Here's where one of the battlefronts of Class Warfare lies: to even ACKNOWLEDGE that a guy who works as a construction worker might also be a highly developed intellectual capable of cutting edge cultural productivity might bring down the whole pretense that keeps this class society afloat: that the poor people are stupid & the ruling elites are where they are b/c the poor are too dumb to lead their own lives as we see fit.
Imagine my receiving my honorary degree from Hah-vard or Wesleyan or RIT now: "We grant this degree recognizing that despite everything built into this society designed to make you an obedient slave you went out & lived yr life as freely as you cd, bless ya!"
These same ruling elites know that there must be revolutionaries - they just want them to be THEIR BOYS & GIRLS - the college ones, the ones who buy their way into progressively higher levels of ruling elite status thru participation in the HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF BURNING. & I'll give you an example of that too:
In the early 2000s, a friend of mine noticed a graffiti robot at work out on the streets. He was excited & told me about it. I found out a little more & tried to contact the people behind it. I got a somewhat guarded email reply - perhaps one written by someone fearful of police problems. Of course, anyone in Pittsburgh wd pretty much figure that the person/people who made the robot were (a) CMU student(s). Carnegie-Mellon U's a rich institution where alotof robotics students are - many, of course, being groomed for remote-control killing to keep ye-olde state alive.
Of course, my friend & I were excited b/c here was robotics being used for subversive purposes. Cool. I published some videos from the IAA, the group who made the robot, & was appreciative of their work. Later, in 2004, I was invited to be a participant in the INFLUENCERS Festival in Barcelona & saw that the IAA wd be there & was happy to meet him/them. It seemed like it'd be a good event.
Alas, for me, it was a low point in my life. While there were plenty of great ideas represented, I felt like the "hactivist" culture I considered myself to be one of the founders of had finally turned into the latest European Art World Cutting-Edge-Way-To-Make-You-Mark-&-Become-A-Star! In other words, while on the surface it was sortof revolutionary, it was almost just as much a business conference. In other other words, it was what the Art World almost always is - a way of showing how clever you are so you can get yr dogggie treats & the pat on the head.
My presentation of the festival was the most hated. I didn't have a laptop (the only one? Rev Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping might not have). I was showing 'porn', it wasn't a flashy ad for the latest technology-that-will-improve-yr-life, & the audience was leaving in droves. This was not good for business! One of the organizers asked me to stop! Can you believe that shit?! I was so disgusted that when I was interviewed afterwards, I explained that I do what I do to keep myself from killing other people.
After my ill-rc'vd evening, the IAA guy was trying to console me. It was nice of him, I think I was basically a pariah to some of the other folks. Now, he's a nice guy & I like his work but I'd already seen a glossy full-color skater magazine w/ an article about the work SURROUNDED BY ADS - he'd already been turned into a way to sell products. I didn't want to tell him what I thought that meant about where his place on the food chain REALLY IS b/c, what the fuck, I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
The IAA guy & I are walking along in Barcelona w/ me ranting, as is so often the case, & I sd something like: "I don't belong here, I'm a construction worker!" What I meant was along the lines of: "I'm a guy who actually lives in the shitty world that the rest of you people just see from yr ivory tower - How can any of you ever really understand the ferocity of intelligence & perseverance it takes to both survive in that world AND produce the hactivist culture that I do? When you guys only work under completely spoiled conditions?"
[Actually, it's been many yrs now, thank the holy ceiling light, since I did construction work regularly - but I still do hard physical labor - just in the milder enviroment of museum shops.]
Now, I like this IAA guy but he says something to me like 'You can go to college!' giving me the usual empty-headed bright-boy comment that most of them subconsciously believe in: Join White-Bread Wonderworld & all will be good! Nah, I think not. Buying my way (or being acccepted thru scholarship as 'worthy') does not in any way solve the overall problems of class - it's just another version of Free Trade bringing "prosperity to everyone".
When I returned from Spain, I thought maybe I'd made some new friends, maybe the folks I'd been part of the festival w/ wd want to stay in touch, maybe collaborate. So I emailed Joey Skaggs. No reply. Rev Billy sent me CALLS FOR DONATIONS. I wrote back saying that I'd be happy to be friends but to please not send me advertising. The bulk emails from him stopped. Rev Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping wants YOU to buy HIS PRODUCTS.
The IAA guy & his buddy from the Carbon Defense League. Nope. The IAA guy & I maintained minimal contact - always at my instigation. I was surprised to learn that the CDL guy was even living in Pittsburgh - but he never answered my emails. My impression: "these old revolutionaries are of no use & even maybe a liability to my career advancement".
Now, an interesting thing about Spain: a woman I befriended there told me that there were many, many articles about the festival but that I was never mentioned in any of them. Why? She wondered. Her explanation, & I think that this was very astute of her, is b/c I was the only one who cdn't be pigeonholed.
The gist of what I'm getting at here is that Class Warfare in Culture, at least as I've practiced it my whole life, won't really reach a paradigm shift until it's finally realized on a much broader societal scale that the (most likely black) janitor in the fucking museum just might be alot smarter than the (most likely white) curators ever will be. Or might not. BUT DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT THEY'RE NOT.
Imagine my receiving my honorary degree from Hah-vard or Wesleyan or RIT now: "We grant this degree recognizing that despite everything built into this society designed to make you an obedient slave you went out & lived yr life as freely as you cd, bless ya!"
These same ruling elites know that there must be revolutionaries - they just want them to be THEIR BOYS & GIRLS - the college ones, the ones who buy their way into progressively higher levels of ruling elite status thru participation in the HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF BURNING. & I'll give you an example of that too:
In the early 2000s, a friend of mine noticed a graffiti robot at work out on the streets. He was excited & told me about it. I found out a little more & tried to contact the people behind it. I got a somewhat guarded email reply - perhaps one written by someone fearful of police problems. Of course, anyone in Pittsburgh wd pretty much figure that the person/people who made the robot were (a) CMU student(s). Carnegie-Mellon U's a rich institution where alotof robotics students are - many, of course, being groomed for remote-control killing to keep ye-olde state alive.
Of course, my friend & I were excited b/c here was robotics being used for subversive purposes. Cool. I published some videos from the IAA, the group who made the robot, & was appreciative of their work. Later, in 2004, I was invited to be a participant in the INFLUENCERS Festival in Barcelona & saw that the IAA wd be there & was happy to meet him/them. It seemed like it'd be a good event.
Alas, for me, it was a low point in my life. While there were plenty of great ideas represented, I felt like the "hactivist" culture I considered myself to be one of the founders of had finally turned into the latest European Art World Cutting-Edge-Way-To-Make-You-Mark-&-Become-A-Star! In other words, while on the surface it was sortof revolutionary, it was almost just as much a business conference. In other other words, it was what the Art World almost always is - a way of showing how clever you are so you can get yr dogggie treats & the pat on the head.
My presentation of the festival was the most hated. I didn't have a laptop (the only one? Rev Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping might not have). I was showing 'porn', it wasn't a flashy ad for the latest technology-that-will-improve-yr-life, & the audience was leaving in droves. This was not good for business! One of the organizers asked me to stop! Can you believe that shit?! I was so disgusted that when I was interviewed afterwards, I explained that I do what I do to keep myself from killing other people.
After my ill-rc'vd evening, the IAA guy was trying to console me. It was nice of him, I think I was basically a pariah to some of the other folks. Now, he's a nice guy & I like his work but I'd already seen a glossy full-color skater magazine w/ an article about the work SURROUNDED BY ADS - he'd already been turned into a way to sell products. I didn't want to tell him what I thought that meant about where his place on the food chain REALLY IS b/c, what the fuck, I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
The IAA guy & I are walking along in Barcelona w/ me ranting, as is so often the case, & I sd something like: "I don't belong here, I'm a construction worker!" What I meant was along the lines of: "I'm a guy who actually lives in the shitty world that the rest of you people just see from yr ivory tower - How can any of you ever really understand the ferocity of intelligence & perseverance it takes to both survive in that world AND produce the hactivist culture that I do? When you guys only work under completely spoiled conditions?"
[Actually, it's been many yrs now, thank the holy ceiling light, since I did construction work regularly - but I still do hard physical labor - just in the milder enviroment of museum shops.]
Now, I like this IAA guy but he says something to me like 'You can go to college!' giving me the usual empty-headed bright-boy comment that most of them subconsciously believe in: Join White-Bread Wonderworld & all will be good! Nah, I think not. Buying my way (or being acccepted thru scholarship as 'worthy') does not in any way solve the overall problems of class - it's just another version of Free Trade bringing "prosperity to everyone".
When I returned from Spain, I thought maybe I'd made some new friends, maybe the folks I'd been part of the festival w/ wd want to stay in touch, maybe collaborate. So I emailed Joey Skaggs. No reply. Rev Billy sent me CALLS FOR DONATIONS. I wrote back saying that I'd be happy to be friends but to please not send me advertising. The bulk emails from him stopped. Rev Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping wants YOU to buy HIS PRODUCTS.
The IAA guy & his buddy from the Carbon Defense League. Nope. The IAA guy & I maintained minimal contact - always at my instigation. I was surprised to learn that the CDL guy was even living in Pittsburgh - but he never answered my emails. My impression: "these old revolutionaries are of no use & even maybe a liability to my career advancement".
Now, an interesting thing about Spain: a woman I befriended there told me that there were many, many articles about the festival but that I was never mentioned in any of them. Why? She wondered. Her explanation, & I think that this was very astute of her, is b/c I was the only one who cdn't be pigeonholed.
The gist of what I'm getting at here is that Class Warfare in Culture, at least as I've practiced it my whole life, won't really reach a paradigm shift until it's finally realized on a much broader societal scale that the (most likely black) janitor in the fucking museum just might be alot smarter than the (most likely white) curators ever will be. Or might not. BUT DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT THEY'RE NOT.
- tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 22, 2008