"Rad.art: Creating and Nurturing a Culture of Resistance"
By Nicolas Lampert
Originally published in Clamor Magazine #25 (Jan/Feb 2004) www.clamormagazine.org

In the higher education sphere, colleges and universities have undergone a major transformation over the last 20 years. The Reagan/Bush years, 1980 on, kicked in the hyper-privatization (corporatization) of American society that left few public bastions untouched. As public funding and support for affordable public education have slowly dwindled (notice the education cuts � not the military or corporate welfare cuts), schools have become more reliant on private funding to make ends meet. This partnership of higher education with large corporations comes with built-in conditions. Just like in politics, those who give money to higher education expect something back in return. It should come as no surprise that the profit industries (business schools, law, engineering, and medical schools) have flourished while the liberal arts, humanities, and the fine arts have decreased significantly. In this case, many educational institutions often appear as factories that turn out products and workers for corporate America. Beyond the blandness of corporate culture, the partnership can be more troublesome. In many of the research departments at public and private universities, the technologies that arm the military and corporate power are developed and funded by taxes and tuition. The Vietnam War era saw many schools come to a near halt due to students protesting the development of military weapons in university labs. More recently, the branding of university clothing apparel by Nike has been countered with an equally ambitious anti-sweatshop student movement. As with any case, public pressure and activism can bring the goods.

In a small but significant example, a student group at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has created a structure to instigate social change in their community by combining art with activism. The group rad.art began in the fall of 2002 and was founded by Jenny Lee, Colin Matthes, Max Sussman, and Mike Medow. In an interview the members stated that �rad.art hopes to facilitate the creation of a �culture of resistance� in Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan. There is a fairly strong and dynamic community of progressive and radical activists in Ann Arbor and at the University. We consider ourselves a part of this community and we hope that rad.art contributes to the strengthening of our community by providing it with spaces in which radical politics can be affirmed through art. Getting involved in activism can be an alienating experience for those who aren�t used to or necessarily interested in activist rhetoric and long meetings. Rad.art events engage political issues in a more casual setting, providing newer activists with a more accessible entry point through which they can confront new political issues. In this sense, rad.art contributes to the creation of a more sustainable radical political culture. Rad.art , as an official student group, also allows us to use the resources available to us as students to support radical artists. We do this by setting up events and, when possible, providing funding for artists on tour.�

During the first year as a group, rad.art organized events in Ann Arbor with Sue Coe (author of Dead Meat), Seth Tobocman, The Upside Down Culture Collective, The Beehive Design Collective, Alfredo Jaar, the film �Hot and Bothered� (a documentary on feminist pornography by Becky Goldberg), the Stencil Pirates all-stencil art show, Drawing Resistance (a traveling political art show), The Lost Film Festival, David Rees (author of Get Your War On), David Rovics, The Long Hairz Collective and MC Invincible (for a �Folk the War� show), Robert Blake, �Drop Bass Not Bombs� (house/techno party at a local club in order to raise money for an antiwar conference at U of M).

To date, there have been no incidents of censorship. The Ann Arbor community has rallied around the monthly events, a true testament to the impact that a small group of people can have on the artistic and political culture of a town. University administrators have left rad.art alone and in truth probably don�t know that they exist, considering that they are one of 800 student groups at UM. This begs the question � if four students at the University of Michigan can set up this remarkable program on their campus � can similar organizations can easily be started on other campuses by student activists?

Rad.art advises others, �If you�re an activist, you should realize that your activism will not be attractive to many unless there is a strong, positive, and open culture that surrounds it. We can make our campus activist scenes more durable if we root them in the lives and cultures of the students that participate in them. Art events are a great way of affirming that your activism is about more than politics, that it is about life and living. They can also provide a more accessible entry point into radical politics for newer activists. If you host events such as those done by rad.art , you should get your friends onto whatever funding committees exist at your school so that you can get money for artists. And this is something that rad.art has done to some extent, but could do better: work in conjunction with other student organizations whenever possible. This is a good way of introducing new student populations into the culture you are creating through hosting radical art events. In terms of getting turnout for events, we put a big emphasis on creating excitement about upcoming rad.art events through extensive flyering, email lists, and word of mouth. Talking to people one-on-one has been invaluable in getting large turnouts at rad.art events.�

After a year of reflection on past events, rad.art was able to critique their strengths and weaknesses over the summer break, and to set an agenda for the fall semester. They noted, �we would like to add a focus on local work by having rad.art curate an exhibition of works by local political artists. Another idea that has been tossed around is an exhibition of recent political flyers from our area, looking at these flyers as works of art. By doing more locally-oriented events, as opposed to always relying on touring, non-local artists, we hope to create events that are more empowering for local artists. Noticing that last year�s lineup was predominately men, and not wanting to replicate the under-representation of women and minorities in mainstream art, we plan on featuring more radical female talent and artists of color next year. Also on the agenda are more participatory events, such as a stencil-making skill share that we have planned for this fall.�

True to their word, rad.art initiated the changes and the group has been at a fever pitch since the start of the semester. Expanding from four members to over 25, the schedule of events for the month of October 2003 alone speaks of the renewed energy and optimism. Events include: �Project (Stop the) Mayhem,� an evening with Clamor Magazine and Rooftop Films; a screening of �Afropunk: the Rock n Roll Nigger Experience,a documentary that explores race identity and racism within the punk scene, followed by a discussion with the director, James Spooner; Open Thought Music, political hip hop from NYC, which, in addition to performing, leads a discussion around the politics of hip hop and the problems of cultural appropriation; �Uniting the State of the Americas� � a multimedia spoken word performance by Climbing Poetree (Naima Penniman and Alixa Garcia). To close out the month, rad.art will be hosting Daphne Gottlieb, a performance poet recently published by Soft Skull Press who will read from her new book, The Final Girl. The fall session for rad.art will also include an art workshop series called �rad.skills.� The workshops include stenciling, pinhole photography, radical street dance (by the Pink Bloque of Chicago), flyer-making, and puppet-making. Rad.art has also been collaborating with other student groups, which has made the community that attends the events more diverse and vital.

The vast spectrum of events and workshops by rad.art makes one wonder if they are a student group or their own art school! Yet, tapping into funds and creating dynamic events should not be limited to students alone. Teachers have the ability, as well, to use class funds and other sources to bring compelling people and events to a campus. As an art history teacher in Milwaukee, I drew upon class funds to bring Howard Zinn, @rtmark, Terese Agnew, Clamor Magazine/Rooftop Films, Josh Macphee, and the film screening of the Yes Men, directed by Sarah Price and Chris Smith (American Movie), to the college that I work at during the 2002-2003 school year. The process of inviting people to speak is very easy; in many cases a simple invitation by email was all that was needed to set up an engagement. The important decision, though, is made inside � a decision to make it happen.

To learn more about rad.art or set up an event in Ann Arbor, contact: radart at umich.edu or www.umich.edu/~radart; write: rad.art at: P.O. Box 4253 Ann Arbor, MI 48106