Anyone browsing my blog will realise that I'm not using the medium as a straight forward online "dear diary" to the world, but that I am using this blog "adddress" or free site, as an integral p-art of my overall creative process. I slurge and purge my mind of creative thoughts, idioms, emotions, memories and stories of events past and present in a seemingly random, spontaneous or even chaotic manner.
I don't even give much thought to correct grammar, punctuation or even spelling, as it's the immediacy of the moment of what I'm thinking about each day, week, or moment that is central to my creative thought process. Of course I do put some effort into the overall blog and its content, but I don't worry too much about how it reads, or what people may think of it, or me.
This blog is simply a semi-spontaneous part of my overall revolutionary creativity theory and social art process, and a central point where my ideas, thoughts, experiences, and actions can converge and interact with each other as they do within the unconscious part of my mind on a subliminal level.
This blog is a manifestation of my unconscious and conscious creative process of mind and life seen through images, read through words, and reflected upon as an way for me to view the wood through the trees.
I feel and hope that at some future point I will probably focus upon a single thread, idea, or aspect of my overall revolutionary strategy and creative project, but that to force this process would be limiting myself, as well as narrowing my creativity in the same way the education system forces us to specialise in a single subject or skill to prepare us for work in a State managed economy of destructive global capitalism, which (as I'm sure you know) is itself ultimately controlled by an elite cartel of global American businesses, world banks, and international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, which is also controlled by American business power to influence the White House to veto decisions and projects. So there.
Back to the blog. If I really wanted to attract a lot of attention quickly, I would simply sit down for a while, think of the best course of action to take for public exposure, go to central London and "do something", possibly leading to my arrest, and ultimately media exposure of whatever I choose to talk about or portray myself as. And clearly the creativity party is in no fit state yet for such grandiosity.
Publcity is not difficult to do, it just a question of what you do with it when you get it. I remember a few years ago myself and a friend stood a hundred metres away from the entrance to the Tate Modern art gallery with two art works lent against a wall next to us, not to sell them but just for the spontaneous fun of a sunny Saturday morning, and it to see how people would respond.
Within an hour, three policeman turned up and politely asked us to move on. Flabba-gasted ( yes I really was!) by this turn of events as we were in no way obstructing the Thames river path, and were clearly a hundred metres away from the Tate entrance, so I enquired by what law we were required to move on? "Under the The Terrorism Act" the Police officers replied.
After a few minutes of jovial banter to and fro with the Police, they more or less admitted (but not directly) that the Tate Modern had phoned them, and they had been dispatched to move us on. We who had nothing with us except two works of recycled art, were seen as a public nuisance to the great State of Art Tate Modern, or perhaps in case we carried out some form of public art disorder, which neither of us had any intention of doing.
We just wanted some free public feedback on our creative work at that time, and knew the public traffic near the Tate would present us with the most "international free public arena." After several minutes of debate, we were informed that if we didn't move on we would be arrested under the Terrorism Act. Excellent I thought, let's do this, exactly the type of political art opening I had been expecting to present itself to us at some point.
I had absolutely no intention of moving as I realised the significance of the moment in terms of free publicity for The Creativity Party, and of all the possible outcomes and consequences, but my friend who was with me at the time had no experience of these Creative Individual 'V' the Conformity of the State points of conflict, and looked rather pertured by my calm and casual refusal to "move-on" in the face of these Governement enforcers of people control.
I looked at my friends disposition, and briefly even considered leaving her there with two large art works while I triumphantly and willingly accepted my State arrest for simply daring to stand "too near the great Tate with "unknown art," I could already read the predictable News at Ten tele-promter: "a self-proclaimed revolutionary artist" has been arrested Under the Terrorism Act outside the Tate Modern today for.......blah blah blah."
Not wishing to bring my friends' world to suddenly and dramatically into my world of creative social art resistance, I rather relunctantly agreed to move away, but I hated the fact I knew somewhere up on one of the upper levels of the Tate, behind a large plate glass window of an office there were senior Tate art personnel smiling smuggly at their easily won victory, wrongly assuming that in the face of Police action I would experience anything other than fear, and react with meek compliance. I knew that although this battle was lost, the creative and cultural resistance against capitalist conformity and the anti-creative existence that the State attempts to blanket everyone with, could be challenged another day. If you are going to be arrested, make sure you choose the time and the day, not the State stormtroopers, in this way you are in control of the process, and are less likely to be batoned around the head or body, or pushed to ground and killed accidently. Make no mistake, the chances of a policeman being made legally cupable for violence towards a protestor is neglible. Do not expect the law to protect you, you have to protect yourself. I always wear a cycling helmet, body pads, and as much body armour beneath my clothing as possible if I'm on a demo or art mission of sorts. Avoidance of conflict is the best option......the ordinary police man is just a potato head acting on orders..........and if they can get a good story down the Station about they clobbered some poor protestor around the head they will without question...............I spent five years working with the criminal justice system as an covert-observational researcher...........I know.
So with that in mind, if you are just an ego-tistical self-serving publicity seeker with no idea about your creative strategy, or you are desparate for you creative work to be seen, just go and hang outside the Tate, don't bother carrying out some form of puerile protest inside the building, just lean against the River rail with an art work for an hour or two, (don't give up as they will be watching you, and you will already be in battle of wills with the Tate Modern to see who blinks first), they will want you moved away, but without causing undue attention or negative publicity.
Refuse to give up your public right to stand where you want when the stormtroopers turn up, after all the Tate doesn't own the river path, or do they? It doesn't matter as the Police will never say outright you are tresspassing on Tate property, how can they, for this would be an admission that that it is the Tate Modern who have called them out, and can you imagine how that would look in the media, unknown artist arrested under the Terrorism Act on behalf of the Tate Modern for trespass?
And where was the defendant at the time of arrest? "Errrrr about a hundred metres away from the entrance to the building you honour." What do mean s/he was outside the building, I thought the law of Trespass meant he had to be arrested on the premises." "well the surrounding area, and the public footpath is also owned by the Gallery m'lud." please explain to me how this person has been arrested under the Terrorism Act while on a public pathway. Was he carrying anything suspicious or related to terrorist activities?" "Err no your honour." Was he in possession of anythng likely to cause one assume s/he was a public threat of some sort?" No you honour. Then why was he arrested?. He refused to move when asked by the police. "Yes I understand that, but I'm trying to find out why was s/he being asked to move in the first place?"
Errrr.........(You see the police can admit they were called out, but why were they called out? Any average lawyer could pick apart the fact that the Tate have the Police on speed dial, and both the Police and other public organisations are abusing the widening of the Terrorisim act5 since 911 to oppress and control social behaviour legal or otherwise.
You get the picture, it would be only a matter of further court questions and debate before it became clear you were arrested under the terrorism act for having art with you outside the Tate. Cue, your public statement on the the steps of the court house when you walk free and join the historical ranks of every revoltuionary artist-creative before you.
When/if you get arrested under the Terrorism Act explain you are exercising your creative and social freedom, (make sure you push for this at the Station, as the Police will attempt to either let you go immediately with a caution, or change the charge to one less "publicly contentious" such a public disorder or refusal to comply with an officer, and hope to give you fine, so that you'll go away quitely. Don't go aawy quietly, they will reach a point where they want to just get rid of you....hang in there, a lawyer will be provided for you, and phone me too, I love a good legal wrangle down the Station.
They may even charge you, put you in the cells, and hope you become so concerned and frightened that in a few hours you will agree not to do it again just to get out of there. Ignore all of these mind games, and be steadfast in your creative-artistic right to stand a hundred metres away from the Tate, but still directly in front of it, and then the rest is up to you how you deal with your story, the media-press publicity about you and your art, turn it to your advantage and mention the increasing restrictions on public and social freedoms, invite all the journalists and media to your studio, home, flat, student digs, bedsit etc.
And if your art or your creative product is any good you should be up and running with your new socially-enaged, socially conscious, radical process of art or creativity. By all means inform anyone and everyone during this process that you are an occasional participant of The Creativity P-art-y it will help you tremendously at the Police Station to make sure they charge you under the Terrorism Act. Organisations are always seen as more threatening to the State than individuals.
At all times outside the Tate be polite and courteous, do not give the Tate or the Police any excuse to charge you with anything except the fact you refuse to move from a perfectly good spot near the river, where you are waiting for friends.
The only way they can move you on is under the Terrorism Act which is being used as a cover-all to control a myriad of perfectly acceptable behaviour to most people. But not the Tate, and not the Government.
If you are wondering why I don't go and carry out this art-activist action (again) myself, it's because I don't need to, as I'll probably get arrested just for writing this.
Of course if a small group of creatives-artist would like to test any of the above please let me know and I'll accompany you to the best spot.
David X.
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