“‘Political Expressionism’ & Other Fallacies of Political Art” at Carnegie Mellon

Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert are directors of the new Center for Artistic Activism. Stephen Duncombe is an Associate Professor at the Gallatin School and the Department of Media, Culture and Communications of New York, where he teaches the history and politics of media. Steve Lambert was a Senior Fellow at New York’s Eyebeam Center …

Protesters Against Wall Street – NYTimes.com

It is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation. That’s the job of the nation’s leaders, and if they had been doing it all along there might not be a need for these marches and rallies. Because they have not, the public airing of grievances is a legitimate and important end in itself. …

Destructables Launch Party – San Francisco Oct 15

From CAA friend Packard Jennings: Destructables.org: A user generated, Do-It-Yourself website for projects of protest and creative dissent. Details: Saturday October 15th from 4pm-7pm (demos start about 5pm) In the Studio for Urban Projects. 3579 17th street (at Dolores) San Francisco The launch will feature several demos, including ‘how to make and use wheat paste …

The trouble with apocalypse

The Post Carbon Institute published a thought provoking piece by Kurt Cobb on “apocalypse narratives.” We hear these narratives every day in the news and popular culture. Cobb points out they’ve done a great job to “improve ratings and book sales” and then goes one to say “Peak oil, climate change, an impending food crisis, …

NYU Launches “Artistic Activism” Research Group

MEDIA ALERT Contact:  Stephen Duncombesd47 at nyu.edu NYU Launches “Artistic Activism” Research Group Awarded 10K Funding For Two Years New York University awarded $10,000 to support research in Artistic Activism beginning this fall. The research group will be headed by NYU professor and co-director of the Center for Artistic Activism, Stephen Duncombe, and NYU professors …

The CAA supports Beautiful Trouble. Will you?

Beautiful Trouble will be a book & web toolbox that puts the best ideas and tactics of creative action in the hands of the next generation of change-makers, connecting the accumulated wisdom of decades of creative protest to the popular outrage of the current political moment. From prank websites to militant carnivals, flash mobs to …

People power: It’s the taking part that counts – The Independent

The jailed Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei is part of a new cultural movement that’s using people power to challenge society’s vested interests If this is a new avant-garde then it’s operating on a different set of aesthetic rules to previous generations of political art. Typically, artists have wanted us to be as outraged as …

The greatest victory comes from culture, not weapons

I’ve been reading Paul Provenza and Dan Dion’s ¡SATIRISTAS! Comedians, Contrarians, Raconteurs & Vulgarians and it’s filled with wonderful moments like the one above. The book is a series of 3-5 page interviews with comedians and satirists from Paul Krassner to Rosanne Barr. Every single one has surprised me with some kind of insight. It’s …

Get Loud, Move Quickly, and Shifting Focus

I love stuff like this because of the metaphors it supplies. I’m not a fighter. I haven’t been in anything close to a fight in 15 years. I’m resistant to the idea of fighting, and fear fantasies where I would need this (knock on wood) though being prepared… blah blah blah. But I like how …

Pie-ing Murdoch: Activism or Egoism?

An “activist” just tried to pie Rupert Murdoch and The New York Times Blog put it very simply: Unless the activist who charged at Mr. Murdoch wanted to help distract attention from his testimony — and that of Rebekah Brooks, who is now giving evidence to the Commons select committee — he seems to have …

Laughter Against The Machine – Tour Documentary

First, you have to know about W. Kamau Bell. W. KAMAU BELL is one of the fastest-rising socio-political comics in the United States, best known for his critically acclaimed solo show “The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour.” Praised by Punchline Magazine as “one of our nation’s most adept racial commentators …

Can Conservative Political Humor Be Funny?

“An Examination of The 1/2 Hour News Hour and An American Carol” on Splitsider today looks at why conservative political humor has failed. The crux of the argument is here: So where Surnow was wrong was in presuming that effective comedy tilts right or left, because the tilt of truly effective comedy, comedy that affects …

Beyond The Choir:: Climate scientists reaching beyond the choir & dropping the F-bomb VIDEO

reposted from BeyondTheChior A while back Chris Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science, offered some sound advice to climate scientists about “good climate communication”. Basically, if you’re a climate scientist who wants society to take your data seriously, you have to be something of a political scientist too. Mooney spotlights the Evangelical Climate …

The Importance of Stephen Colbert’s Bold and Subversive PAC

Stephen Hoban has written a great summary and the full story is on Splitsider. Here’s the beginning: On Wednesday night Stephen Colbert took on Comedy Central’s parent company Viacom, calling out their lawyers for trying to block his attempts to form a political action committee for the 2012 election. For the second time this year, …

SCA New York participants announced

The School for Creative Activism is excited to announce the participants of our 2011 workshop training in New York,NY. (this is a partial list) Amita Swadhin Amita Swadhin is dedicated to fighting interpersonal and institutional violence against young people. Her commitments stem from her experiences as a queer woman of color, a daughter of immigrants, …

200 years ago The Luddites used humor, spectacle, narrative, and myth

From The Right To Be Lazy. Ned Ludd was a fictitious leader. Costumes, jokes, and more. Here’s an excerpt: “The Luddites, as they soon became known, were dead serious about their protests. … But they were also making fun, dispatching officious-sounding letters that began, ‘Whereas by the Charter’…and ended ‘Ned Lud’s Office, Sherwood Forest.’ Invoking …

School For Artistic Activism: ”Re-Teaching” at the Super G

From Lee Walton’s site: School For Artistic Activism:  ”Re-Teaching” at the Super G Recently, Lee Walton and Donovan McKnight were invited to participate in a the School For Artistic Activism in Mebane, NC. Taught by Steve Lambert and Stephen Duncombe, this 3 day intensive was extremely informative. This month, Lee and Donovan will be re-presenting …