CALLING ALL ARTISTS, NEW YORK: rally your political cause in Union Square

Previous “stationary” USSSA event: an artist-organized rally in LA (Pershing Square)

L to R: m. ryan noble, Christy Roberts, Heather O’Brien, Thinh Nguyen and Marjan Vayghan.  Photo by Jesse Booth

USSSA’s “no platform”

A Special Event of this year's Art in Odd Places

When: Sunday, Oct. 14^th & Monday, Oct. 15^th (both days 11:00-1:00pm)

Where: Union Square (14^th St. @ Broadway) in NYC

Deadline to apply: Tuesday, Oct. 9^th, 2012

no platform is an initiative of the USSSA.  “Art in Odd Places” and “Occupy Wall Street” are clear indicators that platforms for public opinion are increasingly rare.  This action is our response to the limited availability of public spaces and to the institutional censoring of political content.

Participating artists stand silently on the corners along 14^th Street.  In unison, the artists begin declaring their cause *while walking* to the next corner in 10-minute rotations.  This initiative demonstrates how artists may serve to be well-informed citizens, and that unfiltered public opinions are available through individuals on the street . . . even when spaces are inaccessible.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Email usssartists[at]gmail[dot]com

Include:

•  Your political cause (in 20 words or less)
• 1-3 videos or images (no less than 300dpi) of related work and a URL for us to promote your work on our social media pages.
• Any additional considerations for your proposed action (props, assistance, documentation, etc.) 
• Further discussion of identified risk/legality/ethics may be requested.
• Specify one (or both) Sunday and Monday.
• Rotations start promptly at 11:00am and run until 1:00pm, on both days.  Orientation starts at 10:00am on both days.
• Please write "no platform, NYC" in the subject header of your email.

We don’t want to see your resume

We don’t care where you went to school

We don’t care about who you know

We don’t care about how many shows you were in last year

We definitely don’t want your money

Let USSSA represent your cause!
We care that you are committed to your ideas and your actions.

We trust you to maintain and exceed your own standards of quality.

Map of positions and rotations along 14th Street.

HOW WILL THIS BE ORGANIZED?

Each artist is assigned to stand—silently—on one corner at a time (see map, above.)

Artists stand at their respective corners for 10 minutes of silence.  At each rotation (cues to be discussed) artists will walk to the next corner in a counterclockwise movement.

It is important to the defiance of permit issues that participating artists declare their cause *while walking*—messages may be verbal, performative, or a visual statement, depending on your preference/strength of media.

Themes are completely open to your discretion but please make the message clear to best educate the public.  Questions are welcome.

Please inform us if you require additional props or if your presentation poses any evident risk.

Each artist will be credited by name in the documentation of the rally in all future exhibitions, and in online video documentation.

Choose one, or both, Sunday and Monday.  Rotations start promptly at 11:00am and run until 1:00pm, on both days.  Please meet at Union Square at 10:00am for a briefing on safety and organized actions.

To meet everyone’s best interests, an email will be sent to all participating artists once all 24 spots are secured to best coordinate the actions.

For more information about this series of rallies taking place across the US (and other art-based initiatives of the USSSA campaign) please visit our blog.

To learn more about our 2013 exhibition and current artists, including Wafaa Bilal, Roxy Farhat, and Dread Scott, visit: http://www.facebook.com/USSSartists