Creative Acts

A lot of activists rebel against the big brands and logo by carrying around their own brands and logo's. We all know the Che Guevara T-shirsts, and other quite stereotyped forms of fashion activism. 'Punk' has become a higly commercialized lifestyle; in wich the image of being 'authentic' and 'against the system' is used as an effective means for companies to brand and sell their products. Noami Klein got asked several times if they could use her name for a clothing brand. Activism sells.

What can an actist do about this? A lot of actists choose the negative option: to fight the system, the logo's the brands. Anarchist philosophy really has good sides, altough the tendency is that most anarchists are not anarchists but fashion dolls. If you really want to be an anarchist activist, you should get loose of your black and red icons, and choose for the no-logo way. That means in practice: if you leave your traces in public space, never leave a name, never leave a name. You can just start your no logo actions with creating things in public space that are not in any way organized or could end up in another form of branding your name/logo, spreading an image, or even as a use for your artistic activities, art school, etc. You just go out and be spontanious, play and change the world around you without any more effect than just what you do. Don't take pictures. Your actions should just be as they are. Anonymous, creating small momoments of humanity in the streets. It is fun to do, but your ego will not like this too long. Some moment you want to be noticed or seen. Most activists are not enlightened buddhists. So you better leave the 'negative' section and join the positivists.

Creative activism is to create your own alternatives, your own media, your own images and 'activist branding'. You go in the streets, in the media, and spread your own ideas and images. You will create a whole world of imagination. And your imagination can grow into new forms of reality. Create your own.

One day you will find yourself selling T-shirts, black spot shoes, magazines and activism gatgets for an interesting targetgroup of highly eductated, critical worldcitizens. This is just what you should do. Creative activism is about creating new things, about alternatives. If your ideas and actions become a success, you have to deal with the effects. A big problem for a lot of revolutionaries. It is easier to fight the negative than to formulate the positive. But it is woth a try. And maybe one day you will rule the world with your creative activism media empire. Do not doubt. Just make it happen.

Hi, you ask the question, 'why should activism be creative?'. I think this is an important question. I would say that it is, because creativity has the ability to find new ways/new forms of making things happen. It can change reality. In your article you say that it is easier to be negative than to formulate the positive alternative. Being an activist alone, one won't find new, positive ways; being a creative activist, one is making them.

Activism is a way of living in which you actively engage you with the world you live in. In that way you could say being an activist is the opposite of not caring about the world around you, just living your own life. Should you be creative or innovative to be a `good` activist? I think: no. But of course you make a difference when you put something old or something entirely `new` into the world.

Creative activism is the mix of 1. engaging yourself actively with the world you live in, 2. using the sources of imagination, creativity, and inspiration to give form to the world around you; resulting in that your activism finds form in creative expressions. We are getting closer to a definition. You are welcome to give it another try.

Should an activist always be creative? No, because sometimes you don´t need to be creative, sometimes a stupid, simple action that is done a thousand times is enough. Context is important, I agree: streetart in Berlin is less innovative than streetart in Mongolia. So let´s go there next summer...

Next to alternatives, I suppose creativity also helps to get the message of your action through to the public. It also works on their imagination, feelings.

hi, I agree that stuff like street theater or dressing up in some way for a demo (like Uncle Sam or Robin Hood) is not very innovative. Though the question was raised before whether creative activism is always innovative. Therefor I think about immagination. Like, creative actions like street theater trigger my immagination, my emotions too. Especially when the immage being designed, is new for me. Uncle Sam doens't do that to me anymore. Therefor it's, in my opinion, nbot very creative. So maybe creative actions should just be doing something new (for their context).

And in that, I use the word 'innovative' for raising new images/statements/so on as well as for new forms of action.

Maybe I use the wrong words..

No one is original. The best anyone could possibly be, is to disorder and reorder existing thoughts, images, sounds. Creativity is not more or less then a productive search for new combinations.

By creative activism, I would understand those activities that rebel in one way or another, but escape the usual image of activism. Aren't you getting tired as well by yet another strike? By another march? Those kinds of activism are too easy to neglect: people, media and politicians have developed effective strategies to cope with them. Creative activism should pose a new challenge to the powers we contest (including numbing routine and ecological waste), to create space for change by making oppositional forces immune to easy refutal.

So, it's not only fun, but a necessary tactics.