The Art of Occupy: A Mini Blog Salon with R. Black by / Guest Author

Welcome to The Art of Occupy, a mini blog salon taking place all this week. Each day this week, two invited Bay Area guest authors discuss aspects of the art of the Occupy Movement. These authors then begin a dialogue about their ideas, which readers can continue and develop. What compels you about the Art of Occupy?

Right now, there is a lot of talk about the Occupy Movement's varied and vibrant works of art, in all media – and how these artworks have reactivated fierce debates about the possible intersections of art and political action. Today's guest authors are graphic artist R. Black of the Shotgun Players, and Arlene Goldbard, a writer and activist. Their blog pieces jointly address posters and power, economics and tear gas. Read on:

Guest Author: R. BLACK

NOTHING FUELS ART LIKE A REVOLUTION...
(OR THE DIARY OF A BABY PROPAGANDIST)

And that's what I said to myself the night of October 22 in downtown Oakland while I was riding my bike through a cloud of tear gas. Granted, I willingly choose that route as an alternative to fleeing with the masses (rule #1, never run with the herd) down the opposite direction, and if you never tried it, have some sometime, it’s great for the sinuses and will make you appreciate your vision…a lot.

Up until that night I had no intention of doing art for the movement we call Occupy. As an already, luckily, gainfully employed artist and staff member at Shotgun Players, my plate was already overflowing, and those of you in the theatre field know how much free time there is this racket. But like any good theatre designer I couldn’t resist to have just one more item from the buffet cart. So as I was walking around that night I amidst the throngs of Oaklanders with their flags and protest signs against the backdrop of the police line in riot gear I was struck by inspiration, grabbed my bike, through the poison gas (because you need to suffer for art) down San Pablo at midnight (again, suffering for art) and to the Bat Cave where, in a flurry of artistic fervor, I cranked out the first of my Occupy posters. To my surprise and delight it was well received and went mini-viral if only for second, and that is a lot by today’s standard of attention span, remember, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 seconds."

I was hooked, and have since produced about a dozen posters, zine covers, and web graphics for Occupy nationwide. Up until now I’ve had a great run as poster artist, getting my start with underground club promotions and rock posters, having a book published of my collection through Dark Horse Comics, and following my art heroes into theatre work landing a great job at a great theatre company. Could there be more? YES! My addiction with poster work is the science of mind control through visuals. How to make the perfect recipe of message, layout, font and design; how to influence the viewer in under 10 seconds; how to make the poster look more fun than the event itself. It needs to stand out. It has to grab you by the nuts and let you know who’s in control.

Which is why a revolution is so enticing to a poster artist, not only to be involved in a movement you support, but to be able to influence the masses through art. Revolution, like art and artists, is full of passion; it’s impulsive and crazy, it hates to obey the rules and wants to piss off the status quo. It’s the ultimate for a visual artist, when there is more on the line than dollars and attendance to an event, when it’s the future of a society that you are directly a part of - in a word, fantastic.
 

To view the companion piece in this blog salon pair, click here.

R. Black is a published artist and a graphic designer for the Shotgun Players. To see his Occupy and other artwork, visit rblack.org.

The views represented in this Chatterbox Art & Opinion post are those of the individual author, and do not necessarily represent the views of Theatre Bay Area or its staff.