For more information and to order, go to http://www.qualityoflife-themovie.com/
Also available on Netflix under the title "Against the Wall"
from La Nuit Remue, Editions Gallimard,1967 Image: Jean Dubuffet
"Monsieur Plume plis au pantalon" (Portrait d'Henri Michaux),1947 - Collection Tate Gallery London
Dans le chant de ma colère il y a un oeuf,
Et dans cet oeuf il y a ma mère, mon père et
mes enfants,
Et dans ce tout il y a joie et tristesse mêlées, et
vie.
Grosses tempêtes qui m'avez secouru,
Beau soleil qui m'as contrecarré,
Il y a haine en moi, forte et de date ancienne,
Et pour la beauté on verra plus tard.
Je ne suis, en effet, devenu dur que par lamelles;
Si l'on savait comme je suis resté moelleux au
fond.
Je suis gong et ouate et chant neigeux,
Je le dis et j'en suis sûr.
Armand Lestard lives and works in France.
"Wrecked doors are a part of a vast network of unchecked layers of anarchy which are now being forced off of good spots and into the asscrack fringes of culture. In them sometimes, we witness a multi-layered collaboration of dozens of different human beings." - KAI1
In City Council today they won 38 – 11. But we didn’t lose.
We’ve galvanized Chicago artists, the Chicago art community and a lot of the public. This is a wake up call. In just 4 days of efforts we went from perhaps 2 alderman supporting our efforts to 11 who stood up to be counted and say they think something is wrong with how Chicago is addressing Public Art. That’s a very significant accomplishment.
The Department of Cultural Affairs has a lot of work to do to gain the confidence of their constituency. It is possible for them to use the passage of their ordinance as a genesis for a much better working procedure than the one they had previously. Let’s encourage them to do that. Since they no longer have Public Art Panels they can now post complete and thorough information about forthcoming commissions on their website. We should ask for that until it happens with regularity.
It is obvious that we made a big difference. My message to you is to not give up. Stay involved. Get to know your alderman. Watch what goes on in art and in government and in art in government. Demand what you know is right. Don’t be timid.
We’re beginning to get national attention.
Think about how to parlay what we’ve been working on together for the past few days into what is good for you and your art in this City and beyond.
Think about what the Department of Cultural Affairs has to do to make you proud of them. Let’s see that they do that. They are capable.
Thank you,
Paul Klein
6/12/07
Folks,
The press has been great and your efforts have been too. But here’s what I learned today:
Because the Department of Cultural Affairs proposed ordinance to “streamline” the commissioning process was introduced by the Mayor, the vast majority of the Aldermen will defer to him. Sure, we all wrote our alderman and all of us art types live in about 12 of the City’s 50 wards. The other Aldermen are not getting the message.
What I was told is that before the City Council meeting is called to order a number of Aldermen will approach the Mayor and ask him what he wants and he either says he doesn’t care or tells them he wants the ordinance passed. Either way we probably lose. Look at the math of the previous paragraph.
In fact, there is really only one way we have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning and that is if we get another turnout of 200 or more people at City Hall, 10 AM Wednesday morning. We then become a sufficient critical mass that we can overwhelm the odds. As Kevin Nance said in the Sun-Times: Two hundred people in Daley Plaza is one thing. Two hundred people in the City Council chambers at 10 a.m. Wednesday would be another.”
And if we do that, then we can work at creating a truly workable ordinance that not only let’s (makes) the Department of Cultural Affairs serve the citizens of Chicago (and you) and do a great job, but protects the public and our taxpayer dollars too.
We have a slim chance of succeeding. It depends on YOU, and you includes the artists who didn’t show up for fear of repercussions – the threat of not having a Cultural Center exhibition or the threat of not getting a DCA commission. That might be a legitimate threat if only 1 or 2 of you show up, but if the number is 25 or 50 more artists who might fall into that threatened category you know the DCA is not going to cancel their whole exhibition schedule and wipe out all those who would or should get a commission.
You are in control of your future. Show up and actively participate in making your future better, or stay home, be passive and have no one to blame but yourself.
Your future is in your hands, and your feet.
I’m on your side, but I can’t do it without you.
I’ll be there early,
Paul Klein
Thank you to all of you who attended a very successful rally yesterday. Thank you to each of you who have written your Aldermen and/or the Mayor. And thank you to Alderman Manny Flores who stood tall and proud in support of Chicago art and artists.
There is an impressive article by Kevin Nance in this morning’s Sun-Times, with some large color photos in the printed edition.
“They say the public will be consulted through neighborhood forums, but they no longer want to give the public a vote," said Allison Stites, director of Wicker Park's Around the Coyote arts festival. "They want to be able to ignore us if they don't agree with what we say."
The Chicago Tribune printed and insightful editorial in today’s paper.
“The City Council should reject the proposed ordinance and move instead to revise the Public Art Committee.”
We’ve accomplished an incredible amount in just 5 days. And of course, there’s more to do. If you haven’t already done so, please contact your alderman. As Kevin Nance suggested in his article, attending the City Council meeting Wednesday morning at 10 AM will make a big difference.
Let me be clear about what I want. I believe the Department of Cultural Affairs does a good job for us, the citizens of Chicago. I believe good people work there, with good intentions. Yet I’m afraid the proposed ordinance provides a recipe for matters to get worse. I believe the DCA could do a better job. I think they could be great
* if they could and would post thorough information about upcoming commissions on their website
* if they would allow artists to specifically apply for specific commissions (instead of having to submit to the DCA database)
* had enough public involvement to safeguard the public interest and protect against abuse
I would love to see the proposed ordinance set aside and City Council to wisely say: “Let’s get the two sides together in a room and leave them there until they reach an agreement about an ordinance that they can all endorse.” Heck, if the meeting started at 9 AM I’d bet we’d have a consensus by noon.
Do you think there’s enough wisdom in town to make this happen?
Thank you very much,
Paul Klein
I had been in New York for only a couple of weeks and after riding the Greyhound bus in with the rest of the degenerate, broke, and sick masses out from the West coast, the plane ride from SF to JFK was a lot quicker and cleaner than the bus trip from Tucson to California but lacked soul and intrigue. There was no one on the plane to tell me stories about being freshly released from prison for multiple DUIs while drinking a fifth of cheap peppermint schnapps and thumbing through pages of amazing prison art (one of my favorite types of art). The graffiti in NY is an altogether different animal as well. In San Francisco the streets are wrecked pretty badly but no where near the scale of New York. New York has blocks and blocks of pure gut wrenching holy inspirational complete destruction. Tags and fill-ins are living everywhere and the pretty shit is for the most part left for the toys and the old-timers to contemplate. The climate is savage and honest but lacks a certain massiveness which I expected.
Growing up as a little kid in a town so far away from one of the birthplaces of graffiti there wasn't much for us to learn from, only the older guys who were all biting either NY or LA style. The first document to come out for us toys to study was the book Subway Art, which dropped in around 1982 the same time as Style Wars. After that, the nooks and crannies of the world would study these as there was no other OG foundation for learning about style. I studied style pretty much during all waking hours for a good 5 plus years. Many on the outskirts did not really get to learn about graffiti in a true way. This can be witnessed in the plethora of writers who can’t tag, but only piece.
I missed seeing multicolored illegal pieces on the streets in hot spots. Perhaps the graffiti produced on each coast reflects ethos that the kids in each particular scene represent. A lot of the kids slaying in SF are “lil goon scenester rich kids” with hairdos, outfits, and drug problems. Most of the writers in New York are street kids who have been raised fluent in the true language of graffiti: raw destruction i.e. tagging. While the absolutely prolific proliferation of tags and bombs is quite a feast to take in it still left me yearning for a throwback to the OG subway days in which super detailed time consuming pieces existed in mass abundance. All of the pieces that I witnessed in NY were either legal or were spots by the usual names from out West. This is not meant to disrespect New York writers. Far from it, it is more of a compliment to them. These cats are so wrapped up in all out destruction and surface saturation that they can’t be bothered with fucking around and piecing. But still I was fiending to see some real live illegal burners and luckily I was able to do this by buying a twelve dollar train ticket to New Jersey.
Not having enough loot to make it out to Europe where some subways still run untouched, me and my homie who had made the cross country trek from the Southwest, headed out from Penn Station on a cold dismal morning. Even though I had only been in the city a few weeks it was already good to get out of its cramped confines for a minute as we took the train into what the locals would later call “the armpit of America.” For a state with such a derogatory alias it has the most spectacular array of graffiti running of anyplace that I’ve been to. As soon as we crossed over the trackside pieces began to pop up and our faces were glued to the windows. I prayed that the train would be delayed and have to slow down, giving me time to whip out my camera and photograph some of the rarer gems. But perhaps I witnessed these small miracles in the way they are intended to be seen: whizzing by so fast that they can’t be captured by photography but are forever burned into my psyche.
We were seeing so many spots by the late graffiti legend Nace. Many of his spots were so clean that they looked like they could have been painted last night even though he had passed away years ago. We rode past miles and miles of wrecked tracksides and witnessed miles and miles of the finest graffiti out, and we hadn’t even got to see anything on the freeways yet. In the graffiti scene Jersey is known for their monumental destruction of freeways. Not just destruction in the sense of millions of bombs and tags, but pieces more intricate and complex than you’re apt to find on a permission wall. Jersey is definitely known for their freeways and we wanted to ride around and peep ‘em.
Luckily the homie had linked us up with some kids from out there so we weren’t left to wander the massive sprawl alone. After taking the train a few stops deep in the state we got off and were met at train station by a local cat. I was expecting him to be a stereotypical Jersey Shore type sleaze bag complete with heavy accent and backwards Kangol hat but he is probably one of the most humble and respectable dudes that I have ever meet in or out of graffiti. Much to my dismay I learned that he was a few years younger than me, this saddened me in a way because he had already done more graff than I could even comprehend doing. He led us past the college and we walked down toward freeway and made our way through a narrow tunnel flanked by sleeping bums on either side of us. We emerged on the other side and what we saw was a massive two or three mile stretch of graffiti saturated freeway retaining wall sitting up against calm waters.
The long wall was on the opposite side of the freeway that the cars drove on and was a far cry from the hot spots we would see later. The wall was a quasi legal spot that had been chill to paint illegally for many years. They even told us that Nace had had done some of his first pieces here. They told us it was being converted into a permission wall by some local artsy fartsy dudes from the college and would be a chill place for us to paint pieces until the sun went down. We painted silver pieces and the Rusto silver had a hell of a time drying in the frigid air. We bullshitted and anxiously watched a pack of mallards that were known to attack people and fuck shit up (no lie son). After finishing our pieces one of them told us a great story about the strip of land that we stood on.
One day around the age of 13 or so him and a buddy ditched school and were smoking and drinking when a tall Mexican girl approached them and made conversation. His buddy ended up going off into the shrubbery with her and came back with a shit eating grin, informing him that he had just received a blow job from the girl and that she offered to give him one also. He was too scared to take the free fellatio and was pissed at himself for not doing it after he made it home. He was so upset about it that he even confided to his father that he may have made one of the biggest mistakes of his life by not accepting the courtesy dome. A few weeks later he would find out that the Mexican girl was really a guy and the biggest mistake of his life turned into the best decision he’d ever made. Even ten plus years later he had never had the heart to tell his friend that he had received head unwittingly from a tranny.
We got scooped up in a van by a third friend and finally got to take a guided tour of the NJ freeways. The buff squad had been out pretty recently painting out a few spots and a local toy had been dissing a lot of shit begging for an ass whopping but shit was still running hard. Heavy hitters had multiple production caliber pieces and a ridiculous amount of fill-ins so we just kicked back and enjoyed the expanse of multicolored concrete for miles and miles, cruising back and forth on the freeway until it started to get dark.
Of course it wouldn’t make sense to make the pilgrimage all the way out there without piecing the infamous highways so we decided to post up for a couple of hours until it was chill enough to hit the streets again loaded up with backpacks of paint . We went back to the friends and posted up eating some organic food and listening to his pops talk about making colloidal silver. The spot that we were going to rock was a virgin spot off of the 287 (I believe). I had a hard time keeping track of all the numbers as the massive stretches of highway blew by. Our spot was hella cutty and we didn’t even watch the main freeway but only got down as cars merged on the freeway via the road inches away from us. I had to yank down a shit load of vines and brambles to clear off my spot. We rocked it on some James Bond type shit in two sets of two and when I was painting only one cop passed by us and but we had to duck twenty or thirty times. After that we fucked around and did some fill-ins but it was getting late.
We’d missed the last train back but luckily the homie did us a solid by letting us crash in his beer can littered attic and even gave us a ride back to the station in the morning. Feeling really haggard the next morning and the fact of having to seek gainful employment to acquire money to eat looming over my head I was happy about my decision to impart my minuscule piece to their momentous destruction.
KAI1
Art Ordinance Rally Update
The rally is coming together really nicely for 5:30 PM Monday at the Picasso Sculpture in Daley Plaza . Rally for Artists’ Rights.
We are now a consortium of the following art groups: Lumpen, the Chicago Artists Coalition, Sharkforum, Around the Coyote, ArtLetter, Bridge Art Fair, Navy Pier Walk, Punk Planet, and Art Advisory, LTD. Everyone is distributing information. This is an exciting collaboration.
We have great speakers lined up for the rally: artists, aldermen, arts organizers, lawyers, men and women. The whole thing should be meaningful, significant, powerful and not much longer than 30 to 45 minutes. We expect a lot of artists and public support. Children are encouraged to attend. People are making signs. Be creative and upbeat. Face painting is okay. And we may have music.
It is really important that you attend! It’s about the numbers. We need people. Bring your neighbors. I am. This is not just for artists. It’s also for the public, the citizens, you and me – all of us.
There was an article in today’s Sun-Times spreading information about the rally. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/nance/421377,CST-NWS-art10.article
We cannot let the attitude of the Deputy Commissioner of the Public Art Department become the law in Chicago :
“Public art is a gift to the public from the government.”
“We’re the ones who have been working day in and day out with this process. We’re the ones who are most aware of its issues and we’re in the best position to determine how to address them.”
the “public is not well served by a vote”
That doesn’t sound like Democracy at Work to me! We need you! It’s time to step up or get stepped on.
Thank you very much,
Paul Klein
The City Council is on the verge of passing an ordinance that is bad for Chicago, bad for its citizens and particularly bad for the art community.
We have proposed an alternative ordinance that will not be considered unless you act. We are the following groups: Bad at Sports, the Chicago Artists Coalition, Lumpen, Sharkforum, ArtLetter and others to be named soon.
Short Story:
Mayor Daley and the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) have proposed a terrible ordinance to modify the Public Art Program. The stated reason makes no sense: that the meetings were open to the public was cumbersome and unnecessary in their judgment. That the previous ordinance existed for 25 years and that the City has an exemplary art collection they deemed irrelevant.
* It “privatizes” the the selection of public art by eliminating all Open Meetings.
* It means the DCA does not have to post thorough information on their website about upcoming commissions.
* It will remove transparency and accessibility from the Public Art program and art commissions.
* It eliminates voting, democracy and public recourse.
Unless the art community acts the City Council will approve their proposed ordinance on the 13th of June. The best way to prevent this from happening is for artists to stage a large rally at 5:30 PM Monday, June 11th at the Picasso Sculpture and a letter writing campaign to make the Mayor and the Aldermen aware of what Chicago artists think and want.
Full Story:
* Visualize 100’s of Chicago artists rallying around a single cause - Artists’ Rights.
* Have you ever read about a large group of artists speaking out publicly with one voice?
* Think about the media coverage.
* To a large extent the events of the next ten days stand to significantly affect the future of Chicago artists (and Chicago galleries that care about their Chicago artists).
Here’s the deal:
In mid-May at the request of the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs (Lois Weisberg), Mayor Daley proposed an ordinance to revamp the Public Art Program. This proposed ordinance is bad government, bad for Chicagoans and particularly bad for the Chicago art community and artists.
Shortly after the ordinance sailed through committee (despite us “winning” the discussion) a few of us succeeded in having the measure postponed by the City Council.
WELL, the issue is coming back up for a City Council vote on June 13th. We’ve spoken to a number of aldermen. Most aldermen think: If the artists don’t care, we don’t care.
It is possible to change the system and it is not going to be easy.
It is time to step up or get stepped on.
As an artist or a member of the art community in Chicago, or elsewhere, if you ever want to able to apply for a commission, or give a damn about your peers being able to, now is the time to act:
* Appear at a RALLY FOR ARTISTS’ RIGHTS on the Monday the 11th at 5:30 at the Picasso – 2 days before the City * Council meets to vote on the 13th.
* Write letters to the Tribune & Sun Times editorial page.
* Write a letter to the Mayor
* Write a letter to your alderman. Speak to your alderman.
* Speak in favor of Our New (alternative) Ordinance supporting Artist’s Rights
* Send an email to me or a member of our team telling us what you think. We’ll count them, print them and share them where they’ll hopefully make a difference.
* Under the pretense of streamlining the selection process, the DCA’s proposed ordinance means the DCA does not have to have “open meetings” to give or get any information to artists about upcoming commissions, nor answer to anyone about selected commissions.
* They do not have to put information on their website anymore (they’ve been doing a horrible job putting out information so far.)
* They do not have to allow artists to apply for specific projects.
* They do not have to respond to the community.
* They do not have to be responsible for their actions.
* They do get to keep their inbred selection process whereby they dip into their archaic database, pick whoever they want, sometimes repeatedly, and not have to tell artists why or how they chose or choose.
If you are going to write a letter, here are some key points.
* No fair, honest or open consideration of Chicago artists
* No Open Meetings.
* No useful listings of commission possibilities
* No applying for a specific commission
* No knowing why you weren’t considered
* Under their proposed new ordinance, the finger-pointing will shift from the DCA to the aldermen because alderman will be asked to have ward forums to discuss art commissions in their ward. This will be an added logistical and financial responsibility for the alderman they may not want. The aldermen will be responsible to post notice of the forums (many don’t have web sites). They will have to pay for postage out of their own pockets. They will have to host and attend art meetings in their wards. They will have to put up with the potential for dividing their community over art issues. These selfish reasons may be sufficient reason aldermen will defeat this ordinance June 13th – if they are informed.
* If the aldermen think you care, you will be heard.
* If the aldermen don’t think you care they will automatically vote with the Mayor and pass this ordinance assuring a closed doors, patronage system where those who are favored will get the most commissions. It will not be based on quality, or a competent committee considering your work. Instead of a democracy we’ll have the Department of Cultural Affairs acting like a country club, picking who they want, why they want, without opening up the selection process and broadening the amount of art they can consider.
* The artists suffer. The City suffers. The community suffers. The DCA gets a free ride.
* Think about Chicago’s reputation in the rest of the country.
* We are already being discussed by National Public Art Administrators
- We will be a topic of discussion at the National Public Art Conference in Las Vegas.
- Is this going to look good for Chicago in the rest of the country?
* How about internationally?
* How about the Olympics?
- Every Olympics has a large Cultural Olympics held concurrently.
- Do you think the Olympic Committee is going to be favorably impressed with this ordinance?
* You and the Olympics
- Hidden in the bowels of their ordinance is a distinction between Percent for Art and Public Art. The DCA has succeeded in keeping this totally vague. All Percent for Art (a specific term) is part of Public Art (a general term). Only the Percent for Art must have public forums.(Percent for Art applies to money spent in City government buildings and land. But Public Art also includes money for art not for city property yet still administered by DCA – like housing to be constructed for Olympic athletes – which could be billions of dollars.) Can you say cronyism?
- Well get this: According to their proposed ordinance they only have to have forums (namby-pamby discussions with not binding authority and no vote) with Percent for Art. Okay, but for Public Art they don’t even have to have any forums at all.
* Who do you think they are trying to take care of?
* Actions speak louder than words.
Do you understand why the Mayor doesn’t care about you – the Chicago artist? Or why the Alderman don’t, or the rest of the world for that matter? Because you haven’t made yourself seen and you haven’t made yourself heard enough.
It is time again to assume responsibility for your career, to take a stance.
Can you visualize the impact just 500 artists showing up at a rally could have globally?
Do you realize the publicity Chicago artists can get?
Do you grasp the impact the discussion of this ordinance will have?
You can either shape your future constructively or get screwed.
It is up to you.
Paul Klein
######## UPDATE ########
Friends,
Thank you for the outpouring of support for Chicago Artists. With enough support we can put away the odious ordinance proposed by the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA).
Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs is turning its back on the public, on the art community and on Chicago artists.
In an article the DCA’s Deputy Commissioner Greg Knight delivered to me today, he wrote “Public art is a gift to the public from the government.”
This is one of the most preposterous statements I’ve ever heard.
C’mon Greg, I like you and respect you, but you’re giving us a gift with our money. Not letting us have a say in the process is absurd. Your intent is to obfuscate your selection process and keep the public in the dark. This is not a gift my friend. This is an insult!
How about when you say: “We’re (meaning DCA) the ones who have been working day in and day out with this process. We’re the ones who are most aware of its issues and we’re in the best position to determine how to address them.”
Greg, correct me if I’m wrong because it sure looks like your saying the public should be damned and democracy is a farce, especially when you add the “public is not well served by a vote.”
Well Greg, I’m offended. In fact so are a whole lot of artists, art community advocates and the public at large. What the Department of Cultural Affairs wants to do does not get much clearer than hearing it in your own words.
If you are one of the people who are a bit put off by this rhetoric please join a Rally for Artists” Rights Monday evening 5:30 at Daley Plaza.
Please write your Alderman and the Mayor. A list of Aldermanic addresses and a way of finding out who your Alderman is can be found here.
Friends, as I said yesterday, it is time to step up or get stepped on.
Thank you,
Paul Klein
"Untitled" - Michael Arata - part of the Pet Spaces series
SD Art Prize: New Contemporaries
Featuring Emerging Artists nominated for the SD Art Prize 2007/2008
Simayspace at the Art Academy
Opening reception June 22 from 6 pm to 9 pm
Exhibition continues through July 27, 2007
840 G Street, Downtown SD, 92101
619.231.3900
Hours: Monday through Friday 9 am - 6 pm, Saturday 9 am - 1 pm
SD ART PRIZE: Fusing Energy for San Diego Visual Arts: Mentorship, Education, Recognition, Collaboration
The San Diego Visual Art’s Network and SanDiegoArtist.com have established the San Diego Art Prize which is given annually to three established and three emerging artists who have exhibited outstanding achievement in the field of Visual Arts. For the second season of the prize 2007/2008, 14 emerging artists have been nominated by a committee of art professionals. These artists will be featured in an exhibition at the Simaypspace at the Art Academy from June 22 to July 27, 840 G Street, SD 92101.
Artists selected:
Tania Candiani, Alida Cervantes, Lael Corbin, Matt Devine, Brian Dick, Christopher N. Ferreria, Andy Howell, Pamela Jaeger, Nina Karavasiles, Ben Lavender, Camilo Ontiveros, Jason Sherry, Tristan Shone, Shannon Spanhake, Brad Streeper, Nina Waisman, Allison Wiese
The SD ART PRIZE is dedicated to the idea that the visual arts are a necessary and rewarding ingredient of any world-class city and a building block of the lifestyle of its residents. Conceived to promote and encourage dialogue, reflection and social interaction about San Diego’s artistic and cultural life, this annual award honors artistic expression. From June 30 to September 30, 2007 a group exhibition of all prizewinners 2006/2007 will be shown and the prizes awarded at the L Street Gallery in the Downtown Omni Hotel from 6:30pm – 9:30pm and will be on view through November 30 at the L Street Gallery at the OMNI Hotel, 675 L Street, SAN DIEGO, 92101
Please visit the San Diego Visual Arts Network for complete details of the SD ART PRIZE.
