If the end is the taking of power by the people themselves then the means must be the revolutionary organs of the people worker councils, community councils, communes etc.
If the end is the freeing of man culturally as well socially and economically then the means exist in the destruction of culture.
If the end is the liberation of natural man then the means must be sexual as well as social.
If the end is the totality then the means must be total all or nothing.
Ben Morea. Black mask No. 7, August/September 1967.
Los artistas unidos.
The basic reason of disagreement between the artists or lets say art workers is resulted by different treatment of the main positions: what is the artists role in the society and what is the artists can to struggle for. Indeed that is the question of the ends and the means.
The role
The artists role in the neo-liberal capitalist society is based on the manipulative hierarchic structure which ties them all together as specialized non-specialists (or professional dilettantes). So far the structure is based on the hierarchy and involves endless competition it strengthens individualization and produces alienation.
The artist as a specialist is nothing else but the tool for simulation of social, spiritual and sensual aspects of human life and so to fit the demands of the liberal ideology.
That is why artists are so eager to mock at the bourgeoisie and bourgeoisie is always pleased to face it and offers its maintenance.
That is why artists eventually still produce art for the bourgeois market system.
The progressive artists are attacking the bourgeois culture and its values instead of the bourgeoisie as social class.
The job of progressive artists is to destroy their privileged role as specialized non-specialists.
The job of progressive artists is to leave no any trace of detection of artistic value which is essential to the bourgeois consciousness.
The job of progressive artists is to employ all their creative potential to attend the aims.
What to struggle for?
Some artists are about to struggle for improving their working and living conditions (good studios, wages, social security and so on). They are far away from demands to change the whole system of the cultural production because that would end up their role as privileged specialists and so to improve their lives.
Some artists are about to struggle just because they already have nothing to lose they are just outcasts from the mainstream. They are moved by envy and disappointment.
Young artists love to struggle because they still have nothing to loose. They are driven by the process itself which usually ends up on privatization of the common surplus by few top heroes, who eventually develop their successful careers.
Progressive artists are struggling for the suppression of the artists in themselves. The last core of the artistness is left just to stay as longer not beaten by the police.
Progressive artists are struggling against whatever form of superiority in creative process.
Progressive artists are struggling for the totality of expression.
Progressive artists are struggling against the structures of repression: cultural, social, spiritual, sexual.
Fighting for concrete objectives – divides, fighting against [repressive] structures unites, fighting for liberation results dissolving.
That is why all the cultural struggles are unstable they should dissolve before they will be turned into the art product for more sophisticated market. They are always hopeless but their strength is in the perpetual reappearing in the mostly creative forms of disobedience.
Tactics
Artistic groups and collectives should be organized to attend the concrete aim or to execute preformulated task and then to dissolve every permanent structure tends to degenerate.
Organisation should be perpetual sequence of transient committees bearing the names rather colourful, poetic, and complicated so letting the fantasy to grow.
The activities should be arranged from vertical hierarchic structures and institututions towards the horizontal forms of organization (councils, communes, networkings etc) and never in the opposite direction which one is always done by reactionaries eventually.
The forms of sabotage are preferred in social engineering form that involves exploiting the human elements of the system, instead of, for example, using sophisticated algorithms to crack passwords or using other forms of program code to break into secured computer systems. Dressed as an ordinary repairman, ostensibly appearing at the door to “fix the photocopier”, a hacker using social engineering principles might gain access to very secure equipment simply by using the receptionists natural on the job habits and presuppositions.[Karen Eliot, Prague, 29 June, 2008].
The action should be arranged directly locally and never in the generalized form of self-referent and simply aesthetic and therefore spectacular performance.
Spectacularity is something to be avoided as irrelevance. Watching and surveying will be supplanted.
Iconoclasm is the form of expression we strive for. Direct experiencing and enjoying are essential elements of the life to be lived out.
Enemies
The main enemies of a coherent revolutionary group are those closest to that group in knowledge and furthest away from it in their lived experience and the sense they give it. Raoul Vanegeim.
So the bourgeoisie is not a biggest enemy of the real revolutionary artist it will vanish immediately after the crash of bourgeois culture. In the same way the heart stops without blood supply.
The sharpest struggle will be held among artists themselves traditionally artists hardly imagine their lives without climbing up the illusionary ladder of fame.
That is reliable that the cohorts of united reactionary artists will react against.
The point is how to mislead them to total self-destruction.
That is arrangeable with the help of pornography.
The main tool of capitalism will be turn against its own basement.
In general we dismiss pornography in life and in politics as well.
Relationship between art and life resembles that of pornography and love.
Usually artists are used to think adequacy is that of life to pornography, and art love.
Usually artists are used to oppose art to pornography and so to achieve some hierarchy.
Usually politicians in their speeches denounce pornography and exalt art.
It seems that politicians are linked more to use pornography.
Pornography is repression and it makes people to stay home.
Art as social institution is more related to artists themselves it makes artists to stay home.
Art is repression against creative people.
Usually art and pornography has no clear boundaries both are simulations of life.
There is no clear boundary between artists and other people.
Lets go out into the streets and enjoy life as it is!
We do not know the world well live in, but we know what we do not want to live with.
Redas Dirzys, Second Temporary Art Strike Action Committee (Alytus), November 2008.
What we are actually striving towards is the destruction of capitalist social relations and the privileged role of the artist within them, so that the real creative energies of (wo)mankind can be released. In a truly free society art would be an irrelevance and all cultural hierarchies will be abolished.
UP WITH SEXUAL EXPERIMENTATION AND FORWARD WITH MIND BLOWING ORGASMS!
Stewart Home, Transient Art Strike Biennial Supreme Council of One (London). October 2008.
