CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE

ETHICS AND VALUES

I have a strong interest in politics and sociology so this week in contextual practise, I felt very immersed in the work.

My table were asked to do some research on the practice of protest, specifically researching into case studies involving Extinction Rebellion and BP.

NOTES

TO BP OR NOT OT BP:

What are the aims/manifesto?

The whole aim is to target cultural institutions who are sponsored by BP to cut the relationship with them and collaborate with more eco-friendly and ethical associations. This is because BP is damaging to climate change through continuing to pursue extreme levels of fossil fuels, tar sands, deepwater drilling and Arctic exploitations which are harming the natural environment.

Who started the campaign?

We found that a contributing organiser to the campaign is a woman called Helen Glynn, also an artist.

Who is it aimed at?

The campaign is targeted at cultural institutions who are still sponsored/in partnership with BP such as The Royal Opera House and The National Portrait Gallery. Recently, through the campaign challenging the Royal Shakespeare Company via theatrical protesting, in October 2019 the RSC dropped BP from their sponsors.

How did they use location/format/material to address the audience?

They did large scale, bold and invasive protesting to grab the organisation's and the public's attention immediately. For example: Hundreds of people occupied the British Library during the' I am Ashurbanipal' Exhibition. The exhibition features artefacts that were taken from Syria from the Ottoman era. Protestors would chant "We are the people rising, when oil burns and armies grow” in front of the artefacts whilst holding banners saying “Crisis colonialism” and “Stolen objects”. The additional controversy to the exhibition was that BP were sponsoring it, campaigner Yasmin Younis emphasises how "BP advocated for the war which destroyed my homeland and slaughtered my people all in the name of oil". Despite the 350 people protest in the museum being direct and large, it was still peaceful and orderly.

How did they use creativity and communication design to address the issue?

When putting pressure on the Royal Shakespeare Company, To BP or Not To BP held a 'Fossil Free Mischief Festival which included a mob of Shakesperian characters, wrestling clowns and poetry and art addressing the hypocrisy of BP sponsoring the RSC. This was a great form of communication as they used performative methods which links to the theatricalness of the RSC, meaning that people who would usually attend here would naturally be drawn to the dramatic protests surrounding it.

How does their name/brand communicate the message?

The wit 'To BP or not too BP?' links to their issue with the Royal Shakespeare Company's hypocritical actions as it plays on the line 'To Be Or Not To Be?" from Hamlet.

What challenges did they face?

- Art organisations rely on funding and so when they receive it from a large, influential and wealthy company, such as BP, it may be hard for 'To BP Or Not To BP' to get organisations to listen and take action.

How did they overcome them?

BP Or Not To BP tend to do very dramatic and large-scale protests which attract a lot of attention. They tackle the challenge by making sure art organisations such as The National Portrait Gallery are confronted with the issue so they can't just avoid making excuses.

What do you think is successful/unsuccessful about the campaign?

I would say that it is relatively successful as they have a specific issue they are targeting and make ambitious ideas into reality in order to combat the issue. They have had success with the Royal Shakespeare Company which is a significant step forward. What is holding them back is that it is still quite a small activist group who would need more people to take a larger scale action considering that they are trying to get the attention of very big art organisations.

How can they measure their success?

Through the amount of art organisations who drop BP as sponsor, through the media attention they get at their protests.

EXTINCTION REBELLION

What are the aim/manifesto?

1. For the governments to declare a climate and ecological emergency, acting to create change.

2. Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

3.Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Who started the campaign?

Gail Bradbrook : economic justice campaigner and compassionate revolutionary.

Roger Hallam: environmental activist

Who is it aimed at?

Extinction Rebellion is aimed at the government for macro change and to the public to make changes in their lifestyles for a better climate.

How did they use location/format/material to address the audience?

Large masses of people would gather in central London spots such as Oxford Street and Waterloo and camp out with tents. This in turn would prevent transport and normal life to continue through the middle of London which effected daily life from running normally. They would also do things like boycott work, have sit ins amongst events such as London Fashion Week.

How did they use creativity and communication design to address the issue?

Within the camp outs, there would be performances and art, as well as, meditation workshops which attracted many people who did not know what the campaign was about but who would soon learn once exploring the area.There is also the red rebels who were almost like a performance art piece where a group of people slowly flocked around London in red drapes and white face makeup. It was incredibly powerful and striking to see standing out in central London.

How does their name/brand communicate the message?

Extinction is a very emotive and powerful world as it envisages the possible future of our world if nothing is being done to improve the climate. Moreover, Rebellion symbolises a sense of unity against a higher power in order to evoke change and a better life. Overall the message they project with their name feels very political yet cohesive which lines up well with the aims of their campaign.

What challenges did they face?

- They are trying to reach out to governments who are very hard to get in contact with but also who may not believe or prioritise climate change e.g it seems like the government of the UK are putting Brexit before environmental issues.

- Many arrests have been made of people who were protesting in central London which is a deterrence in getting new people to take part.

How did they overcome them?

- In terms of trying to get the attention of governments, very influential people have got involved for example: Finn Harris, famous Youtuber and environmental activist. The more people with status means the closer they get to the government.

-Despite setbacks such as arrests, there is loads of support within the circle of Extinction Rebellion, for example: volunteer lawyers and emotional supporters to help people through being arrested. It is also too big of an organisation for everybody to be arrested overall they are still very persevering.

What do you think is successful/unsuccessful about the campaign?

-Due to the pressuring from Extinction Rebellion, the UK declared a climate emergency, however, just because they declared it an emergency it doesn't mean they will prioritise it.

- The organisation is so large scale world wide, so many people recently have realised how important environmental issues are because of Extinction Rebellion.

- It has always been a peaceful protest, protests that are also accessible and friendly to people of all ages, disabilities, genders, ethnicities etc.

- The 'Ban Fashion Week' campaign hit a nerve of many people as it came across ignorant to sustainable designers and also quite anti-art industry. Rather than banning fashion week, they should have campaigned for better conditions as many fashion students and people within the fashion industry felt this was ridiculously handled and disregarding to the positives of fashion week and the industry.

-The organisation can seem predominately white middle class, so whilst they don't not exclude anybody, there is still an element of not making it inclusive enough so that people from all backgrounds feel comfortable in the space.

How can they measure its success?

- Through how many people change their lifestyles to benefit the environment and be more sustainable.

- Through how much political impact they have from the government to enforce change

CREATE YOUR OWN PROTEST

Our next task as a group was to find something relevant in the news and create our own protest fighting for or against it. It could be as creative and outrageous as we wanted, we just had to come up with an idea, research into it and present it to the class.

I read an article about Central Saint Martin's use of 5G for a fashion event and the environmental controversies behind it so we thought this would be a great link to not only our research of extinction rebellion, but also linking it to our own school community. Below is the pitch of our concept protesting against Central Saint Martin's use of 5G.

"Our protest is against Central Saint Martins investing into the use of 5G earlier this year to show off an augmented reality fashion cat walk. We believe that as an art school especially, they should not be encouraging the use of technology that is harming to the environment.

RFR exposure, from 5G, disturbs the navigation mechanisms of bees and other insects, who use the earth's magnetic field and light energy to orient and navigate. It makes them restless, develop an urge to swarm, increasingly aggressive, and colony collapse in 62.5% of apiaries. Bees are a form of life and are also essential to the survival of humans; if bees go extinct, humans would only be left with 30 years of manageable survival.

Our protest will be that we will go into Central Saint Martins Kings Cross and let out loads of bees to invade the school to show how unpleasant it is to invade a creature's workspace. We hope that the message will show that it is unacceptable to be using 5G giving the state of our climate, ecosystem and endangerment of so many species. "

PART TWO

PART TWO

CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE

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