Can Art Save Us from Bullshit? The Practice of Making Political Art that Works

In November of 2016, C4AA Co-Director Stephen Duncombe and School for Creative Activism alumnus Silas Harrebye were invited to Oslo Norway to do a presentation (with local actors!) at the National Theatre as part of the Public Calling conference. They later wrote up a version of this performance, sans actors, for Public Seminar, the web …

Affect and Effect: Artful Activism and Political Impact

As part of a collection of essays on The Democratic Public Sphere (edited by Henrik Kaare Nielsen, et al.) C4AA Co-Director Stephen Duncombe writes about the history of a protest as a performance, what this looks like in an age of global information flows, and the problems of protocols and interface between spectacular protests and …

No Longer Interested

In 2014, Center Co-Director Steve Lambert was asked to contribute to A Blade of Grass’ ‘Growing Dialogue‘, a series of practitioner-led articles and opinion pieces circling around questions of the affect and effect of art and social practice. Steve’s contribution was No Longer Interested, which you can read below… No Longer Interested I’ve worked to strike …

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY FOR ‘TRUTH IS CONCRETE’

In 2014, Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert were invited to write an introductory essay for “Truth is Concrete: A Handbook for Artistic Strategies in Real Politics“. It includes essays from, among many others: Andy Bichlbaum, Reverend Billy, Andrew Boyd, Tania Bruguera, Andrea Fraser, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Hans Haacke, John Jordan, Kalle Lasn, Leónidas Martín, Antanas Mockus, …

‘No One Wants To Watch A Drum Circle’ (and Something for the Letters Section of The Sun Magazine)

Back in 2011, Center Co-Director Steve Lambert wrote a short piece called “No One Wants to Watch a Drum Circle” for the Beautiful Trouble book (which you can read here). That piece was selected to be included in The Sun Magazine in 2014. After it was published, someone who didn’t like his criticism of drum …

And What Do I Do Now?

Center Co-Director Steve Lambert presented this talk at the Responsible Data Forum in January. We think it’s got a lot to say about how to turn data towards social goals so we thought we’d share it. USING DATA VISUALIZATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE Those who visualize data can be reluctant to sully themselves in the messy world …

Activist Art: Does it Work? — from OPEN! Journal

The first rule of guerilla warfare is to know the terrain and use it to your advantage. The topography on which the activist fights may no longer be the mountains of the Sierra Maestra or the jungles of Vietnam, but the lesson still applies. Today, the political landscape is one of signs and symbols, story …

School for Creative Activism, a project of the Center for Artistic Activism — Social Text

Overview The first rule of guerrilla warfare is to know the terrain and use it to your advantage. No longer does this require navigating the mountains of Cuba with a rifle on one’s back, as today’s political topography is one of symbols and signs, images and expressions. From small community organizations to international NGOs, the School …

Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy – free PDF

 Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy by CAA co-director Stephen Duncombe is now a  free pdf. Part analysis of popular culture, part how-to guide to creative activism, Stephen make a case for how activists can, and must use fantasy and spectacle in their work…and do it ethically.