Creative Activism - The Art of the Prank

July 14, 2009December 15, 2023

The Yes Men and the B’eau-Pal Water Action

From The Yes Men, July 13, 2009:

“B’eau-Pal Water Action to Mark Bhopal Catastrophe 25th Anniversary
Plans to contribute to climate action in lead-up to Copenhagen begin to take shape

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London – A new, beautifully-designed line of bottled water – this time not from the melting Alps, nor from faraway, clean-water-deprived Fiji, but rather from the contaminated ground near the site of the 1984 Bhopal catastrophe… is the center post of a new action to help mark the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Bhopal catastrophe, and coincides with the release of an official report by the Sambhavna Trust showing that local groundwater, vegetables, and breast milk are contaminated by toxic quantities of nickel, chromium, mercury, lead, and volatile organic compounds. The report describes how a majority of children in one nearby community are born with serious medical problems traceable to the contamination.

The effort to confront Dow Executives with this reality is supported by Bhopal Medical Appeal and The Yes Men with pro-bono help from top London creative design firm Kennedy Monk. It highlights Dow’s continued refusal to take responsibility for the disaster.

Read the full press release here, and check out this video on the creative development behind the water bottle:

July 12, 2009December 15, 2023

United Breaks Guitars

From Dave Carroll of the Sons of Maxwell:

In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United: Song 1 is the first of those songs. United: Song 2 has been written and video production is underway. United: Song 3 is coming. I promise. Follow me at http://twitter.com/DaveCarroll. Video Produced by Curve Productions of Halifax.

United: Song 1

See the full story: here…

June 10, 2009 Statement: Dave shares some thoughts after the success of United Breaks Guitars, July 10, 2009:

thanks Don

July 1, 2009December 15, 2023

Student Hoax Wins Paris Match Photojournalism Prize [English & French]

Submitted by David Strom:

French magazine Paris Match was the victim of a hoax when it was revealed that this year’s winners of its Photojournalism Award had faked their images

Student hoax wins magazine’s top prize
by John Lichfield in Paris
The Independent
27 June 2009S

Amid its traditional mixture of glossy celebrity and gritty reportage, the magazine Paris Match published this week a searing double-page spread on student poverty in France.

The excellent black and white photographs of students prostituting themselves or looking for food in dustbins won the magazine’s annual prize for student photojournalism. Student poverty certainly exists in France but the photos were entirely faked.

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Continue reading “Student Hoax Wins Paris Match Photojournalism Prize [English & French]”

June 24, 2009December 15, 2023

Montreal Infringement Festival Encourages Activism

Infringement keeps things loose
Al Kratina
The Gazette
June 20, 2009

Anti-corporate art fest is constantly evolving

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It seems fitting that the news conference for Montreal’s Infringement Festival is taking place at Barfly, the popular watering hole that occasionally resembles a mix between a crust-punk squat and a revolutionary headquarters.

The 11-day festival, which runs until June 28, fiercely opposes corporate influence on culture, and encourages activist art. This includes theatre, music, visual arts and everything in between – which, judging from the masked fellow seated beside me, might include Mexican wrestling or maybe a bank heist.

“Infringement is a chance to challenge any aspect of the monoculture that … you think there’s a problem with,” organizer Jason McLean says. Continue reading “Montreal Infringement Festival Encourages Activism”

June 19, 2009December 15, 2023

Civil Disobedients Sought via Fake Newspaper

Press release submitted by The Yes Men, June 18, 2009:

World Leaders Sign Pact to Avert Climate Disaster

Newspaper Ignites Hope, Announces “Civil Disobedience Database”
[Watch video here]

In a front-page ad in today’s International Herald Tribune, the leaders of the European Union thank the European public for having engaged in months of civil disobedience leading up to the Copenhagen climate conference that will be held this December. “It was only thanks to your massive pressure over the past six months that we could so dramatically shift our climate-change policies…. To those who were arrested, we
thank you.”

There was only one catch: the paper was fake.

Looking exactly like the real thing, but dated December 19th, 2009, a million copies of the fake paper were distributed worldwide by thousands of volunteers in order to show what could be achieved at the Copenhagen climate conference that is scheduled for Dec. 7-18, 2009. (At the moment, the conference is aiming for much more modest cuts, dismissed by leading climate scientists as too little, too late to stave off runaway processes that will lead to millions or even billions of casualties.)

The paper describes in detail a powerful (and entirely possible) new treaty to bring carbon levels down below 350 parts per million – the level climate scientists say we need to achieve to avoid climate catastrophe. One article describes how a website, http://BeyondTalk.net, mobilized thousands of people to put their bodies on the line to confront climate change policies – ever since way back in June, 2009.

Although the newspaper is a fake (its production and launch were coordinated by Greenpeace), the website is real. Continue reading “Civil Disobedients Sought via Fake Newspaper”