<nettime> Workshop on Art Activism and the Camp for Climate Action

[abbey hoffman <createresist@riseup.net>]

Departure Lounge: A weekend workshop designing creative resistance  
against the root causes of Climate Change.
13 â?" 15 July, near Heathrow, London.



"I did not fully understand the dread term 'terminal illness' until I  
saw Heathrow for myself."
â?" Dennis Potter, in The Sunday Times, 4 June 1978.

Some of the most successful political movements have been those that  
have developed creative forms of protest: the suffragettes chaining  
themselves to buildings, the beautiful tree houses of the anti roads  
protesters, the Zapatistas with their poetic communiqués and masks,  
Reclaim the Streets' rebel carnivals, the Italian white overalls'  
imaginative take on civil disobedience. All these forms have emerged  
when the unbridled imagination of art mixes with the deep social  
engagement of politics. The growing radical movement for climate  
justice needs its own new forms.

Departure Lounge is a weekend workshop where we will collectively  
explore the spaces between art and activism and design creative  
actions in preparation for the Camp for Climate Action -  http:// 
www.climatecamp.org.uk  - The Camp, which takes place near Heathrow  
from 14th to 21st August, has been described by the Independent as  
â??Glastonbury, science seminar and protest all in oneâ??. It mixes  
low-impact ecological living, dozens of workshops and mass direct  
action aimed at the root causes of climate change. This year it will  
be targeting the aviation industry and airport expansion.

At the workshop we will work together to create imaginative new forms  
of protest, share skills and ideas, and design events/actions that  
will take place during the Camp to engage, delight, provoke,  
challenge and encourage participation.

The weekend is suitable for those who are interested in work that  
does not merely â??representâ?? a political issue, nor serves as  
propaganda but directly confronts and transforms the issue itself. If  
you are interested in radically engaged practices that look neither  
like art nor activism but take the best of both of these worlds, that  
sit somewhere between direct action and performance, resistance and  
creativity then this workshop is for you.

A key inspiration for the workshop will be Steven Duncombeâ??s concept  
of creating â??Ethical Spectaclesâ?? â?" see http://turbulence.org.uk/ 
politicsinanageo.html

Taking place from the evening of Friday 13th July to late Sunday  
afternoon, 15th July, the workshop will be funded on a donations  
basis. We hope to be in one of the villages threatened with  
destruction by the expansion of Heathrow airport. The exact location  
will be confirmed later.

Facilitated by artist/activist John Jordan, and writer/activist  
Katharine Ainger, the workshop aims to inject a large dose of radical  
imagination into the rising movements for climate justice.

Places will be limited so please fill in the attached form and email  
it to - createresist@riseup.net -- before the 29th June. We will  
confirm your place by 1st July.
Even if you have done nothing like this before, please consider  
applying. We are looking for a diversity of perspectives. If you have  
special needs for attendance please let us know once your application  
has been received and accepted.



  â??Heathrow is its own city, a Vatican of the western suburbsâ?¦ The  
airport complex with its international hotels, storage facilities,  
semi-private roads, is as detached from the shabby entropy of the  
metropolis as is the City, the original walled settlement. They have  
their own rules, their own security forces, the arrogance of global  
capitalism. They service Moloch in whatever form he chooses to reveal  
himself; they facilitate drug/armament, blood/oil economies.â??
-       Ian Sinclair, â??London Orbitalâ??






The Camp for Climate Action - 2007 - August 14th-21st -  http:// 
www.climatecamp.org.uk


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