Monday, March 17, 2008

This is Not A Protest (1999)

Chad Parenteau posted a previously unpublished account of prankster and spoken-word artist, Rich Mackin's performance piece "This is Not a Protest" in which I played a small role. The year was 1999, an innocent time before the so-called "death of irony."

Before and during this non-event, [Mackin] offered the following written statement on a small flyer: "The week of 8/8/99 the cover story of US News & World Report was '1000 years ago'; Time and Newsweek both featured 'The Blair Witch Project'—No news is good news.

"The First Amendment guarantees our right to freedom of speech–even though we have nothing to say! Forcefully assert your apathy!"


Read the rest of the article here.

If memory serves me correctly, the "Sarcastic People for Apathy" sign was my creation.



Pictured: Joselyn Almeida, Zoz, Rich Mackin, and Andrea Kulish

2 comments:

Chad Parenteau said...

I think that "Sarcastic..." sign WAS yours. I had a photo of you, but it's been so long, I don't know where it's exactly filed. I'll have to find it.

Ian Thal said...

"Sarcastic People for Apathy" certainly sounds like a phrase I would coin, but if that photograph ever turns up, we could be able to check the hand-writing to be sure.