NEO-ACTIVISTS
Political activists are like the rest of us; they need to get together and have some good clean fun, and it’s always more fun if you’re trying to educate the masses! Just because you’re against the establishment doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time!
If you’re an anti-capitalist, and you want to express yourself while having fun, read about Architect Baiting. The idea behind the project is: because space is “owned,” the owners of this space (often corporations or the government) exert control over the actions of the people who are using the space. Oftentimes, space and architecture are designed to generate maximum consumerism, and to influence citizens to react in preconditioned ways. Got that? Well, if you don’t like the idea of being controlled, why not use space in a different way, changing society’s ingrained notions of how we should react in different spaces and environments? Still with me?? Here are a few examples of the good-natured mischief that’s been happening since 1999 courtesy of the Space Hijackers.
* Throw a party on the Circle line, complete with free snacks, music and dancers – make people think about how they act on the tube and what the space means.
* Why not play a midnight game of cricket in the City of London? Business spaces are public spaces as well!!
* Provide the customers of corporate conglomerates with ideas as to where else they could shop (i.e. local, fair trade stores) and hand out free samples!
* Hold a mock funeral for the soul of a neighborhood that has just submitted to corporate domination – in the case of the Space Hijackers, it’s the East End. File from the Spitalfields Starbucks through Brick Lane and end at Tesco, cheerfully exorcising the demons of gentrification.
And remember-all these activities are held in the spirit of hopefulness, good fun and asking people to think for themselves. Space Hijackers keep it respectful because they realise that that way, people are more inclined to listen.
Explore more about reclaiming public spaces at: spacehijackers.org