Intervention at #OccupyOakland

Liesa Lietzke performed an intervention during #OccupyOakland:

"I started this work by pondering how to fit sculpture to the topography of Frank Ogawa Plaza, the city center of Oakland. My purpose, as always, was an aesthetic intervention that introduced playful absurdity into the everyday setting. When I heard that #OccupyOakland was going to happen in the plaza, I thought how much more fun it would be to install the work as a launch for the Oakland Occupennial (The first occupennial was organized by #OccupyWallStreet--the word references biennial art fairs). Being a lone rogue artist is, after all, a tired trope.

I installed the work before the first event on 10/10 and watched as people gathered over the course of the afternoon to fill the plaza, the space itself renamed by a large banner reading "Welcome to Oscar Grant Plaza--on Ohlone land."

The work was completed by people's participation. Some examined and squeezed the sculptures. One piece was labeled with a sign reading "Octopi Oakland." Looking at the same multi-legged piece, another occupier commented, "I don't get it. Is it making the point that suits are dicks?""