…Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.
60 years ago, in 1966 on Easter Sunday, Joey Skaggs dragged his iconoclastic sculpture of a naked and decayed figure of Jesus Christ on a crucifix into Tompkins Square Park on the lower east side. It was his personal statement about the war in Vietnam and the hypocrisy of religion.
This was the beginning of Skaggs’ career as an artist who used the streets as his theater.
Reminiscent of Joey Skaggs’ Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning, Central Park, 1968
“Zip-Tied Baby Jesus Guarded by ICE Agents in Illinois Church Nativity Scene,” by TMZ Staff, TMZ, December 4, 2025.
No Room at the Inn, or the Border!!! Baby Jesus Tied Up in Church Nativity Manger.
If Jesus comes to the U.S., he’d better have a valid visa … at least that’s the worry of an Illinois church that’s installed a controversial Nativity scene depicting the baby messiah zip-tied in a manger.
Lake Street Church of Evanston — just north of Chicago — reimagined the Nativity with masked centurions wearing green vests labeled “ICE” surrounding the Holy Family. Mother Mary and Joseph wear respirator masks to shield themselves from tear gas, according to the church. Read the whole article here.
Dancers protest Trump’s cultural appropriation.
“Protest Dance Outside Kennedy Center Targets Trump’s Attack on Culture,” by Emma Cieslik, Hyperallergic, November 24, 2025.
Dozens of workers have been terminated since the president took over the institution in February.
WASHINGTON, DC — On Saturday, November 22, protestors expanded and crunched their bodies, arms rising and falling with flicked wrists, as they marched in front of the Kennedy Center with stoic expressions. Passersby would be excused for mistaking it for an official performance, but the show outside the nation’s art center was actually a “dance protest” organized in response to President Trump’s rising authoritarianism.
While DC was buzzing with action across the city at the Remove the Regime march and fold-in event at the Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center offered a powerful backdrop for resistance. Days before, the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works launched an investigation into cronyism and corruption at the Kennedy Center under the leadership of Richard Grenell, whom Trump appointed as the institution’s interim president in February. Read the whole article here.
Peace on Earth? Not everywhere. 56 years later, and there’s still no merry Christmas in war.
Emma Cieslik covers artists’ renditions of the Nativity throughout history for Hyperallergic in “Nativity Scenes Have Never Been Neutral,” including Joey Skaggs’ “Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning” in 1968.
Check out Indecline’s new film in Rolling Stone. h/t Dino
From: Indecline Debuts ‘The Art of Protest’ Documentary, Rolling Stone
In activist-artist collective Indecline’s new documentary, protest art is shown as not only relevant, but necessary for change
When Indecline started work on their documentary The Art of Protest in late 2018, they wanted to tell the history of resistance art. Over the previous two years — since they broke onto the national consciousness with their naked-Trump, guerilla-art instillation The Emperor Has No Balls, the activist-artist collective has staged numerous pieces of public art in protest of the Trump presidency. To tell the story, they reached out to Colin Day (director of Saving Banksy) and started shopping around the idea to streaming services. But as the pandemic unfolded, and the Black Lives Matter movement reignited across the streets of the nation, their mission changed. As a representative for Indecline puts it: “What was once set up to be a deep dive into the history of resistance art, soon became a ‘call to action.’”
Now, the 45-minute film — executive produced and distributed by Zero Cool films and premiering here on Rolling Stone — traces the history of protest art, from the Civil Rights movement through the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. It does so in a way that is equal parts gut-wrenching and exhilarating, illustrating how despite the passage of time, little has changed. To this end, they were careful in their curation of who to talk to: not only did they bring in the heavy hitters most associated with the modern protest-art movement — like Shephard Fairey, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Tom Morello, and Dave Navarro (who also helped to finance the film) — they were careful to incorporate a wider range of voices. Leaders from youth-run 501(c) The Sunrise Movement talk about uniting movements, while the Yes Men discuss bringing absurdity to Capitol Hill. Atlanta’s Ash Nash remembers organizing the “Kaeperbowl” in Atlanta in 2019, spurring artists across the city to paint images of Colin Kaepernick in public places as the Super Bowl rolled into town. Damien Echols, one of the West Memphis Three, speaks to being literally saved from death row by protest art.
At the heart of the film is Indecline’s work over the past four years. Read the rest of this article here.