mark cooley
Since 2002
Works in United States of America

ARTBASE (5)
PORTFOLIO (4)
BIO
Mark Cooley is an interdisciplinary artist interested in exploring the intersections of art, activism and institutional critique in a variety of contexts. Subjects of particular interest are U.S. foreign policy, corporate culture, and the political economy of new technologies. Recently, Mark has focused his attention on food production and consumption and the ways in which artists may mediate in these processes.

http://www.flawedart.net


The New American Dictionary


The Boston-based performance group Institute for Infinitely Small Things has published a book called The New American Dictionary.

The dictionary highlights the terminology of fear, security and war that has permeated American English post 9-11. It includes 68 new terms i.e. Preparedness and Freedom Fries as well as terms that have recently been redefined i.e. Torture.

The dictionary also has an interactive dimension. 58 terms are left undefined for the reader to pencil in their own definition. Furthermore, readers are invited to submit their additions to the institute for a possible inclusion in the 2nd edition.

The New American Dictionary is available at several online stores.

www.newamericandictionary.com

READ ON »


exhaust emissions balloons


exhaust_emissions.jpg
a huge balloon, tied to a car�s vent-pipe, depicting the amount of exhaust emissions a car releases a day.

the "bursting earth" project is similar, but more dynamic. activists attach world globe balloons on exhaust pipes of cars in Berlin. the exhaust gas inflates the ballons. after the message becomes readable, there is a big "bang".

[link: frederiksamuel.com & adsoftheworld.com & 20to20.org]

READ ON »


WoW!


Aram Bartholl is a german artist renowned for making physical abstractions of the digital world, particularly game-worlds.

One of Aram's not-to-be-missed performances is inspired by the popular computer game World of Warcraft (WoW).

In WoW, the nickname of the player's avatar is constantly hovering above the head of the player so that the identity is visible for everyone else in the game.

Aram took this little feature out of cyberspace to see how it would look if people's names would float above their heads in the physical world too.

WoW has been performed at different locations around the world. Luckily, it is well-documented!


Getting coffee WoW style Workshop in Ghent Project Site

READ ON »


REALIZING THE IMPOSSIBLE: ART AGAINST AUTHORITY


reaimp.jpg

Aesthetics and Politics

REALIZING THE IMPOSSIBLE: ART AGAINST AUTHORITY by Josh MacPhee, Erik Reuland, editors :: There has always been a close relationship between aesthetics and politics in anti-authoritarian social movements. And those movements have in turn influenced many of the last century's most important art movements, including cubism, Dada, post-impressionism, abstract expressionism, surrealism, Fluxus, Situationism, and punk. Today, the movement against corporate globalization, with its creative acts of resistance, has brought anti-authoritarian politics into the forefront. This sprawling, inclusive collection explores this vibrant history, with topics ranging from turn-of-the-century French cartoonists to modern Indonesian printmaking, from people rolling giant balls of trash down Chicago streets to massive squatted urban villages and renegade playgrounds in Denmark, from stencil artists of Argentina to radical video collectives of the US and Mexico. Lots of illustrations, all b&w.;

READ ON »



Discussions (102) Opportunities (8) Events (39) Jobs (2)
DISCUSSION

css layout


readymade web - css layout v.DWMX2004

EVENT

WAR IS OUR COMMON ENEMY


Dates:
Sat Feb 05, 2005 00:00 - Fri Feb 04, 2005

LUMPEN - WAR NEWS FUNDRAISER PARTY
FEB 5 - buddy / high School / CHICAGO
1542 N Milwauke AVe 2nd /3rd Fl saturday 9pm $5-10 donation!
No one will be turned away. But we do need some dosh!

Featuring performances by:
FAR RAD / AL BURIAN & FRIENDS / CHANDELIERS

ANNOUNCING A NEW LUMPEN PROJECT: WAR NEWS
We want to create an antiwar newspaper with counter recruitment resources
and posters for the kids. We need you to help us put it out. It is an
educational project.

Enjoy live music by Far Rad, Chandeliers, and Al Burian with his special
friends. Watch the amazing BBC series called the Power of Nightmares. It’s
an amazing eye opening documentary about the lies and delusions of the
Neo Cons War On Terror. 8pm -11pm at high School. Live music starts at 10pm
in buddY. After the live music we’ll party like it’s 1984. We’ll also
exhibit some of the posters we hope to print in the War News paper.
Help us choose which ones should be mass produced.
::

"In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they
promise to protect us from nightmares.

The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror
network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these
nightmares."

An article about The Power of Nightmares
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0126-30.htm


DISCUSSION

Re: Re: Arts Intolerance: Emily Jacir/Ulrich Museum Wichita


what's interesting to me about this situation is that this is a case where the institution has failed to filter out something that is potentially destructive to the institution itself (financially anyway). This goes to show that institutions are not monolithic, since apparently there were individuals who thought the work would be beneficial in some way - perhaps to the institution, the public or otherwise. Obviously, this conflicted with cash flow and members of the upper administration seem to have shown themselves as either spineless and/or in ideological agreement with the protestors. somehow it always seems refreshing (even though it ususally pisses me off) to see protest around an art exhibit. Perhaps, it means that the art is working, i mean that it is actually effective in engaging peoples minds about issues outside of whether this color looks good next to that one and all that vacuous formalism that tends to hang in the air of galleries. As far as protecting the "purity" and "neutrality" of the gallery - if anything, this is an illustration that an art exhibit is never pure and neutral - but it is usually only when controversy hits that all of the usually hidden agendas come out into view. I don't see how an artist showing in a large institution can somehow think that the politics of that institution cease at the entrance of the gallery. I can't count how many times i have walked into a museum to see "challenging and controversial" work and looked up on the wall to see 10 logos of major corporation who sponsored the exhibition. that's not controversial in any sense that i'm interested in. Here we have an institution scrambling to protect it's capital because the art that was accepted into the institution has (albeit unintentionally) somehow threatened the institution itself. that's subversive. i suggest the artist throw away the notion of a "pure" space, try anticipate these sorts of things, and work responses to them into future shows.

this reminds me of chomsky's critique of the media. You have to understand what the institution is there to do - what the power and operating structure is, what the goals are - then you will no longer be surprised when the institution rejects something that it finds destructive to itself - which is not to say that we shouldn't try to inject subversive moments into it.

Cinque Hicks wrote:

> Has anyone actually READ the First Amendment lately? It says, in
> whole:
>
> "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
> or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
> speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to
> assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
>
> This means that the US Congress can't pass any law telling you what to
> say or what not to say. It says nothing about what Wichita State U
> chooses to do with regard to its own internal policies.
>
> This decision on the university’s part is annoying, inconvenient and
> a little bit tacky, but it comes nowhere near being a first amendment
> issue.
>
> Furthermore, did I read correctly that the University wishes to put
> the offending material just *outside* the gallery? I’ve never been
> there, but I’m imaging some sort of foyer or entry hall that would
> house the material? Does anybody know if this is the case? If it is,
> then I especially have no problem with this. Again, it’s sort of
> tacky, but I also don’t have such a sanctimonious, pious view of art
> as some quasi-religious object that I don’t think it should risk
> coming into contact with the messy real world.
>
> If I were the artist, I would seize on this opportunity to have an
> actual dialog with the public for once. Imagine: an actual dialog
> instead of being sequestered off in some artsy-fartsy gallery
> preaching to people who basically already think the way you do anyway.
> I say go for it, let the recriminations begin! Finally! This is free
> speech in action, not an abridging of speech.
>
> There is a solution to this problem short of canceling the show: let
> the show go forward and trust that people can actually make up their
> own minds about what they think, even when you don’t have a monopoly
> on all the speech.
>
>
>
>
> joy garnett wrote:
>
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 11:17:40 -0500
> > From: Barbara Hunt <bhunt@artistsspace.org>
> > To: Joy Episalla <jepisalla@nyc.rr.com>, Joy Garnett
> > <joyeria@walrus.com>,
> > Christian Rattemeyer <crattemeyer@artistsspace.org>
> > Subject: Fwd: [undercurrents] Fwd: Arts Intolerance: Emily
> > Jacir/Ulrich Museum
> > Wichita
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: martha rosler <navva@earthlink.net>
> > Date: December 11, 2004 10:35:59 PM EST
> > To: undercurrents@bbs.thing.net
> > Subject: [undercurrents] Fwd: Arts Intolerance: Emily Jacir/Ulrich
> > Museum Wichita
> > Reply-To: undercurrents@bbs.thing.net
> >
> > >> From: Emna Zghal <emna@earthlink.net>
> > >> Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 15:07:37 -0500
> > >> Subject: [aaw] Arts Intolerance: Emily Jacir/Ulrich Museum
> Wichita
> > >>
> > >> Dear All,
> > >>
> > >> The following messages are from my friends Kamran Rastagar
> > (visiting
> > >> professor at Brown University) and Emily Jacir (artist).
> > >> Emily's work at the a Museum in Kansas is being attacked by some
> > >> religious
> > >> group and the museum in authorizing this group to invade the
> space
> > of
> > >> her
> > >> installation by materials this group is choosing.
> > >> I think this sets a dangerous precedent, all artists should be
> > >> allowed to
> > >> express themselves and have their work be received on its own
> > terms.
> > >> The
> > >> fact that a Palestinian, and in this case a Palestinian
> American,
> > is
> > >> only
> > >> allowed to express her view with some sort of a disclaimer
> > shouldn't
> > >> be
> > >> acceptable. That this "disclaimer" or "balancing material" is not
> > >> authored
> > >> by the Museum and is without the agreement of the artist is
> > >> outrageous.
> > >>
> > >> I guess the first step is to write to the museum director and
> > curator.
> > >>
> > >> Best,
> > >>
> > >> Emna Zghal
> > >> http://www.nathirat.net
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> ------ Forwarded Message
> > >>
> > >> Dear Friends,
> > >>
> > >> The following is a call for assistance by the
> Palestinian-American
> > >> artist Emily Jacir, whose work has been showing to critical
> acclaim
> > >> internationally. An exhibition of her work "Where We Come From"
> was
> > >> to go up at a museum in Wichita, Kansas affiliated with Wichita
> > >> State University. The administration of the museum has now
> > >> unilaterally decided to allow an outside religious group to have
> > >> access to the museum in order to place a poster, and political
> > >> materials 'balancing' Emily's work in the museum just outside her
> > >> gallery for the duration of her show.
> > >>
> > >> This is a major deviation from any norms of conduct in the arts
> > >> and academic community - the precedent this sets is clear and
> > >> disturbing; anti-gay groups can place materials at a show by a
> gay
> > >> artist,anti-semites at a show by a Jewish artist, etc.
> > >>
> > >> Please forward this widely, and write a note to the director of
> the
> > >> museum (info below) - if anyone has connections with free-speech
> > >> academic arts groups that are concerned about these kinds of
> > issues,
> > >> please involve them.
> > >>
> > >> Reviews of Emily's work:
> > >>
> > >>
> > http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_6_42/ai_113389509
> > >> (ArtForum)
> > >> http://adbusters.org/magazine/art_activism/exile.php
> > >> http://www.contemporary-magazine.com/reviews59_1.htm
> > >> http://www.newyorkmetro.com/arts/articles/04/whitney/3.htm
> > >>
> > >> - K. Rastegar
> > >>
> > >> -----------------------
> > >> Visiting Assistant Professor
> > >> Department of Comparative Literature
> > >> Marston Hall, Box E
> > >> Brown University
> > >> Providence, RI 02912
> > >> email: kamran_rastegar@brown.edu
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> ----- Forwarded message from emily jacir -----
> > >>
> > >> Dear all,
> > >>
> > >> I was slated to have a one person show at the Ulrich Museum in
> > >> Wichita, Kansas in January 26th. The piece was Where We Come From
> > >> which was included by Dan Cameron on the 8th Istanbul Biennale
> > >> "Poetic Justice", and a small excerpt of it was also included in
> > >> this years Whitney Bienniel.
> > >>
> > >> This show has been planned for over a year, much to my horror two
> > >> days ago I was told that the The Jewish Federation of Kansas has
> > >> put pressure on the University and the Museum so that they have
> > been
> > >> granted permission to place brochures and a sign in the gallery
> > >> expressing their views concerning the politics of the Middle
> East.
> > >> Actually, the University and Museum have no idea what text is
> > >> contained in the brochures and what the posters are but have
> given
> > >> them permission nonetheless.
> > >>
> > >> This is a complete infringement on my right to free speech, not
> to
> > >> mention an insult to me as an artist. It is intolerable that I
> have
> > >> to go through this just because of my background. I am sure no
> > >> other artist would accept to work under such conditions. They are
> > >> placing a huge unnecessary burden on my exhibit with the presence
> > of
> > >> the brochures which are intended to silence or censor my work. I
> am
> > >> shocked that they would place such conditions in a the space of a
> > >> museum.
> > >>
> > >> On the one hand they are allowing me to speak but on another they
> > >> are trying to control my work by placing brochures, thereby
> > >> contextualizing and framing my work in ways I have no control
> over.
> > >> Not only is this an infringement to free speech but it also
> > disturbs
> > >> the integrity of my work.
> > >>
> > >> This also sets a bad precedent for them - the next time the
> > >> University has a show that some group wants to object to they
> will
> > >> have to put that group's sign up in the gallery.
> > >>
> > >> I feel violated as an artist by their decision to put a sign in
> the
> > >> exhibition with my pictures. This modifies my installation and
> the
> > >> work is no longer what it was intended to be.
> > >>
> > >> I think people should be able to see my work on its own terms and
> > be
> > >> able to form their own opinion. I am not against having a
> > >> conversation, or organizing panels where a variety of views can
> be
> > >> expressed if necessary.
> > >>
> > >> If this group is allowed to do this then perhaps other groups
> > should
> > >> also demand that their own signs and brochures be placed in the
> > >> gallery as well. How could they be refused? The Museum has now
> > >> opened up my exhibition space as space for comments from one
> > >> political group so why deny others?
> > >>
> > >> I am very upset and people are telling me I should cancel the
> > >> exhibition. I am not sure what to do....I don't want to cancel
> > >> because it is not fair that the people in Wichita are unable to
> see
> > >> my work because of this fiasco but on the other hand these terms
> > are
> > >> unacceptable....
> > >>
> > >> Please help me. Does anyone have contacts with the ACLU or ideas?
> > >>
> > >> The Director of the Museum is David Butler.
> > >>
> > >> Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art
> > >> Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Wichita, Kansas 67260
> > >> contact: Dr. David Butler, Director
> > >> telephone: 316-978-3664, fax: 316-978-3898
> > >> e-mail: david.butler@wichita.edu
> > >>
> > >> Kevin Mullins is the Curator who invited me to Wichita.
> > >> Kevin.Mullins@wichita.edu
> > >> 316 978-5851
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> __________________________________
> > >> Do you Yahoo!?
> > >> Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone.
> > >> http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> %-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%
> > >> ARABNY Disclaimer:
> > >>
> > >> All information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs,
> > >> graphics,
> > >> video, messages and other materials
> > >> (&amp;quot;Content&amp;quot;),
> > >> whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole
> > >> responsibility of the person from which such Content originated.
> > >> Neither
> > >> Arabny nor Yahoo controls the Content posted via the Service and,
> > as
> > >> such,
> > >> neither group guarantees the accuracy, integrity or quality of
> such
> > >> Content.
> > >>
> > >> %-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%
> > >> To unsubscribe from arabny, send an email to:
> > >> arabny-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> > >>
> > >> %-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%
> > >> To learn more about the arabny, please visit
> > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arabny
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> ------ End of Forwarded Message
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> > >> --------------------~-->
> > >> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
> > >> Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
> > >> http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/xYTolB/TM
> > >>
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> ~->
> > >>
> > >> visit our website http://www.aawnyc.org
> > >> Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >>
> > >> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aawnion/
> > >>
> > >> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > >> aawnion-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> > >>
> > >> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> > >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > Barbara Hunt
> > Executive Director
> > Artists Space
> > 38 Greene St, 3rd Fl.,
> > New York NY 10013
> > Tel: 212.226.3970 x 33

EVENT

E PLURIBUS UNUM


Dates:
Tue Nov 02, 2004 00:00 - Tue Nov 02, 2004

E PLURIBUS UNUM

http://art-design.smsu.edu/cooley/files/presidents/index1.htm#

"If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged." - Noam Chomsky

Following the Second World War, a US Army Commission sentenced Japanese General Tomayuki Yamashita to be hung for atrocities committed by troops under his command in the Philippines. Yamashita had not ordered the atrocities, but it was held by the Commission that the senior commander was responsible for not stopping the actions of his troops, and Yamashita was hung. In 1971, Telford Taylor, the chief US prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunal, cited the "Yamashita" case as grounds for indicting General Westmoreland, senior commander in Vietnam, for war crimes committed by US soldiers under his command. General Yamashita had argued quite convincingly, in his defense, that he had been cut off from his troops and was unaware of their actions, but as Taylor pointed out, given the capabilities of modern communications technologies, Westmoreland would not have had this problem. One may wonder why Taylor stopped at Westmoreland and had not logically moved up the chain of command, but accompanied with the facts of 60 years of US foreign policy, while using the case of General Yamashita as precedence, we can speculate on how our presidents may have faired if accused of war crimes before an impartial jury (or at least the kind of impartiality that Yamashita faced). But perhaps even more importantly, it should be noted that insofar as our “commander-in-chief,” is indeed a representative of the public (and one could certainly argue to the contrary) then perhaps so to should the public, or at least the enfranchised political classes, be viewed as accomplices in the crimes of elected officials.


DISCUSSION

A Bush pre-election strike on Iran 'imminent'


A Bush pre-election strike on Iran 'imminent'
White House insider report "October Surprise" imminent

By Wayne Madsen

10/20/04 "Lebanon Wire" -- According to White House and Washington Beltway insiders, the Bush administration, worried that it could lose the presidential election to Senator John F. Kerry, has initiated plans to launch a military strike on Iran's top Islamic leadership, its nuclear reactor at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, and key nuclear targets throughout the country, including the main underground research site at Natanz in central Iran and another in Isfahan. Targets of the planned U.S. attack reportedly include mosques in Tehran, Qom, and Isfahan known by the U.S. to headquarter Iran's top mullahs.

The Iran attack plan was reportedly drawn up after internal polling indicated that if the Bush administration launched a so-called anti-terrorist attack on Iran some two weeks before the election, Bush would be assured of a landslide win against Kerry. Reports of a pre-emptive strike on Iran come amid concerns by a number of political observers that the Bush administration would concoct an "October Surprise" to influence the outcome of the presidential election.

According to White House sources, the USS John F. Kennedy was deployed to the Arabian Sea to coordinate the attack on Iran. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld discussed the Kennedy's role in the planned attack on Iran when he visited the ship in the Arabian Sea on October 9. Rumsfeld and defense ministers of U.S. coalition partners, including those of Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iraq, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mongolia, Poland, Qatar, Romania, and Ukraine briefly discussed a very "top level" view of potential dual-track military operations in Iran and Iraq in a special "war room" set up on board the aircraft carrier. America's primary ally in Iraq, the United Kingdom, did not attend the planning session because it reportedly disagrees with a military strike on Iran. London also suspects the U.S. wants to move British troops from Basra in southern Iraq to the Baghdad area to help put down an expected surge in Sh'ia violence in Sadr City and other Sh'ia areas in central Iraq when the U.S. attacks Iran as well as clear the way for a U.S. military strike across the Iraqi-Iranian border aimed at securing the huge Iranian oil installations in Abadan. U.S. allies South Korea, Australia, Kuwait, Jordan, Italy, Netherlands, and Japan were also left out of the USS John F. Kennedy planning discussions because of their reported opposition to any strike on Iran.

In addition, Israel has been supplied by the United States with 500 "bunker buster" bombs. According to White House sources, the Israeli Air Force will attack Iran's nuclear facility at Bushehr with the U.S. bunker busters.The joint U.S.-Israeli pre-emptive military move against Iran reportedly was crafted by the same neo-conservative grouping in the Pentagon and Vice President Dick Cheney's office that engineered the invasion of Iraq.

Morale aboard the USS John F. Kennedy is at an all-time low, something that must be attributable to the knowledge that the ship will be involved in an extension of U.S. military actions in the Persian Gulf region. The Commanding Officer of an F-14 Tomcat squadron was relieved of command for a reported shore leave "indiscretion" in Dubai and two months ago the Kennedy's commanding officer was relieved for cause.

The White House leak about the planned attack on Iran was hastened by concerns that Russian technicians present at Bushehr could be killed in an attack, thus resulting in a wider nuclear confrontation between Washington and Moscow. International Atomic Energy Agency representatives are also present at the Bushehr facility. In addition, an immediate Iranian Shahab ballistic missile attack against Israel would also further destabilize the Middle East. The White House leaks about the pre-emptive strike may have been prompted by warnings from the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency that an attack on Iran will escalate out of control. Intelligence circles report that both intelligence agencies are in open revolt against the Bush White House.

White House sources also claimed they are "terrified" that Bush wants to start a dangerous war with Iran prior to the election and fear that such a move will trigger dire consequences for the entire world.

Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and columnist. He served in the National Security Council (NSA) during the Reagan Administration and wrote the introduction to Forbidden Truth. He is the co-author, with john Stanton of "America's Nightmare: The Presidency of George Bush II." His forthcoming book is titled: "jaded Tasks: Big Oil, Black Ops, and Brass Plates." Madsen can be reached at Wmadsen777@aol.com