and acknowledging people for exercising their right to vote! . . . Acknowledge, affirm, and inspire people as they stand on long lines to vote!
With the unprecedented number of anticipated voters, long lines, machine breakdowns, and other Election Day meltdowns are sure to make voters hot under the collar. Organizers of this national effort encourage participants to “think of it as another kind of election protection!”
The other, PETLab’s Re:Activism, is a New York City-based big urban game, takes participants through locations of historic protests, surveying the events and related social causes. At each stage of the game, players create present day interventions and public interactions that raise awareness of the site’s history.
Other locations are planned for Re:Activism in the future, but unfortunately won’t be ready for election day.
This one-off was inspired by the British Surrealist Group’s 1938 pamphlet titled “We Ask Your Attention.” It’s the largest digitally produced piece I’ve ever created, close to 3′x5′. Pictures of the framed piece after the jump… sorry folks, no download for this one, it’s a special edition limited to one.
John Emerson of Social Design Notes has many thoughts that we like, so when he commented on the pace of social change by creating the image below, we shared in his hope and optimism by creating t-shirts for our friends and loved ones. Check out the pictures below, and see his original image here.
Thanks John, and Mark for modeling!
I’ve spent the past few months researching community radio in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Last month I helped produce a broadcast in Cow Head, NL. For four days we broadcasted on 102.5fm and filled the airwaves with local content: live studio performances, interviews with school children and community members, local poetry, and on Friday night… karaoke live from the one & only bar in town!
For the next week or so, we’ll be webcasting recordings from the broadcast at http://groundswellcollective.com/radio
Tune-in for some great music and interesting interviews!
Oakland, California based Art for a Democratic Society “combines aspects of traditional grassroots political organizing with participatory performance art and social practice techniques.” Their monthly Street Salons engage the public in interactive projects and polls about art and its relation to politics and society. Other projects include a reaction to the Wall Street bailout package called The People’s Bank, and a Manifesto Exchange.
You’ll also find work by A4DS in Journal of Aesthetics & Protest’s latest issue.
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