thursday Idea blog #6

I'm currently exploring ways to expand my work beyond the use of handcuffs on to at least one other less lethal class weapon used by state and national law enforcement agencies. the ones that appeal most are pepper sprays (OC) and CS/CN gasses also known as tear gas. from my personal experience with both of these items the more visually appealing of the two is the tear gas that often is tinted in many shades of color some bright such as the blue tear gas i deployed against myself and 400 others at the RNC in 2008 in St Paul, Minnesota. In conversations with Paul we've discussed how the tactics employed by the students for a democratic society members that were there employing the funk the war model of street action creates a different visual presence than the more common black bloc set of tactics. While both often employ the same militant actions, the taking and holding of physical space, redecoration of the urban landscape, and occasionally the destruction of private property, the perception of the groups in the media and public view have very different characters. I've often joked at funk the war actions that "we bring the music, the police bring the light show." and in working with this project i'm interested in finding a middle ground where the weapons of state power meet the vibrant visual textures of the funk the war street tactic.


its these images versus