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Activists Vs. Artists 7/30/2004 9:10:38 PM
The recent Boston Social Forum causes me to reflect on the general contempt that the activist community displays towards the artists amongst them. Responses are welcome, either on the message board on this site or privately to thal.gis.net During the weekend before the Democratic National Convention hit town, UMass Boston hosted the Boston Social Forum, a coalition of activists and groups who met with the aim of assembling a progressive platform. I had seen posters and flyers for the Boston Social Forum around town for at least a month, and though my politics are what some might call "progressive", "liberal", or "leftist" I decided not to go. I simply have not the temperament for so much of what passes for activism: I do not like to attend meetings; and I am simply unwilling to examine an issue with any less complexity than it deserves, in the last few years I have become increasingly alienated by frequent anti-Semitic statements and either apologism or silence with regards to human rights abuses by Leninist-Stalinist-Maoist regimes.
At the same time, I have discovered a means of being politically involved that is authentic to my being. My experiences with Bread & Puppet, showed me ways that I can be political and artistic without compromising either my responsibilities as an artist or as political actor and I’ve felt that this has led to a very fruitful creative period both as a soloist and in collaboration with Cosmic Spelunker Theater. James and I have found outlets for our politics on the stages of places as diverse as Puppet Showplace Theater, The Zeitgeist Gallery, AS220, Artists at Large, and Green Street Studios and judging from both laughter and applause, the turn towards the explicitly political has elicited a stronger response than our previous efforts.
So what is my problem with the folk at the Boston Social Forum? Aren't we all on the same side, even if our tactics differ? Sometimes I wonder if that is the case. It was in June when I first saw the posters for the BSF while I was gigging at the Zeitgeist Gallery. I began to wonder who was behind the conference. As the evening had come to a close and I was packing my costume and makeup in preparation for my late night stroll back to Allston from Inman Square, a handful of activist types who hang about the gallery started talking about the BSF and began asking me if I was going. I expressed misgivings given how often I had gone to demonstrate against war or for civil rights and seen the message coopted by various Leninist organizations who have care nothing for peace or civil rights and asked questions.
One activist belittled my concerns whilst another activist, an otherwise friendly fellow who sometimes operates under the mistaken idea that I am the son of Abbie Hoffman (it is true that america Hoffman and I did look a lot a like circa 1996) complained that I had become apolitical., As this bunch only shows up after events are nearly over and mostly jabber on the sidewalk outside the gallery, making inquires for after hours parties, neither of them had bothered to see my performance which was clearly a piece of political theater.
So I heard little more about the Boston Social Forum until July 14th when I received a forwarded email about a call for artists for the event which was to begin on July 23rd. I checked the date of the original email and discovered that it had been forwarded on the same day of the initial send date-- July 14th. The forum had been in the planning stages for so many months, speakers had been arranged in advance, the posters had been printed sometime in June, yet no one thought to invite any artists to submit work until nine days before the Forum. I would have wanted to give the organizer the benefit of the doubt, but as somebody who subscribes to several listservs regarding the local arts and counter cultural communities, as well as moderating one, I found it hard to believe that I could miss something of this sort.
What it came down to was the general contempt that the activist community displays towards the artists amongst them. Activists have an important role in organizing demonstrations, collecting signatures, petitioning the powers that be, and sometimes even going to court. yet they have little interest in expanding their networks to include the very people amongst them who have special gifts for illustrating and interpreting the struggles in which they are engaged. Artists are so often invited to take part as an afterthought, expected to volunteer the fruits of their hardwork, and to tow a party line, while at the same time have their art considered a hobby or sign of bourgeoisie decadence.
Earlier in this blog, I recounted stories of my time volunteering with Bread & Puppet Theatre, and making notes of attempts by one group of activists to shake down the producer for free tickets to a show once the show was in progress, and by another activist to hide behind a B&P beggar mask in order to anonymously spy on another activists’conversation when Bread & Puppet participated in a demonstration, and yet another activist's attempt to dictate what sort of Bread Peter Schumann should serve his audiences when he prefers to serve a sourdough bread that he bakes every morning. Elsewhere I had recounted the process of creating the current Cosmic Spelunker Theater show, "Waltzing to War"-- which whether performed by James and myself in its entirety or in excerpts by myself, never fails to elicit strong reactions from audiences. In Bread & Puppet, we communicate a message to several hundred, if not a thousand or more, people every night. Either as a soloist or with Cosmic Spelunker, I have an audience ranging from a few dozen to a hundred and fifty people a night. My own work is very political, but can the activist community be bothered? No.
On July 22, the evening before the Boston Social Forum begins, I was performing as part of the New Works Concert at Green Street Studios. I was one of two male dancers in the entire concert and one of two male choreographers-- the only male choreographer performing his own composition. I have recounted the development of this piece “Wartime Mashup” elsewhere in this blogand decided to develop further as a dance piece. A few days before, I ran into a poet/activist of my acquaintance and handed him a postcard. The poet looked at the bill of featured choreographers and stated that he wished that more of these choreographers were participating in the Boston Social Forum. Then I mentioned when the call for artists had come out. He chuckled, "that's so typical."
"Waltzing to War" would have been perfect for the BSF, but the fact is that we couldn't throw together a performance on such short notice on a piece that we'd not performed in its entirety since April. Even if James could have taken the time off that week to rehearse with me that week, I had to rehearse for the New Works Concert-- a commitment I had made two months prior. I wasn't the only artist taking issue with being considered an afterthought by the activist community-- we're always an afterthought. The activists always want something from us without thought about what we need.
After the New Works Concert, an audience member, after complementing me, asked if "Wartime Mashup" would be performed again at the BSF. After a rant that could only be described as a rough draft of this entry, I mused "what if the artists decided to do a political show and decided not to invite the activist community?"
Why not? Artists can commemorate history, illustrate the present, and imagine futures in ways that activists often cannot, often times powerfully and memorably. Or maybe the activist community should just know that artists are amongst them and have so much to offer if included and not just added on as an extra after the agenda has been set.
