The frontier between the United States and Mexico is the busiest land border in the world. It is also among one of the world’s most heavily regulated and policed border zones—the arid climate of which is responsible for many migrant deaths each year.
Pursuing the possibility of emancipatory use of technology, Paglen, together with Jacob Appelbaum, developed Autonomy Cube (2014). Autonomy Cube is a sculpture and internet router designed to be housed in civic spaces. The sculpture is meant to be both “seen” and “used.” Formally it references Hans Haacke's 'Condensation Cube' (1963-65).
I Will What I Want is a campaign launched by Under Armour which speaks to women who do not wait for permission or affirmation in order to go after what they want. The campaign highlights various models and athletes who encourage women to tune out society's standards and pursue their dreams. The campaign began by highlighting Misty Copeland, a soloist at the American Ballet Theater.
"Rainer’s early choreography celebrated, among other things, ordinary movements: the expressive capacities of kneeling, of shaking your head, of rolling on the floor. And when she went through periods of sickness, those movements became an even more important part of her repertoire. In her 1966 Hand Movie, an 8mm film she shot on her sickbed, we see a dance she choreographed for just her hand, while her body rests.
Matika Willbur was given a grant by Kickstarter (the worlds largest funding platform for creative projects) to travel around the U.S. for a year and photograph Native America. The goal of the 562 project is to change the way we think of the Native American race, by shifting our collective consciousness and creating a positive lasting legacy of Native America.
Camp Mossandsticks, named after moss and sticks--two of the most rudimentary tools with which one can spark fire--is a site for young women and girls to become resourceful, defiant, and self-sufficient revolutionaries of today. Started on November 6, 2012, the camp hosts workshops to spark the attendees’ inner political flames, challenging them to confront disenfranchisement created by the status quo and to take matters into their own hands.
On November twelfth, 2008, over 80,000 copies of a replica of the New York Times were distributed in several cities around the United States. The paper included 14 pages of “best case scenario” news set nine months in the future.
See the The New York Times Special Edition website.
Essential workers at major companies like Amazon, Instacart, and Target across the United States on Friday protested for better safety protections, working conditions, and pay during the coronavirus pandemic.
Shea Glover, age 18, began a senior project that became an activist/social campaign. Shea approached people throughout her high school and asked them if they would pose for her senior project. To each person she would say, I'm taking pictures of things I find beautiful". Recording the entire encounter revealed the diverse reactions of each student and teacher. Some erupted with laughter, others a huge grin, while some embarrassment.
"Lincoln Square — The runners tossed blankets, gloves, jackets and other gear onto the pile, each leaving a piece of where they came from. A French man donated his running shirt and pants, and noted that they were designer wear. Enybe Merritt, 32, contributed a West Virginia University Cycling sweatshirt.
Malteros are the porters who transport luggage and goods between the border of the US and Mexico. Working with a group of maleteros in 2005, artist Mark Bradford collaborated on a system of maps and signs that placed the marginalized work of the unofficial maleteros alongside that of the sanctioned labor of policemen and taxi drivers.
The #LikeAGirl campaign was aired as a commercial during the 2015 SuperBowl. In the commercial, young girls were asked to act out certain phrases. They were told to "fight like girl", "throw a ball like a girl", "run like and girl", and so on. As an adolescent or an adult, these phrases carry a negative connotation. Girls are seen as weak, frilly, and inferior.
While adult coloring books are hitting a high note right now in 2016, this isn't the first time this has happened. Back in the 1960s, coloring books were so popular that one of them even made it to the New York Times bestseller list.
However, while modern adult coloring books are very geometric and abstract, intended to help adults destress and relax, adult coloring books from the 1960s were much more political.
In 2006, art historian Claire Bishop lit a fire under the collective seat of the art world with her Artforum piece “The Social Turn: Collaboration and its Discontents.” It set off — as much as any essay in the hermetic and staid world of contemporary art theory can — an uproar. The article inspired Grant Kester, an art historian also specializing in relational art practices, to respond:
"CITIZENFOUR is a real life thriller, unfolding by the minute, giving audiences unprecedented access to filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s encounters with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents providing evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Despite the pushes to motivate more young girls into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, women are still very underrepresented in almost every scientific field. Part of this motivation is because a lot of young girls would rather do something else.
Just 15 months after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, AU has seen a dramatic increase in activism, according to student leaders interviewed by The Eagle about the state of activism on campus. However, other students say the level of political polarization on campus has eclipsed those activism efforts.
Jes Baker, 26, created a campaign called Abercrombie and Fat in response to the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch. In 2006, the CEO released a statement that his target consumer is the cool, All American kid who has a lot of friends. He continues to say that his business is exclusive and a lot of people do not belong in his clothes.
In the past, prostitution was intrinsically tied to religion ritual and public policy, and it wasn't considered a taboo. Taking up from the idea of ancient sandals worn by prostitutes, the artist has created platform shoes that specifically focused on their protection and safety nowadays, with a GPS tracker that can send emergency signals to 911 or a sex workers' rights group.
Pink seesaws were installed along the United States/Mexico border. The project, created by two professors sought to unite both sides of the fence by creating an activity that required a participant on either side. The seesaws were installed so there is one seat in El Paso, Texas and one in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico with the border fence acting as the fulcrum.
By publishing publicly available census data regarding education alongside the economics of prison, CNN Money has activated many people to disperse this information online, and contribute to a larger conversation around the issue of the Prison Industrial Complex, and the general privatization of the prison industry within the United States.
Source: U.S. Census Data and Vera Institute of JusticeGraphic: Tal Yellin / CNNMoney
Riot grrrl is a feminist punk rock movement started in the early 90's, particularly in Washington DC, Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. Bands that follow the movement include Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Jack Off Jill, Bratmobile, Adickdid, The Butchies, Heavens to Betsy, Huggy Bear, Bangs, and Calamity Jane, amongst others.
The project consists of a double-sided, hand-drawn 8.5" x 11" quarter-fold sheet available to print and distribute freely.
It features such topics as basic information on police tactics (kettling, LRADS, tear gas or pepper spray), ways cops might try to get you to talk to them, and your rights as a student.
The artist conceived the project as a collaborative exhibition featuring five art-as-response pieces to the student loan crisis and the pressure it causes upon graduates. In its original version, Öğüt invited Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Superflex, Dan Perjovschi, Martha Rosler to present sculptures as collection points for public contribution to The Debt Collective, a student-debt canceling initiative launched by Strike Debt's Rolling Jubilee.