Direct Action Flâneurs & 1234 I declare color war

Ale (one of the Occupy Wall Street’s originators) had a birthday-transmigration party @ Liberty Square (aka Zuccotti Park) on July 12th, 2012. Ale brings colored powder, Rob and I bring typewriters to create a joint Direct Action Flâneurs (DAF) pluripotential temporary autonmous zone. The paper for this action: three 10-page long scrolls made from copies of the DAF writings at the 6-months anniversary of the occupation of Zuccotti Park. The reverse side is printed "ALEXANDRE THE GREAT A BLOODLESS RLOVEUTION" – and the Imprint may help provoke writers to go beyond bye-bye messages for Ale (he has to return to Rio because his visa did not get renewed). Each scroll loops between two typewriters--a symbolic act of togetherness. We integrate the Park's architecture by placing the 'paper-connected' typewriters on top of the long marble stone benches. "1-2-3-4, I declare color war," Ale screams, and starts dancing with others with the colored powder. Meanwhile, there is pas-de-deux-typing with committed observations about sensations, thoughts, like "warm-up writing" for action. The dancing bodies form a "moebius strip" just like the scrolled up paper. As time passes the two typers come closer together, as the paper moves relentlessly towards union. But the scrolls are too long—and we never quite get to touch each others’ faces.
Dance and Mind in Action:

 One small part of the three long scrolls writing by one or more of the over 20 anonymous participants who became temporary DAF

Direct Action Flâneurs @ Edinburgh Scottish Parliament

I and my fellow Direct Action Flâneur Robert Neuwirth escaped the TED GLOBAL 2012 community for a couple of hours to find TED's theme of ‘Radical Openness’ in the Edinburgh community.

Thursday June 27th around noon. We get to the Scottish Parliament and come upon a group of anti-rape protestors.  We sit on the floor in front of the Parliament. With our analog typewriters -- an Antares Parva (pictured) and an  Everest K3 -- and our 'sit-in' body action, we create a community in the moment with the anti-rape protestors. It’s a 21^st century temporary autonomous zone. Our sit-in ends when the policewoman demands to see what we have written and walks off with it and we demand the papers back. Audio file: an excerpt of the physical-aural interaction.

http://soundcloud.com/directactionflaneurs/da-flaneur-edinburgh-audio2-1 

Would we have handed our writings to the cops in New York? NO WAY. Here in Edinburgh, though, we saw ourselves as guests and so automatically accepted a conditional hospitality!

 




For more on the demonstration itself go to:

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/britain-s-most-unwanted-all-requests-made-to-other-uk-councils-to-house-rapist-refused-1-2384168

Direct Action Flâneurs @ Rio+20

Onward Ale(Alexandre Carvalho)! He went to Rio + 20 and his activity was an inauguration of the Direct Action Flaneurs in revolutionary cultural struggle check it out:

http://noticias.bol.uol.com.br/ciencia/2012/06/22/protesto-surpresa-vai-de-nudismo-a-poesia.jhtm 

Direct Action Flâneurs & Morgan Subway Station

                

The Thinking Body and the Dancing Mind.

We settle in this public in – between zone with small plastic chinese chairs. Some type, others dance to the ‘dancing’ typewriters’ sound. People are in a rush to catch the train but some take the risk to stop and type. Other times we flaneur—carrying the typewriters and we pause—and some of the commuters, these underground “subway runners,” take the pause as an invitation to write on the typewriter. If we did the same thing in the Times Square station, how long would it take until the police told us to move? Here in Bushwick where workers, immigrants who share a single metrocard in a very hidden way, and hipsters all share the space, the police never arrive, and we stop our action through our own choice. We had a great DAF team alex, rob, amelia , me and the subway runners; we created a residue-- a leftover energy -- a possibility for change? 

 

Direct Action Flâneurs & Grand Central Station

A day that showed many possibilities to create a pluripotential zone in the moment. Sense Collection with Typewriters and chinece plastic chairs in a circle formation. Did the small colored chinese plastic chairs and the old typewriters encouraged the police from above to wait 20 minutes before they came to us and told us that we can not settle in in the middle of Grand Central Station?  People joined us for a temporary moment either by typing, talking and/or observing.

Direct Action Flâneurs &March Against Police Brutality

The march against police brutality, and a call for police commissioner Ray Kelly to resign, or be fired, began at Liberty Plaza a/k/a Zuccotti Park

The Lagosians are watching...we are fighting for 'Access To Clean Free Water'

Lagos, Nigeria one of the biggest growing urban mega-city on the planet faces the challenge to bring clean safe water to everyone. Site-Specific Social Choreography. I was working with 7 choreographers and over 40 Nigerian dancers during a five - day period to practice Dance as a Social Choreography for the Global Water Dances Event "Clean Safe Water for Everyone". Performance was on June 25, 2011. The  project was produced by the Society for the Performing Arts in Nigeria (SPAN). 

We are over 60 procent out of Water. Water doesn't stop. So I created a concept with the idea of on going, like water, flowing into the streets of Lagos. The "Human River" dance began at Tinubu Square and moved through the streets of Lagos Island into Freedom Park. In the Freedom Park we shared our space with the singer Olufunmi Olajoyegbe and the dancers continous to flow with the theme "The Water Seller's Tale". This part of the Dance was created in collaboration with Nigerian choreographers: Offiong Anthony, Konwea Frank Chinedu, Umeigbo Celino Nneka, Uche Onah, Lovette Ortegbola, Ukalina Eline Opuwari and Agocha Shilh Davies.

To fully empower the Lagosian, I made a conscious artistic choice not to dance in the work. And I like to remind myself on this point on the very important written statement in 1957 by Guy Ernest Debord who founded the Situationist International, a radical group of creators searching for new forms of action in art and politics.

“We have to change the world. That’s what we think. Change society. Change life. Do it for freedom. Get us out of this prison. We know one thing: this change is possible. All that remains is to figure out how to do it.”