The Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions

The Lost Episode! We recorded this episode over 2 years ago and dug it out of the vaults for you! We left off at episode 12 – The Chevy Suburban.

Superstores, supercenters, megastores! These aren’t big boxes, they are GIANT boxes and inside are not only swaths products, but on-brand restaurants or services like opticians and hairdressers. Yes, we could have gone to Bed Bath & Beyond, explored the cafe at the top floor of a Nordstrom’s, or even wandered around a Walmart. But you know how we do, we chose Bass Pro Shops! Listen as Pat, Steve, and Steve go through the lifecycle of a retail outing, from excited to disenchanted. Steve and Pat get kinda uncomfortable, but that’s the point!

Bass Pro Shops is a hunting, fishing, camping, and outdoor clothing and recreation chain started in Springfield Missouri but, while they started in the south, they have stores across the country. They own the brand Cabela’s and have over 175 stores bringing in $8 billion in revenue in 2018. Bass Pro Shops sponsor NASCAR drivers and host the NRA’s National Sporting Arms Museum in their flagship Springfield store.

Their Bass Pro Shops “Outdoor World” stores include restaurants, aquariums, open ponds with live fish and boats, taxidermy, bowling alleys, as well as shooting and archery ranges and classes on outdoor skills.

Sound Note: This show was recorded in a superstore and moving car – and given that it still sounds good! Thanks to Jimmy Bigbee Garver who recorded, edited, and mixed this episode.

• Bass Pro Shops on wikipedia
• The Memphis Pyramid
• The Socialist Rifle Association

We want to thank our sponsor who made this episode of the Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions possible, Bass Pr– just kidding! That’s never gonna happen. This show is paid for by donations to the Center for Artistic Activism, a 501.3c non-profit organization.

If you like our work – donate! (It’s a tax-deductible and a little bit goes a long way)

DONATE!

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“It’s a brand new car!” The gang hit the road in a 2018 Chevrolet Suburban SUV. Rugged, automation, comfort, and luxury – how can we use these lessons in our activism?

Sound Note: This show was recorded in a moving car. Thanks to Jimmy Bigbee Garver who recorded, edited, and mixed this episode.

Why the Suburban? It’s the longest continuous use automobile nameplate in production, starting in 1935, and has traditionally been one of General Motors’ most profitable vehicles.

Chevrolet Suburban – Wikipedia

We were driving the 11th Generation of the Suburban. Truck front, station wagon back: it’s the reverse mullet of the Chevy truck line.

If you’re not familiar with the Suburban…

• Faking It: Engine-Sound Enhancement Explained-Tech Dept.
• www.popularmechanics.com – The Rise of the Fake Engine Roar
• BMW M5 generates fake engine noise using stereo
• A roar deal: why your car’s engine noise might be fake

We want to thank our sponsor who made this episode of the Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions possible, The Chevrol– just kidding! That’s never gonna happen. This show is paid for by donations to the Center for Artistic Activism, a 501.3c non-profit organization.

If you like the show – donate! (It’s a tax-deductible and a little bit goes a long way)

DONATE!

The post 12: The Chevrolet Suburban appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

Creative Resistance is a special edition podcast mini-series in affiliation with the Center for Artistic Activism and is hosted by Research Fellow, Sarah J Halford.

Creative Resistance is a special edition podcast mini-series in affiliation with the Center for Artistic Activism and is hosted by Research Fellow, Sarah J Halford.

In this episode, we heard from art activists Diana Arce, Elliot Crown, Mark Read of The Illuminator, and André Leipold of the Center for Political Beauty.

From Stephen Duncombe, co-founder of the Center for Artistic Activism:

“I’m very interested in metrics which are relative to what artistic activists want to do\…I think it’s too arrogant to say, ‘here’s the one path to success’ – that doesn’t get to the nuances of how artistic activism works. But I do think we need to demand that people have an idea of what they want to have happen and have criteria, their own criteria, for measurements of: are we moving closer to it or farther away from it? Because without those measurements how do you know if what you’re doing actually works?”

Photo credit: Elliot Crown (Pictured: Elliot Crown in costume).

How do we know when something has succeeded or failed? We “measure” it with parameters called **metrics. **

Everyone has different metrics of success and failure; it’s up to you to choose your own. These may be statistical (i.e. how many people showed up to my event?), but they could also be more intangible (i.e. a story someone shared about changing their actions).

Remember the affect/effect relationship when figuring out your metrics of success and failure. If someone told you that your work made them feel a certain way, great (that’s the affect). But did they do something different (that’s the effect) based on that feeling? We’re shooting for a tangible effect in artistic activism.

Going back to your objectives/goals can help you to determine your metrics.

• (https://c4aa.org/2016/09/diana-arce/)
• (https://c4aa.org/2017/01/elliot-crown/)
• (https://c4aa.org/2016/08/andre-leipold/)

Music By (in order of appearance):

• Theme: “Drum Flute Loop in G Minor” by Enoe
• “Golden Hour” by Podington Bear
• “Sepia” by Podington Bear
• “Hip Horns with Drums” by Ryan Cullinane

Music courtesy of freemusicarchive.org

Special thanks to Professor Stephen Duncombe.

For more information on the Center for Artistic Activism, visit: https://c4aa.org

This was a mini-series, and this was the last episode. The Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions will return to this feed in the future.

Thanks again to Sarah J Halford, creator and host of Creative Resistance: The Podcast Mini-Series

Sarah J Halford is an academic and activist based in Boston. She has worked closely with the Center for Artistic Activism as a research fellow, conducting fieldwork for the Æfficacy project. Additionally, she worked as a fellow of the Urban Democracy Lab and acted as lead researcher in projects for the British Council. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate of Sociology at Brandeis University, where she is conducting research on social movements and culture.

Sarah received a Master of Arts in 2017 from the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she created and produced a podcast mini-series, entitled Creative Resistance, as her thesis. After collecting interviews with art activists from around the world, she identified several recurring themes in her data and dedicated an episode in the mini-series to each of them. Creative Resistance is meant to act as a widely-accessible pedagogical resource for artists and activists alike, and is an example of the growing trend of research projects that utilize free and public mediums for dissemination.

She extends her deepest gratitude to Stephen Duncombe and the entire team at the Center for Artistic Activism for providing the support, opportunity, and platform necessary for her work.

Wow, that was great right?

Well, your donations help programs like this happen. The Center for Artistic Activism is a 501.3(c) non-profit – we do this because we love it. If you love it to – donate! A little bit, (or a lot). We make it easy and we have great thank you gifts: c4aa.org/donate

The post Creative Resistance 5: Success & Failure appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

Creative Resistance is a special edition podcast mini-series in affiliation with the Center for Artistic Activism and is hosted by Research Fellow, Sarah J Halford.

In this episode, we heard from art activists: Ron Goldberg, Elliot Crown, Avram Finkelstein

“Well, it was pretty nightmarish actually. In 1984 – it was before Rock Hudson was diagnosed, Reagan had never mentioned the word, it was a very private moment to be experiencing what I did…Of course, I thought I was going to die myself – there was no HIV test back then, so you just had to make assumptions about yourself. And you have to realize people were literally dying in hospital corridors and being thrown out of their apartments and dying on the street. It was really bad! It’s impossible to understand how bad it was.”

Photo credit: Avram Finkelstein (pictured at center, circa 1985)

Context can make or break any action. It is perhaps the single most important element of artistic activism, as there’s a context for your audience, your tactics, and even logistical things like location and the weather.

The various contexts that we’re working with need to be on our minds consistently when creating artistic activism, and a helpful way to do that is to practice shifting our focus from the little picture to the big picture and back again.

The more you look, the more contextual elements you’ll see that need to be taken into consideration.

• Ron Goldberg Full Interview Transcript
• Elliot Crown Full Interview Transcript
• Avram Finkelstein Full Interview Transcript

Music By (in order of appearance):

• Theme: “Drum Flute Loop in G Minor” by Enoe
• “Conveyor Belt” by Podington Bear
• “Adventure Darling” by Gillicuddy
• “Please Listen Carefully” by Jahzzar

Music courtesy of freemusicarchive.org

Special thanks to Professor Stephen Duncombe.

For more information on the Center for Artistic Activism, visit: c4aa.org

Enjoying this show? We’re glad. Your donations help make things like this happen. The Center for Artistic Activism is a 501.3(c) non-profit – we do this because we love it. If you love it to – donate! A little bit, (or a lot). We make it easy and we have great thank you gifts: c4aa.org

The post Creative Resistance 4: Context appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

Creative Resistance is a special edition podcast mini-series in affiliation with the Center for Artistic Activism and is hosted by Research Fellow, Sarah J Halford.

In this episode, we hear from art activists Ron Goldberg, Joey Juschka, Diana Arce, André Leipold (Center for Political Beauty).

ACT UP protest of the FDA in 1988 Photo credit: (http://www.actupny.org/)## Major takeaways from episode 3:

A tactic is a thing that you do in order to reach an objective. In artistic activism, often times those tactics will be art-related.

A strategy is the overall plan for your work, which takes on different areas – often artistic activism takes on a cultural strategy, but there can be a legal strategy, political strategy, and so on. Strategies are also linked to goals, the big things that we want the work to accomplish. We create a strategy in order to direct the tactics and collect successful objectives along the way.

There is no one right way of approaching tactics and strategies in art for social change efforts. Ron Goldberg recognized that his tactics needed to be ready at a moment’s notice with the ability to be improvised, Joey Jushka wants her writing to be funny and imaginative, while Andre Leipold and Political Beauty want to throw you off your axis and provoke you into action.

• Ron Goldberg Full Interview Transcript
• Joey Juschka Full Interview Transcript
• Diana Arce Full Interview Transcript
• André Leipold Full Interview Transcript

Music By (in order of appearance):

• Theme: “Drum Flute Loop in G Minor” by Enoe
• “Please Listen Carefully” by Jahzzar
• “Golden Hour” by Podington Bear
• “Hip Horns with Drums” by Ryan Cullinane

Music courtesy of freemusicarchive.org

Special thanks to Professor Stephen Duncombe.

For more information on the Center for Artistic Activism, visit: c4aa.org

Your donations help programs like this happen. The Center for Artistic Activism is a 501.3(c) non-profit – we do this because we love it. If you love it to – donate! A little bit, (or a lot). We make it easy and we have great thank you gifts: c4aa.org/donate

The post Creative Resistance 3: Tactics & Strategies appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

Creative Resistance is a special edition podcast mini-series in affiliation with the Center for Artistic Activism and is hosted by Research Fellow, Sarah J Halford.

In this episode, we heard from art activists Avram Finkelstein, Mark Read and Rachel Brown of The Illuminator, Diana Arce, and Beatrice Glow.

“First of all, I think that art that isn’t about communication is about class. So, if you’re an activist who’s making art and what you’re trying to do or say is not clear, you’re no better than being in a Gagosian Gallery. It’s not activism if it’s not understandable. So, clarity is essential to having an audience understand it.”

Avram Finkelstein | C4AA.org – photo credit ACTUPny.org

“I talk about these domino-effects in a perfume shop, and that allures an audience that I find normally wouldn’t go into an art space. An art space presents this hierarchy, and in a shop it’s broken down into consumer language, which is I think becoming a universal, international language at this point. So, how do we find new ways of reaching out to folks? That’s the biggest challenge that I think educators and artists face today.”

Beatrice Glow | C4AA.org – photo credit – Beatrice Glow

• The audience is a key element in artistic activism; incorporating the audience into the work is what can take the art from a personal project to social activism.
• We need to figure out who the audience or audiences are, and get as specific as possible.
• Then, we need to investigate what kinds of signs, symbols, and codes resonate with them so that we can make artistic activism that is understandable to the people we’re trying to reach.

Avram Finkelstein Full Interview Transcript
Diana Arce Full Interview Transcript
Beatrice Glow Full Interview Transcript

Music By (in order of appearance):

• Theme: “Drum Flute Loop in G Minor” by Enoe
• “Adventure Darling” by Gillicuddy
• “Conveyor Belt” by Podington Bear
• “Please Listen Carefully” by Jahzzar

Music courtesy of freemusicarchive.org

Special thanks to Professor Stephen Duncombe.

For more information on the Center for Artistic Activism, visit: c4aa.org

The Center for Artistic Activism is a 501.3(c) non-profit – we do this because we love it. If you love it to – donate! A little bit, (or a lot). We make it easy and we have great thank you gifts! c4aa.org

The post Creative Resistance 2: Audience appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

Creative Resistance is a special edition podcast mini-series in affiliation with the Center for Artistic Activism and is hosted by Research Fellow, Sarah J Halford.

In this episode, we meet Diana Arce, who is an artist, researcher, and activist based in Berlin.

Diana’s also the creator of Politaoke, a karaoke-style participatory performance in which audience members are invited to step into the shoes of politicians from their region by delivering portions of political speeches.

You’ll hear more from Diana in the coming episodes, but you can read her full interview with the Center for Artistic Activism here. If you want to know more, Diana and others are featured in our great Artist-Activist Interviews as well. And be sure to check out her website for more of her incredible works of artistic activism!

Art activists in this episode:.

Diana Arce

Diana Arce Full Interview Transcript

Major takeaways from episode 1:

• No matter if you’re an artist who wants to use your work for the greater good, an activist who wants to get creative, or someone with zero experience in either area but is really concerned about an issue – artistic activism is for you because it’s for everyone.
• Artistic activism utilizes the affect/effect relationship. Affect, as in feelings, effect as in results. So, people see the art and they feel something that motivates them to do something.
• Objectives are the smaller, more attainable accomplishments that are necessary steps toward goals, the bigger accomplishments. So, we can start thinking about what overall goals we want the work to accomplish (i.e. stop systemic racism! Make feminism intersectional!, etc.), and then figure out the necessary objectives that we need to reach before that can happen.
• And, artistic activism has been used for years and years by people from all types of actions and movements, so creating this work is actually a continuation of efforts from activists of prior generations.

Like this podcast? Help us out and donate a little something tax deductible to the C4AA

An additional art activist in this episode:

Avram Finkelstein

Avram Finkelstein Full Interview Transcript

Music By (in order of appearance):

Music courtesy of freemusicarchive.org

Special thanks to Professor Stephen Duncombe.

Listen to more C4AA podcasts here.

The post Creative Resistance 1: What is Artistic Activism? appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

Enjoy C4AA’s podcasts? Donate now!

Pat and the Steve’s have been doing C4AA work around the world, so we haven’t seen new Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions episodes in some months. However, we have good news. C4AA Research Fellow Sarah J. Halford has delivered Creative Resistance – a podcast mini-series on the basics of artistic activism, as told by the practicioner’s themselves.

In each episode, Sarah explores a fundamental theme of artistic activism through interviews with art activists who discuss examples of their work and some invaluable lessons that they’ve learned along the way. The entire mini-series is guided by the expert theoretical and practical knowledge of C4AA co-founder, Stephen Duncombe.

Episode list:

Art activists in this episode:.

Diana Arce

Diana Arce Full Interview Transcript

Avram Finkelstein

Avram Finkelstein Full Interview Transcript

For more information on the Center for Artistic Activism, visit: c4aa.org

Music By:

The post Coming soon: Creative Resistance Mini-Series! appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

We’re back! Stephen Duncombe arranges a Sunday Brunch at Jane Restaurant in NYC. Steve Lambert brings a long his mom as the expert, a former Domincan nun with a masters degree in Theology.

For many people Brunch is a socially acceptable excuse to get drunk before noon and talk trash with your friends. Lambert is skeptical, but all are reminded there’s versions of this in many cultures (Sunday Menudo, Dim Sum, etc) and that most of these people are replacing church. So… what can we use here?

Rita Lambert talks about the idea of a secular liturgy. How do we create traditions and rituals to support our campaigns that incorporate social bonding?

Noun

via wiktionary

Patricia Jerido – The Man Who Invented Christmas and the many versions of A Christmas Carol

Stephen Duncombe – Ramen shops (coming to your town soon)

Rita Lambert – Christmas and Holiday decorations

Steve Lambert – The Good Place

Thanks to our listener turned volunteer editor: Mr. David Hart!

The post 11: Brunch appeared first on The Center for Artistic Activism.

This time the gang heads to Newark to see WWE Smackdown live! This is the first time any of them have seen professional wrestling live, and the most wrestling any of them had ever seen in their lives.

Why? Professional wrestling, love it or hate it, is massively poplular. With over 300 events per year and 36 million viewers in 150 different countries – people love professional wrestling! And the history of professional wrestling – goes back hundreds of years to Bunkum, Ballyhoo, sideshows, Punch and Judy shows, even Commedia Dell’arte! It pops up in the 40’s in the USA, Mexico, and Japan. It’s part of the beginnings of the history of television!

Gorgeous George in the 1940s

While various leagues existed across the US, World Wrestling Entertainment eventually consolidated them and now hosts events across the world and airs them on television – they even have their own subscriber based cable channel.

“The WWE is the AFL of wrestling”

Check out the stats on the popularity of wrestling at the Indeed Wrestling blog.

Memphis Wrestling TV Show:

Memphis Wrestling Full Episode 08-14-1982 Nature Boy Ric Flair vs King Jerry Lawler. Watch Rick Flair play the heel.

Heel (or the Villian) – In professional wrestling, a heel (also known as a rudo in lucha libre) is a wrestler who is villainous or a “bad guy”, who is booked (scripted) by the promotion to be in the position of being an antagonist.13 They are typically opposed by their polar opposites, faces, who are heroic or “good guy” characters.

In order to gain heat (with boos and jeers from the audience), heels are often portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner by breaking rules or otherwise taking advantage of their opponents outside the bounds of the standards of the match.

Face (or the good guy) – In professional wrestling, a face, babyface is a heroic or a “good guy” wrestler, booked (scripted) by the promotion with the aim of being cheered by fans.1 Faces, traditionally, will wrestle within the rules and avoid cheating (in contrast to the heels that use illegal moves and call in additional wrestlers to do their work for them) while behaving positively towards the referee and the audience.

Read THE WORLD OF WRESTLING, from Mythologies by Roland Barthes – yes, Barthes “got” wrestling.

Want to watch some movies instead? Here’s two videos that can help you understand

Watch: Wrestling Isn’t Wrestling – “A case study of longtime WWE superstar, Triple H, to explain why wrestling is an epic example of storytelling at its best.”

Watch: Beyond the Mat-Pro Wrestling Documentary – “A heartfelt documentary focusing on the lives of professional wrestlers and how their sport is not fake.”

These are really worth checking out.

Since recording, we’ve learned Rusev was Russian last year – his intro videos included images of Putin – and changed to Bulgarian in 2015.

Bo Dallas – The most inspirational wrestler. ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS BO-LIEVE!

The New Day uses the “power of positivity”… sort of?

Rolling Stone calls The New Day WWE Wrestlers of the year – “The two-time tag champs have transformed from preachy dreck to a source of constant entertainment as duplicitous positive-energy evangelists.”

The Lucha Dragons – Acrobatic mexican wrestlers with an asian motif

Roman Reigns does The “Superman Punch”

Roman Reigns Superman Punch

Tyler Breeze takes selfie’s in the ring before and after the match

Side note: “Fox News and various right-wing commentators including Glenn Beck claimed that Swagger and Colter’s characters were a mockery of the Tea Party movement meant to “demonize” the Tea Party”. Read more.

Kevin Owens – not necessarily the most “athletic” looking guy.

Kevin Owens

Vince McMahon, COO of the WWE lies knocked out on stage by Roman Reigns

Satire

Berthold Brecht

“If you took everyone in every Walmart and put them in a stadium, you’d have a wrestling audience.”

“This is the future of socialism right here.”

Relax – not everything needs to be perfect and the show will go on!

Repetition – have we underestimated it’s power?

Billionaires for Bush as wrestling heels!

Teaching, versus offering an opportunity to learn.

Women Wrestlers as a sign of progress

“Wrestling teaches how to exist in a diverse society.”

Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions Minecraft Episode – we learn about Minecraft, but as Joe McKay points out in his letter, we didn’t actually play it. And being the player is important.

How do you include participation, change, and criticism without burning out?

Lambert – Lip Sync Battle with LL Cool J

Dwayne Johnson shows Jimmy Fallon how to Shake It Off by performing the Taylor Swift hit. Jimmy hits back with a Harry Belafonte classic “Jump In The Line”.

Pat – Christmas! And we debate whether to keep Christ in or out of Christmas. Duncombe is for out, but not for the reason’s you’d expect.

Duncombe – Buying a gun. Yes, Duncombe bought a gun. And it was depressing.

Radio Lab Rhino Hunter – “Back in 2014, Corey Knowlton paid $350,000 for a hunting trip to Namibia to shoot and kill an endangered species.  He’s a professional hunter, who guides hunts all around the world, so going to Africa would be nothing new.  The target on the other hand would be. And so too, he quickly found, would be the attention.”

Steve Lambert, Patricia Jerido, and Stephen Duncombe

Check out more examples of artistic activism on our site, c4aa.org and actipedia.org.

Music: The Reigning Sound, “Stick Up for Me” courtesy of the Free Music Archive

The Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions on iTunes and wherever you get your podcasts.

More on the Center for Artistic Activism at artisticactivism.org, Stephen Duncombe at stephenduncombe.com, Patricia Jerido on Twitter, and Steve Lambert at visitsteve.com

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