As world leaders prepare for their G8 summit photo op, a new network of art activists are touring the UK(19 May – 6 July), inspiring resistance with an exploding caravan, a free feast, prayers to products, a clown army and creative civil disobedience trainings.
The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination (Lab of ii) is a space for international and local artists and activists to experiment with new forms of cultural resistance, exploring the interstices between art, politics, creativity and protest. Part of the global movement for social and ecological justice, the Lab of ii believes in moving beyond traditional methods of protest (marches, riots and placards) to forms which emphasise pleasure, love and the subversive nature of play.
Amongst its assorted ranks for the tour will be the Church of the Immaculate Consumption, whose prayers to products are an ironic extension of the logic of shopping as a religious act, and the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA), who merge civil disobedience and the ancient art of clowning to mock the powerful and their very big tools.
In each of the 9 cities visited, this motley troupe will tumble out of an exploding solar powered caravan-cum-mobile information unit to present a fabulous, death defying free show featuring Dr Skip Tallahassee, artist activist the Vacuum Cleaner, a human cannon ball and CIRCA’s ridiculous recruitment drive… before serving an unusual feast to the audience.
As well as the show, there will be intensive two-day trainings in non-violent direct action and rebel clowning. "We will train you to be stupid," says General Confusion from CIRCA "polish up your ability to mock authority, help you discover your inner clown and let you taste our favourite tactical manoeuvres of ‘Fishing’ and ‘Socking’."
"The Lab of ii is a subversive cocktail of popular culture and radical politics and that’s the way we like it" says co-founder Lisa Blisset.
An All-Star collaboration of twisters, resisters, subverters, converters, cyclers, recyclers, street reclaimers, anarchists, artists, fartists, permaculturists and mystics, the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination will inspire you to rediscover the power of your imagination and join the resistance against the dictatorship of money.
"Ouch!" is all the human cannon ball will have to say.
To accompany the tour the DVD "13 experiments in Hope" has been produced by the Lab of ii
Websites for further information
Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination www.labofii.net/tour05
Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army www.clownarmy.org
Art activist The Vacuum Cleaner www.thevacuumcleaner.co.uk
High resolution photographs available from May 6th on www.labofii.net/tour05/pressphotos
Tour schedule
Bristol - May 20th - 22nd, with South Bank Arts and Performance Trail.
Show: Saturday 21st - 8pm - Tobacco Factory car park, Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol
London - May 27th - 29th with Queen Mary - University of London.
Show: Saturday 28th - 8pm - next to the Arts Pavilion, Mile End Park, Grove Road, London E2 (Entrance off Clinton Road, near Mile End Tube Station)
Birmingham - June 3rd -5th with Fierce Festival (tel: 0121 244 8084), The Real Monument Company and A2RT (Access 2 Recycled Technologies)
Show: Friday 3rd – 8pm – Birmingham City Centre
Sheffield - June 10th -12th with Peace in the Park Festival
Show: 8pm – Sheffield General Cemetery, Cemetery Avenue, Sheffield
Manchester - June 13th -14th with Northern Arts Tactical Offensive (N.A.T.O)
Show: Venue to be confirmed
Newcastle - June 17th -19th with Why Don't You Collective
Show: Venue to be confirmed
Aberdeen - June 21st - 22nd with Peacock Visual Arts
Show: Tuesday 21st - 8pm - Castlegate, Aberdeen, AB24
Glasgow - June 24th - 26th with Ya Basta
Show: Venue to be confirmed
Edinburgh - June 28th - July 5th with Reshape Edinburgh
Show: Venue to be confirmed
For trainings, book a place on
trainings@labofii.net (places are limited). Contacts: Isa (media liaison) 07984 158 108
isa@labofii.net / lab phone 07910 082 234 
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Comments
Hide the following 7 comments
ya basta........
10.05.2005 08:24
a point of clarity as to whom ya basta is, cos if it is the italian mob, then fuck right off.
they are a bunch of hierarchial marxist grasses.
though i might just be tempted to come along to throw some bricks and stones at the wankers.
however, if ya basta in this case is not the italian fukwits then please could you clarify as to whom they are and accept me apologies for abuse as uttered.
no body in particular
The revolution will not be…funded?!
10.05.2005 09:50
I suppose this is as good a place as any to ask questions about funding and activism and ultimately whether funding constrains the 'insurrectionary' nature of what you and others want to achieve.
For most people these creative initiatives that X over into activism appear to be DiY orientated. A group of people seem to get together organically to develop creative strategies to protest at political events when in reality for the most part they have careers in the creative industries. As I understand it CIRCA has been funded by the arts council and maybe other quangos. Is this tour funded in the same way? Where are the sources of money coming from and is any of it coming from corporate sources?
Which brings us onto the fact that although it’s not intentional on your part, but to a lot of people the fact that your projects are funded isn’t apparent at all and this sends out an unrealistic message that these things are DiY and anyone can do them, when in reality some people are paid for their time and the resources used. If the project is perceived as being successful then it’s also likely to stand a better chance of snow-balling more money and raising the funding profile of people involved and any partners associated with the project. Does this process compromise what you are trying to achieve as activists rather than artists? is there a conflict of interests?
Does this present any problems for you and other ‘art activists’ or is it necessary to get the message across?
DiY
the money normally comes from somewhere...
10.05.2005 16:55
As we are living in a capitalist society having access to money often makes things easier even revolutionary activities as they tend to involve the need to get certain resources that just can't be had through foraging
Either the money for this can come from doing large amount of beenfit gigs and running events that aim to raise money through donations, or they often come about through activists diverting some of their own funds gained through employment, or in some cases through money diverted from the state in the form of benefit payments.
An alternative approach is to spend some time writing funding bids to the arts council and use their money instead to fund the revolutionary activities.This is often quicker and easier than the above approach.
Its messy but it goes both ways.Often getting money in this fashion means the people involved then don't have to work every hour of the day thus freeing up time to do other revolutionary activities which arn't funded.Their voluntary and funded stuff thus overlap both ways. This is often the case so it could be seen as the state funding the overthrow of the state which is actually quite funny.
The other issue is if the art money is dirty money then are we to do an ethical test of people before they can participate? So presumably people who work for companies like banks, offices, construction companies, petrol stations, charities and NGOs that aim for reform rather than revolution can't take part because they are funded by corporations?
The main concern is to make sure that the stuff isn't being co-opted by corporations who often have unlimited funding. If events reach a larger audience than it might have and the money facilitates this then i'm all for it
If people want to know whether a project is funded or not look for a 'supported by Arts Council England' logo on websites and flyers
diy / artist /activist /paid /volunteer
Career activists and co-opting the movement
12.05.2005 08:39
Nice work if you can get it, but you haven’t really answered the questions above.
Are ya basta in Glasgow the same ya basta outlined in the first comment?
And where’s all the money coming from – can you give us the sources and an idea of how much this is all costing? Afteral there might be other 'revolutionary' art activists out there that might benefit from you sharing this and could learn how to jump through the same funding hoops as you.
And finally can you re-assure us that no corporations are linked to any of this, in the form of funding, sponsorship of the events or publicity? I’m sure for the most part people appreciate what you’re doing but they'd also appreciate some transparency.
“Either the money for this can come from doing large amount of beenfit gigs and running events that aim to raise money through donations, or they often come about through activists diverting some of their own funds gained through employment, or in some cases through money diverted from the state in the form of benefit payments.”
Well, believe it or not that’s what most of us do to fund ‘revolutionary activity’ – we raise money as transparently as we can to fund what we do. We don’t pander to quangos and corporations to raise money for activism and claim we’re being ‘revolutionary’! And yes most of us do have to work in the real world to sustain what we do as activists - we’re not using it to advance our careers or raise our funding profiles to get more money.
“so it could be seen as the state funding the overthrow of the state which is actually quite funny.”
Do you honestly believe that?!
In that case you might want to look at this:
"The “designated opposition” is a real problem in politics. The second that your cause or group gets recognition you are in danger of playing into the hands of the ruling powers. You become the proof that the system that you are criticizing essentially works. Audre Lorde said “The master’s tools cannot be used to dismantle the master’s house.” We think this is what she means, in part. If we play politics in the American system without a fundamental change in the system, we simply become the designated opposition, the favorite child, part of the system that those in power can point to and say, “See, the minority have their say. It’s just that the majority doesn’t want that. That’s democracy. It’s the best system we can have.”"
@ is for autonomy
Ya Basta: co-opted in the name of 'art activism'?!
12.05.2005 10:07
"Anti-Capitalist Symbols Hijacked for G8 2005 (J18 and Ya Basta!)"
@ is for autonomy
yawning
27.05.2005 11:52
someone
D'oh!
27.05.2005 19:33
It's not about not touching money and 'economic primitivism' it's about where you get your money from and how your 'contract' with a quango or a corporation affects what you do and how other people perceive what is possible and what is not. It's also about how this whole process is co-opting a movement and yours fucking truly is responsible.
Shurely you can get your over-sized head around that one?!
It's also about misappropriating the words DiY, insurrectionary, revolutionary and autonomy - since when has anything been DiY or autonomous when you have to apply for tens of thousands of pounds of funding from a self appointed quango like the arts council?
"Fall-out!"
go kiss quango arse, 'art-activist'!