The Occupy with Art blog provides updates on projects in progress, opinion articles about art-related issues and OWS, useful tools built by artists for the movement, new features on the website, and requests for assistance. To submit a post, contact us at occupationalartschool(at)gmail(dot)com .
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 04:12PM 
Sketch by Isaac Moylan
Debuting at Low Lives: Occupy, March 3!
Check back for details...
Mark Read, illuminator, low lives: occupy in coolest shit ever Friday, February 24, 2012 at 06:46PM
Updated on Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 04:10PM by
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(Concept sketch by Isaac Moylan)
[NOTE: Below is the BETA/Draft text for Mark Read's (99% Bat Signal) Illuminator project, which will debut at Low Lives: Occupy on March 3, 2012. The Illuminator promises to be one of the coolest things to emerge from OWS arts & culture, yet! Stay tuned for more exciting Illuminator updates from OwA. We will be creating a special section for Mark on our site soon.]
The Illuminator
Description and Mission Statement
By Mark Read
I am currently overseeing the design, fabrication, and deployment of The Illuminator, a mobile video projection system and library/info shop. Its primary function will be to serve as an outreach tool for Occupy Wall Street and the #occupy movement as a whole. I hope to shortly form an ad-hoc group comprised of representatives from various working groups that will ultimately decide how to use this powerful new tool. Working groups to be initially included on that Ad-Hoc committee will be Arts and Culture, Movement Building, Outreach, The People’s Library, Media, and PR. If other working groups feel they should be included they should let me know.
In design terms, The Illuminator is a modified Ford Econoline cargo van in which a video projector, soundsystem, and magazine racks have been installed. The projector and speakers rise out of the roof on a periscoping platform. The side doors of the van open up to create an infoshop alcove, with shelves or racks, mounted on the doors, and a bookshelf between the doors inside the van bolted to the van floor. The exterior of the van is un-modified so as to allow it to travel in “stealth mode.” When desired, large magnetic decals of the "99% bat signal" (white circle with 99% in the middle) are placed on the exterior of the van to announce its presence, and a banner can be attached to the outside. The Illuminator is, in essence, a shapeshifter and a transformer of public space. When it parks it becomes (1) a cinema, and (2) a library/infoshop.
Illuminator Cinema: The hatch opens, and a platform with a projector and speakers is raised. Instantly, a cinema setting is created.
Mark Read, illuminator, low lives: occupy in coolest shit ever