ArtistBloc

We are artists and art workers of the 99%. We are struggling to survive and sustain our creative practice in an economy that does not value us as workers, that privatizes cultural institutions and that continuously defunds art programs—from public education to government grants. We are the workers of the 99% because we are scattered, divided by the competitive nature of capitalism – a systems we did not consent to. Most of us are in debt from privately owned art institutions which churn out hundreds of professionally trained (but ultimately unprepared for the economic disillusionment of the art world) cultural workers. The same issues of bancrupcy, the average poverty, lack of employment and of government funding affect us. It is time to join hands with working class people everywhere, to BE the movement and to envision a better world for all of us.

ArtistBloc



Join Arts & Labor for a GA tomorrow at 1pm under the Baldessari!

What does $100,000 Mean to You?

WHEN: TUESDAY DECEMBER 20th at 1pm

WHERE: 10th Ave & 18th Street (starting at street level) in front of
the $100,000 Billboard

WHAT: General Assembly and Photo Action
(Bring smartphones and cameras to participate!)

WHY: On December 2nd, The High Line unveiled "The First $100,000 I Ever Made," a 25-by-75 foot billboard created by artist John Baldessari. We, as members of Occupy Wall Street, ask: what is the history of the $100,000 bill and what does it mean to resurrect its image in our current moment of economic crisis? Who is this billboard speaking to? How does it speak to you? What does $100,000 mean today to workers and residents of Chelsea, along with all New Yorkers, as economic conditions continue to worsen for the 99%?



Occupy Wall Street Arts & Labor Teach-In with Andrew Hemingway, Gregory Sholette, and a special appearance from LOVE’s Purple Dinosaur December 4th, 1PM

Underground Theater, Abrons Art Center, Henry Street Settlement
 
The phenomenal growth of the Occupy movement in recent months has brought new momentum to longstanding discussions of the relationship between art, labor and capitalism. The teach-in will be a platform to discuss two important historical precedents to our current situation: artist-workers under the New Deal, the Federal Art Programs (1933-43), and the Art Workers Coalition (1969-1971). What are the connections, parallels, and differences between these three historical moments? As we organize in the present, what can we learn from the successes, failures, and unfinished projects of the past? In turn, how might contemporary developments help us to rethink established generational narratives?
 
In addition, we will be screening an action video from the feminist video collective LOVE (Lesbians Organized for Video Experience) featuring a big purple paper mache dinosaur that was wheeled into the streets and to the Museum of Natural History, in a protest demanding that feminists be hired, and that a non-patriarchal view of history be represented by the museum (1973).
 
This event is part of an ongoing series of educational initiatives and direct actions organized by the Occupy Wall Street Arts & Labor group.  
 

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