Cordelia Cembrowicz
Strategies of
Successful Contemporary Protest Art
The following is a transcript of a hypothetical television program
presented by Jeremy Paxman with six guest speakers. They discuss strategies
of successful contemporary protest art.
 Jeremy
Paxman: Good Evening and welcome to Newsnight’s April Review. My
guest speakers on the panel tonight are:
 Jessica
Palmer,
art critic and
tutor at the Slade:
 Christopher
Anderson,
anti-capitalist
activist and campaigner with Globalise Resistance:
 Graham Bates,
professional
cynic and journalist:
 A
feminist and anonymous member of the Guerrilla Girls and:
 Ursula
Maurittonni,
bank assistant
and a relatively new fan of contemporary art.
I’d like to approach this evening's discussion by comparing four case
studies chosen by the panel. Its important to recognise that these
are all examples of protest art made in the last 5 years. Lets start
with:
Santiago Sierra “The Displacement of a Cacerolada”
2002
 In
March 2002 following the collapse of the peso, which sent Argentina into
economic crisis The Argentinean government resorted to desperate measures
to try and stabilise the economy. They decided to freeze citizens’ bank
accounts to curb spending. The banks in Buenos Aires were boarded up with
corrugated iron to stop people withdrawing their money.
Sierra recorded
the sounds of people protesting in the streets, in a traditional protest
called ‘Cacerolada’. This mostly consists of people banging pots and
pans, and repeating chants. They also banged pots and pans against the
corrugated iron. He made 7000 copies of the CD and posted them to
different art galleries around the world; to London, Frankfurt, New York,
Vienna and Geneva.
"To participate
in the project," said the CD sleeve
(in both
Spanish and English), "put your speakers in your window, turn your
stereo up to full blast and play the whole CD at the following local times:
London 4pm, Frankfurt Geneva and Vienna 5pm, New York 11 am. At that time,
the CD was also broadcast on local radio in central London by Resonance
FM."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,809796,00.html
November 2005
CD cover from “Displacement
of a Cacerolada”
www.felixtrust.com November 2005
 Let’s
listen to an excerpt from the CD at
http://www.felixtrust.com/sierra2.htm November 2005
GROUP LISTEN TO CD EXTRACT FOR 30 SECONDS
 The
sound made by pots and pans being banged against corrugated iron is very
loud. The repetition of individual thuds forms a rhythmical beat. Not
everybody has the same rhythmical ability, or choose to bang elaborate
rhythms. Some pots solidly thud the base, some thud more complicated
rhythms on top and some are completely out of time.
I quote the guardian web site at http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,809796,00.html
“A worker at the South London Gallery said: "We did this, and the sound of
all these pans was blaring out across the Peckham Road, but nobody
complained. The sounds of Buenos Aires demonstrating against global
capitalist policies didn't seem to upset anyone."”
 If
there is nothing to look at, why did the art galleries participate in the
project?
Sierra
is an internationally eminent artist. Playing the CD enables the
galleries to be a part of a big event, like other perhaps more prestigious
galleries. It’s almost like a branding strategy that Sierra has adopted
in the mass production of the CD. It was explained to all of the
galleries that the CD had been sent to 7000 galleries across the world.
Perhaps this gave the galleries more incentive to participate, in the same
way that it is nice to watch an international blockbuster film, or wear
the same brand of shoes as millions of other people all over the world.
Yes...
It relates a lot to branding in my mind as well. There is definitely
something to be said for tapping into a communal psyche. Owning the same
products as superstars, colleagues or friends makes people feel more
connected to certain aspects of the world.
As
the CD was given to 7000 different art galleries there was the possibility
of 7000 groups of people listening to the CD at the same time.
Listening
to the CD is an opportunity for the audience to contemplate the situation
of the protest and to contemplate their personal reaction to hearing the
protest, which took place six months previously that year. How apathetic
would ‘one’ have felt, on hearing the passionate outrage of people in
another country?
"I think
boredom is very close to anger." Santiago explains. "But part of what I am
doing is to deprive people of spectacle. There are enough of those in the
world and they are just a distraction. Frustration, boredom and anger are
much more interesting reactions to produce."
Sierra
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,809796,00.html
November 2005
The
case study that I would like to present is:
Gianni Motti
and Christoph Buchel “Guantanamo Initiative”
2005
I’ll read an
extract from the explanation given by the artists.
“In response to
the illegality of the U.S Government’s lease on the land at Guantanamo
Bay, currently used as a U.S Naval base and penal colony, Christoph Buchel
and Gianni Motti collaborate with La Biennale di Venezia to officially
request a new lease from the Cuban government on said land. Further, the
Guantanamo Initiative seeks to transform this contentious land from a
military base into a cultural base.”
“In addition to
displaying treaties and documents that expose the illegitimacy of the U.S.
lease contract imposed on Cuba in 1903, the exhibition at the Arsenale
presents 47 annual rent checks issued by the United States to the Cuban
Government since 1959 – all of which the Republic of Cuba has refused to
cash. The exhibition of uncashed U.S. treasury checks exists in
anticipation of a museum that the Cuban Government plans to build for
these cheques when the land at Guantanamo Bay is finally restored to
Cuba.”
Buchel and
Motti July 2005
“Guantanamo Initiative”
at Maccarone
www.artnet.com January 2006
Its
important to consider who the all of the different groups of people
involved are, isn’t it?
 Yes.
In a sense, everybody who interacts/participates in the piece is a
different kind of audience. The spectators at the Biennale and at the
previous shows in Paris and Miami are not the only people involved.
 So
it’s not just about the gallery visitors then?
No.
Everyone involved has a different role to play. There is the U.S.
Government, who is receiving lobbying / pressure to end the lease. There
are the members of the Cuban Government and Cuban society, who are
receiving international media attention….. Then there are the members of
the Venice Biennale who participated in the project. Motti and Buchel’s
awareness of the impact that the art world can have has made this very
effective.
“The
United States is currently using Guantanamo Bay as an internment and
detention center for “unlawful enemy combatants”. The naval Base has
already been used for the custody of political detainees and refugees.
This contradicts the original lease, which provided for the establishment
of “coaling or naval stations only and for no other purpose.”
Motti and
Buchel July 2005
By
making the proposal for the change of land use very publicly, the artists
put the government in the public spotlight. I’m sure this is not
appreciated very much by the U.S.
One
of the nice things about this project is that it is so peaceful. The
artists have suggested a way of getting the land back to its rightful
owners in a way that does not involve any violence, aggression or money
from the Cuban government.
Yes.
The international media attention brought on by the campaign is probably
viewed as a positive attribute by the Cuban government as well.
And
it’s nice that the Initiative is using the Venice Biennale as a means to
educate people. It is quite astounding to think of the harsh injustice of
the reality of what is happening in Cuba. It’s as if the artists are
saying “Never mind looking at inconsequential artwork, look at what is
happening in the real world! This is far more important for us to think
about.”
Let’s
move on to my selection;
“Land Mark”
Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla
2003
Landmark:
Footprint. 2001-2002 Allora & Calzadilla. Digital photograph in colour.
Documentation of performance. Series of 12 pieces: 50.8 x 61 cm each.
galeria.universia.pr
The
artwork consists of a collection of photographs that document a
participatory performance event on the island of Vieques in March 2003.
The artists worked in collaboration with local residents and protestors of
the island to create the project. Protestors were campaigning to end the
U.S Military occupation of the island. The U.S bought the land from the
Puerto Rican government in the 1940s and had been using the island to test
bombs and other weaponry.
So
who are the different audiences?
Allora
and Calzadilla are aware of the difference in viewpoint that each group of
people, each audience has.
“This work had various moments of reception. Our public audience, we
thought, would be the military, or perhaps even the people who are
protesting. But there are also those who see our photographs, which don’t
function merely as representations of the action.”
Hans-Ulrich
Obrist, March 2005
So
let’s talk about the US Military.
The
military would see the foot prints on the beach as a physical contest to
the ownership of the space. If entering the beach is classed as civil
disobedience, leaving a mark behind which actually causes no long term
damage or pollution is a cunning act of defiance.
Knowing
that their actions were being watched may have made them think to behave
more decently.
As
the trespassing was executed as a work of art, the military would have
been made aware of the possibility of the international art world
watching.
The
Protestors must have seen the project in a very different way.
Yes.
It can be said that the artwork has much to offer the protestors. Making
their own footprints was a peaceful intellectual form of expression. The
performance offers the protestors something far more noble than the
traditional forms of retaliation to counteract the intimidating military
occupation. Although the project involves breaking the law, it isn’t
violent or aggressive.
“Each person’s body weight created a unique image in the sand as they
walked or ran;… The different physical positions of the footsteps also
represent ideological positions: one person’s message says this should be
a nature reserve; someone else wants to build a gigantic mall.”
Hans-Ulrich
Obrist March 2005
So
it also gave the protestors the opportunity to consider their own
intentions.
For
many uncreative people, like myself (!) considering that a footprint could
represent their ideology is quite a novel idea.
It
must have been quite empowering as well, to have known that their actions
were being broadcast in the international art world.
The
people who come across the photographs all across the world are another
kind of audience, aren’t they?
Yes.
The photographs are interesting compositions in themselves. They are not
purely documentation of the performance, but act as an artistic expression
of the event. Most images are close up views of the footprints in the
sand, whereby you can see the detail of the imprints from the soles of the
shoes.
Perhaps
they also question our concept of beauty. Imprints left after the defiant
action of activists against an illegal authority seems really beautiful to
me, but I know that they wouldn’t seem as beautiful if I didn’t understand
the reason for their creation.
Yes…
If I didn’t know the history behind these images they wouldn’t ignite my
sense of compassion and make me go banging on the doors of the
Whitehouse!
 Yes
there is a problem with the photographs. It is possible that the sign can
become detached from the signified when the image made is aesthetically
pleasing. I mean that the image can be used in another context and the
political connotations can be lost. I recommend reading “Myths Today” by
Roland Barthes to anyone who is interested.
You should be pleased to hear that on May 1st 2003 the military
presence ended on the island and the bombing stopped. We cannot tell
whether or not this was a direct result of the performance, there was a
massive campaign as well. Isn’t it fantastic?
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May 1st.,
2003 pictures from Vieques, Puerto Rico. |
Do
the artists think the work is successful?
Yes.
The artists are pleased with the outcome of the protest, as the military
occupation has ended.
“To some extent
there is success in the activity…. In dematerialising the island to the
extent that the military are no longer bombing that area and the munitions
areas have been certified empty, but there is still so many serious
problems and the legacy that it left behind in terms of waste and other
contamination, health problems for example.”
Jennifer Allora,
Interview
www.thersa.org./arts/acrobat November 2005
One
of my favourite anti-consumerist art works of the last decade – and one of
only a few made in the UK - is the piece entitled
“Break Down” Michael Landy
2001
former C&A store at Marble
Arch, 499 – 523 Oxford Street, London W1
“Break Down”, our last case-study, consists of a two week performance in
which Landy systematically classified all of his personal possessions and
then destroyed them with a team of workers. Information about the
possessions was entered onto a database; then the objects were labelled
and bagged before being destroyed.
 The
piece isn’t criticising capitalism exactly, but more centred around issues
of consumerism and waste.
“People will read it like that (an attack on consumerism), and – well- it
is an attack. But it’s an inverted attack because it’s an assault on me.
It’s trying to ask: what is it that makes consumerism the strongest
ideology of our time?”
www.courtauld.ac.uk/people/stallabrass_julian/essays/Landy.pdf
Why
is he being so coy?
I
don’t know. Perhaps it prevents him being fobbed off as a loony-bin
hippy. He is still a part of a consumerist society. He can’t be called a
hypocrite when he buys loads of new stuff.
 So
there is more to protest art than making banners for demonstrations.
 With
the coming of new artistic movements the modernist tradition of artist
acting as an autonomous individual has been called into question and
superseded. There is plenty of room for artistic protest, be it in the
gallery, in the street or on the beach.
If
we had more time I’d like to discuss “The Society of the Spectacle” by Guy
Debord; aspects of our neo-liberalist capitalist society and how the art
world fits in. I’d also like us to discuss the writing of Judith Butler,
and the theory of Performativity. It would also be good to quickly talk
about feminism, the Guerilla Girls and Banksy but unfortunately we are
running out of time.
Back to our
original topic of conversation – Success. Success it seems, is a relative
entity. Success depends entirely on the context in which the work is
placed and on the aims of the artists.
If
I may, I’d like to finish the debate with a quote from Susan Sontag:
"Compassion
is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action or it
withers. The question is what to do with the feelings that have been
aroused, the knowledge that has been communicated. People don't become
inured to what they are shown—if that's the right way to describe what
happens—because of the quantity of images dumped on them. It is passivity
that dulls feelings."
Sontag,
2003
Jessica
Palmer, Christopher Anderson, Ursula Maurittonni, Ms. Guerrilla Girl and
Grayham Battes thank you for joining us tonight; and to everybody watching
thank you and good night.
nb This is an
abridged version of the original essay which will be archived soon
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