We are not surprised. 

We are not surprised.

We are artists, arts administrators, assistants, curators, directors, editors, educators, gallerists, interns, scholars, students, writers, and more—workers of the art world—and we have been groped, undermined, harassed, infantilized, scorned, threatened, and intimidated by those in positions of power who control access to resources and opportunities. We have held our tongues, threatened by power wielded over us and promises of institutional access and career advancement.

• politics,
• culture,
• art,
• sexual harassment

Special "Merseyside editions" of The S*n appear in Liverpool newsagents: The Truth - We Lied 

A spoof edition of The S*n tabloid newspaper has started to appear at Liverpool news agents, following the Sun's refusal to mention the Hillsborough inquest verdicts on its front page, and the infamous 'The Truth' front page on April 19, 1989, containing false accusations towards Liverpool fans. In parallel a nation wide campaign has started refusing free World Cup promotion editions of The Sun across the UK.

• activism,
• spoof,
• culture jamming,
• news

New Ad Campaign Explains Drones to Skeptical American Public 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2013 - San Francisco, California
The California Department of Corrections (CDC) has unveiled a new series of advertisements to defend America's drone policy amidst mounting public scrutiny from lawmakers and human rights groups.  
On Election Day, November 5, 2013 the CDC successfully apprehended, rehabilitated and discharged over a dozen bus shelter advertisements in San Francisco, including the intersection of Market and 7th Street, one block from the Federal Building.

• war,
• public space,
• culture jamming,
• billboard improvement,
• drone

Cartography of Excess 

Utopian ideas - like "Spaceship Earth" - are round, multidimensional, interrelated: their archetypal map is the Milky Way, the infinite constellations. But rational thinking is instrumental, linear, it distorts: and that's exactly the problem with the Mercator map, the most common world projection. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, created a "Dymaxion map" to undo those distortions. First the earth becomes a geometric figure, an isocahedron: its 20 triangles are then disjointed and laid flat, so the land masses radiate from a nexus in the north, without splitting continents or enlarging the polar regions.

• art,
• cartography,
• infopolitics,
• theory,
• info-activism

Civil Networking in a Hostile Environment: Experiences in the Former Yugoslavia 

Methods of media resistance - the example of Radio B2-92

Veran Matic, editor-in-chief of the famous Radio B92, Belgrade, and chairman of the ANEM federation of independent broadcasters in Serbia and Montenegro, discusses some of the methods employed by his organisation in the tumultuous environment of the former Yugolslavia.

Utopian Promises-Net Realities 

The need for net criticism certainly is a matter of overwhelming urgency. While a number of critics have approached the new world of computerized communications with a healthy amount of skepticism, their message has been lost in the noise and spectacle of corporate hype-the unstoppable tidal wave of seduction has enveloped so many in its dynamic utopian beauty that little time for careful reflection is left. Indeed, a glimpse of a possibility for a better future may be contained in the new techno-apparatus, and perhaps it is best to acknowledge these possibilities here in the beginning, since Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) has no desire to take the position of the neoluddites who believe that the techno-apparatus should be rejected outright, if not destroyed. To be sure, computerized communications offer the possibility for the enhanced storage, retrieval, and exchange of information for those who have access to the necessary hardware, software, and technical skills. In turn, this increases the possibility for greater access to vital information, faster exchange of information, enhanced distribution of information, and cross cultural artistic and critical collaborations. The potential humanitarian benefits of electronic systems are undeniable; however, CAE questions whether the electronic apparatus is being used for these purposes in the representative case, much as we question the political policies which guide the net's development and accessibility.

• art,
• network cultures,
• net.activism,
• net criticism

Media Darkness 

Reflections on Public Space, Light and Conflict

There is an unshakable belief in the idea that what defines the mass media is that they produce or constitute, in all their different ways, a public. So while there is agreement on the fact that not every public sphere is a communication medium, many people tend to think that every communication medium constitutes a public sphere - the most recent and prominent candidate being, of course, the Internet. But is this claim as to the public quality of all media, hegemonic as it may be today, really tenable?

• public space,
• political science,
• media criticism

Contestational Robotics 

Keywords: robots / contestation / public space / expression management

• contestational robotics,
• public space,
• expression management

Die Informationsbombe 

Ausgestrahlt im Deutsch-Franzoesischen Kulturkanal ARTE November 1995.


In den fuenfziger Jahren hat Albert Einstein gesagt, dass wir es mitdrei Bomben zu tun haetten. Die erste, die Atombombe, sei bereitsgezuendet. Die zweite sei die Informatikbombe; die dritte, dieBevoelkerungsbombe, werde im 21. Jahrhundert explodieren. Gegenwaertigexplodiert die Informatikbombe. Neue Technologien, insbesondere dieMoeglichenkeiten zur Schaffung virtueller Welten, veraendern Kultur,Politik und Gesellschaft grundlegend. Zu diesem Thema diskutieren heuteabend im Gespraech der Stadtplaner und Philosoph Paul Virilio undFriedrich Kittler, Medienspezialist an der Humboldt Universitaet inBerlin.

• infopolitics,
• informatiom bomb

Bank of America still not yours... yet. 

April 19, 2012 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ON-THE-BRINK BANK STILL NOT YOURS (YET)
Dow Jones posts fake release for two hours; bank gets fake website blacklisted, briefly

Bank of America executives, investors, and opponents alike reacted with surprise to yesterday's news - posted for two hours on Dow Jones Newswire and elsewhere - that the mammoth financial institution, realizing it was heading for a taxpayer bailout, was asking Americans to start thinking about what they'll do with the bank once they own it, and to start advertising that vision too.

• activism,
• The Yesmen,
• culture jamming,
• yeslab

A Movement Without Demands? 

In this essay, we claim that far from being a strength, the lack of demands reflects the weak ideological core of the movement. We also claim that demands should not be approached tactically but strategically, that is, they should be grounded in a long-term view of the political goals of the movement, a view that is currently lacking. Accordingly, in the second part of this text, we argue that this strategic view should be grounded in a politics of the commons. Before addressing the politics of the commons, however, we dispel three common objections that are raised against demands during general assemblies, meetings, and conversations people have about the Occupy movement.

• politics,
• public space,
• public domain,
• occupy

Parasitic Media 

By Nathan M Martin for The Carbon Defense League, September 2002
A parasite is defined as ?an organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.? The tactics of appropriation have been co-opted. Illegal action has become advertisement. Protest has become cliché. Revolt has become passé. These disputes have reached the definition of rhetoric. They are the usual suspects. Having accepted these failures to some degree, we can now attempt to define a parasitic tactical response. We need a practice that allows invisible subversion. We need to feed and grow inside existing communication systems while contributing nothing to their survival; we need to become parasites. We need to create an anthem for the bottom feeders and leeches. We need to echo our voice through all the wires we can tap but cloak our identity in the world of non-evidence, and the hidden.

In solidarity with Library Genesis and Sci-Hub 

In Antoine de Saint Exupéry's tale the Little Prince meets a businessman who accumulates stars with the sole purpose of being able to buy more stars. The Little Prince is perplexed. He owns only a flower, which he waters every day. Three volcanoes, which he cleans every week. "It is of some use to my volcanoes, and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them," he says, "but you are of no use to the stars that you own".

• infopolitics,
• copyleft,
• info-activism,
• copyright,
• free culture,
• intellectual property,
• digital commons

The Internet Freedom Fallacy and Arab Digital Activism 

This article focuses on grassroots digital activism in the Arab world and the risks of what seems to be an inevitable collusion with U.S foreign policy and interests. It sums up the most important elements of the conversation I have been having for the last two years with many actors involved in defending online free speech and the use of technology for social and political change. While the main focus is Arab digital activism, I have made sure to include similar concerns raised by activists and online free speech advocates from other parts of the world, such as China, Thailand, and Iran.

• infopolitics,
• info-activism,
• middle east,
• blogosphere

Fix the World Challenge - Frequently Asked Questions 

How do I get started?
How does this work?
How can I become an excellent actor?
Can I get in trouble for this stuff?
Can I at lest be fined?
How do I videotape?
How can I go to a conference?
How can I speak at a conference?
How can I make a fake newspaper?
How can I hijack a Twitter backchannel?

• The Yesmen,
• identity correction,
• culture jamming