Surveillance, Satire, and the State December 3, 2005

Larry Bogad (of Billionaires for Bush, Reclaim the Streets/NYC, Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, Absurd Response, et al) asks the question:

WOULD YOU VOTE FOR A GNOME?
(38,000 fed-up Amsterdammers did, when given the option in 1970?)

Bogad will perform ERADI-REDACTION, a short one-person performance piece about art, dissent, surveillance, censorship and the Patriot Act. Performing as Special Agent Christian White, he will take you on a cheerfully creepy tour through declassified federal surveillance documents.

After the break, Bogad will give a video and music-enhanced presentation based on his new book, ELECTORAL GUERRILLA THEATRE: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements.

Across the globe, in liberal democracies where the right to vote is framed as both civil right and civic duty, disillusioned creative activists run for public office on sarcastic, ironic and outrageous platforms. With little intention of winning in the usual sense, they use drag, camp, and stand-up comedy to undermine the legitimacy of their opponents, and call into question the fairness of the electoral system itself. Bogad looks at satirical campaigns around the world, including the GNOMES, who won 5 seats on the Amsterdam City Council, much to their own surprise?then the real pranks began...