How To Make Trouble And Influence People. Book Launch at TINA

Pranks, hoaxes and political mischief making from across Australia!

Breakdown Press announces the publication of How To Make Trouble and Influence People! You may still have a copy from the original series of infamous zines in your toilet library, but this expanded version will set your troublemaking heart on fire.

Featuring over 300 colour photographs, interviews with some of our most loved troublemakers and of course tales of Indigenous resistance, convict revolts and escapes, picket line hi-jinks, student occupations, creative direct action, media pranks, urban interventions, squatting, blockades, banner drops, street theatre and billboard liberation, the collection reveals the vital history of creative resistance in Australia.

Written and researched by Iain McIntyre the new edition features interviews with The Chaser, Buga-Up, Kevin Buzzacott, John Safran, Pauline Pantsdown, Dave Burgess, Meredith Burgmann, Deborah Kelly, Order of Perpetual Indulgence, Stuart Highway, John Howard Ladies’ Auxiliary Fan Club, No To Pope Coalition and The Graffiti Games Organising Committee.

As McIntyre says in his introduction, “These tales and images also serve to remind us that political activity need not be a predictable and grim slog. As well-resourced as our opponents may be, they are vulnerable to the use of creativity, solidarity and humour. Indeed, these are often the only tools we have.”

For a sneak preview, check out http://howtomaketroubleandinfluencepeople.org

To purchase a copy, visit www.breakdownpress.org

Or come along to one of the launches featuring special troublemaking guests:

NEWCASTLE LAUNCH: Saturday the 3rd October at This Is Not Art Festival, The Festival Club (Mason’s) cnr King and Thorn Streets, Newcastle 4.30pm-6pm with Iain McIntyre and Dave Burgess (who painted No War on the Opera House, 2003).

MELBOURNE LAUNCH: Thursday 5th November at the Bella Union Bar, Trades Hall, Victoria and Lygon Streets 6pm-8pm with Iain McIntyre and a special guest appearance by the John Howard Ladies’ Auxiliary Fan Club.

SYDNEY LAUNCH: Saturday 5th December at The Red Rattler Theatre, 6 Faversham St Marrickville 8pm-midnight with Iain McIntyre and Dave Burgess plus music by Lee Memorial, The Kleber Claux Memorial Singers and NinetyNine.

World Television launches online video portal on Climate Change

World Television has launched climatetalks.tv, an online video news portal for journalists in the lead up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15). COP15, the most significant global meeting this year, will be held in Copenhagen between 7 and 18 December.

World Television, which has a long track record in environmental communications, has developed climatetalks.tv in order to host video footage and other multimedia assets related to climate change from a variety of sources to support broadcast, print and online journalists’ stories around the event.

Video footage will be available for download in broadcast-quality from October through until the end of December 2009 and beyond into 2010. In addition to providing the latest stories on the debate, the site also incorporates RSS-feed functionality so journalists can sign-up to receive alerts when new content is added.

#The Yes Men. #Age of Stupid. Climate Action Week in New York.

If you live in New York, please visit http://newyorkbigevent.com/ to sign up for some GIANT, extremely FUN, potentially WORLD-FIXING shenanigans on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21. (Even if you don’t, you can sign up to participate in The Yes Men’s  “digital fun squad” by clicking the option on your profile.)

Everyone who shows up Monday morning will get a FREE GIFT you can SHOCK your friends with for years. Even just a few minutes Monday morning will help. Sign up now! http://newyorkbigevent.com/

The Yes Men can’t tell you much about what they”ll be doing, as the element of surprise here are crucial. But they can tell you that it’ll be huge and absurdly fun, and when a hundred world honchos meet the next morning to discuss climate change at the UN, you may have helped set the tone for progress.

Then, that evening (Monday, Sept. 21), we’ll unwind from the action by dressing up in our very best, er, suits and heading to the global mega-premiere of climate blockbuster The Age of Stupid (http://www.ageofstupid.net/). (LA Times: “Think An Inconvenient Truth, but with a personality”)

The premiere will be linked by satellite to 444 cinemas across America and 300 more worldwide,with special guests Kofi Annan, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke (singing live), Gillian Anderson, Heather Graham, Moby, James Hansen, Mary Robinson, and the film’s star Pete Postlethwaite.

The Sept. 21 events (http://newyorkbigevent.com/ and Age of Stupid premiere) are part of Climate Action Week in New York. A good way to warm up is to join an “international photo opportunity” coordinated by Oxfam on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 20 in Central Park: the Human Countdown.

Primitive: A New Multi-Platform Media Artwork

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s new multi-platform media artwork Primitive was commissioned by FACT in partnership with Haus der Kunst, Munich and Animate Projects, London. The work is a combination of:

• a multiple- screen video installation
• a music video
• a short film for cinema
• an online film
• an artist’s book.

“This will be the first solo exhibition in the UK by the Thai artist, which forms part of the AND Festival, Primitive is set in Nabua in the Renu Nakhon district of Thailand, which suffered violent clashes between communist communities and the Thai military in the 1960s. Communist suspects were brutally tortured during attacks and those who managed to escape fled to the jungle where they disappeared forever. Nabua’s story undeniably has echoes with the current political turmoil in Thailand, as freedom of expression is still restricted and Thai security forces continue to engage in extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests, with new cases of ‘enforced disappearances’ emerging during 2008.”

Read more about Primitive at FACT.

Broome Council has dumped Taiji as sister city over dolphin slaughter

Broome Shire will sever a sister city relationship with a Japanese town that hosts the killing of more than 20,000 (original number reported corrected) dolphins a year after an emotion-charged special council meeting.

More than 50 people, who packed the council chambers’ public gallery, greeted the decision with a standing ovation.

Broome Shire president Graeme Campbell said council’s unanimous decision was to “respectfully advise” the town of Taiji that Broome would be unable to fulfil its obligation as a sister town while the dolphin killings continued.

But he said the shire recognised the role Taiji played in developing Broome’s pearling industry in the 19th century.

As part of a raft of council resolutions, councillors noted the national and international pressure placed on the shire to end the relationship.

(sic)

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Australian director Jeff Hansen commended the shire and Broome residents for taking up the issue.

“May the original surfers stay safe and be free to ride a wave along side one of us soon,” Mr Hansen said.

More from The West Australian

Broome, Australia has the Power to Cease the Dolphin Killings in Taiji, Japan. Here is our letter.

Why write a letter to Broome councillors?

Broome is the sister city to Taiji in Japan. Taiji is a quiet coastal village that use to harbour a terrible secret. Now exposed in Louie Psiyohos’ film The Cove, more than 23,000 dolphins are killed during the ‘cull’ in Taiji each year. It is imperative that something happen to stop the killing season before it begins in September. This is a call out to exert political pressure on Taiji, and to help inform the people of Japan they are eating contaminated dolphin meat.

Australians, if you wish to show your encouragement towards Broome suspending their ties with Taiji, Japan until the dolphin killing stops, please let the Shire of Broome know your support so they can take the appropriate action. Apart from sending emails, you can sign the petition or donate to this campaign.

Here is a list of councillor names and email addresses, with an example letter attached.

Please address the email with :

Dear Councillors,..

councillor.campbell@broome.wa.gov.au
shirepresident@broome.wn.com.au
roebuckbayep@broome.com.au
eo.kacc@westnet.com.au
councillor.mitchell@broome.wa.gov.au
councillor.albert@broome.wa.gov.au
albert@garnduwa.com.au
mick.albert@ausport.gov.au
councillor.wevers@broome.wa.gov.au
nikwevers@bigpond.com
councillor.foy@broome.wa.gov.au
councillor.lander@broome.wa.gov.au
cocos@iinet.net.au
councillor.matsumoto@broome.wa.gov.au
ematsumoto@westnet.com.au
shire@broome.wa.gov.au
chris@arthousebroome.com

The following example/ letter has been drafted by Alex Burns and Rosie Cross

For more information, visit the Sea Shepherd site.

perverscite festival in montreal. demonstrating queer activism and gay pride

This year’s Pervers/Cité – Montreal’s 3rd Annual “Underside of Pride” – will be taking place from August 6 to 16, 2009 throughout the city of Montreal.

As Divers/cite becomes more and more corporate and less and less accountable to the history it represents, there is a growing need for a community response to the depoliticization of Pride.

Once again, a coalition of radical queer individuals and groups wants to organize a series of events, workshops, panel discussions, and actions to coincide with Divers/cite. The aim of this year`s series is to address issues normally pushed to the margins by the mainstream gay agenda.

http://www.perverscite.org/

LAST DAY to bid for the SquatSpace couch at charity auction online

While it’s hard to fathom why we would be involved in a show that is more about giving kudos and advertising to IKEA (!?), we have used the opportunity to criticise the hidden social issues surrounding  IKEA.

And for some reason, that seems to be a bit unsaleable!

So our couch design for the IKEA HOME PROJECT is in its last day at the online auction, and it’s currently going for the crazy low price of $289!  With all proceeds going to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal! Act now!

About our design:
Looking at the planned obsolescence of an IKEA couch, it has FREE TO A GOOD HOME painted large onto its surface, with added drawings of what the homes of ten people who encounter it on its life cycle might look like, from the home of a Swedish designer, thru to a Chinese factory worker, ship worker, IKEA store worker, onwards towards the vagrant that uses it as a home, and the home of a council worker who disposes of it.

With such raw labour and social equity issues exposed right under the nose of IKEA, this couch belongs in the foyer of trade unions, Labor politicians, Greens politicians, politically progressive design agencies, or just your place, dear fan of SquatSpace’s activities.

Remember, all proceed go to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal, and right now the couch is bidding at below basic cost price!

Bid here! or here: http://www.graysonline.com/Lot.aspx?id=3844086

The Happiness Realization Party of Japan Introduces Its New President

Ryuho Okawa, Leader of the Religious Organization Happy Science, Becomes President of the Party

TOKYO–(Marketwire – July 30, 2009) – The Happiness Realization Party of Japan, formed May 27th this year, announced that it held an executive committee meeting on July 22nd and appointed Ryuho Okawa, the founder of both Happy Science and the Happiness Realization Party (HRP), as their new president. Okawa will run in the next general election as the party’s first ranking candidate of the Tokyo Proportional Representation bloc.

In May this year, Okawa decided to launch the HRP in his aim to bring forth substantial change in Japan’s political scene. At his public seminar held in Tokyo on July 22nd, Okawa himself announced that he has decided to run in the election as the president of the HRP in order to strengthen the party’s unification and the ability to hold the reins of government. He stated, “The HRP is building its policies based on where we would like the country to stand 20 to 30 years from now. The people of the nation may not understand us immediately but I plan to say what needs to be said.”

Since the late 1980s, Okawa had voiced countless suggestions directly and indirectly to politicians in Japan from his intention to nurture Japan to become an independent and more reliable country. His decision to establish HRP and run as president was made to enable this effort to yield a more direct and concrete result through the party’s involvement in politics.

The HRP has 345 candidates in all constituencies and Proportional Representation Blocs in Japan and is currently the largest political party within the country. The party says it aims to be the primary party of Japan through the next general election.

While Ryuho Okawa will be responsible for the policy makings of the party, Kyoko Okawa, his wife and former party leader has taken the position of Chief Advertising Officer of the party and will run as the first ranking candidate of the Tohoku (North-Eastern) Proportional Representation bloc.

For more information see www.hr-party.info

Editor’s note: Ok this definitely caught my eye. Snappy title, don’t you think? GG

Chris Howlett Flashbacks

Opening Wednesday 5 August, 6-9pm, 2009
Balmoral Room, Brisbane, Australia

A multi-disciplinary exhibition combining contemporary art with immersive interactive gameplay, live action documentation and video art works.

Chris Howlett’s new interactive video and sound art exhibition called Flashbacks opens at the Balmoral Room in City Hall coinciding with the Brisbane International Film Festival. The works in this exhibition explore a number of fundamental questions around the way in which new technologies shift cultural and political understandings of our physical and psychological selves. Through combining 3D game play with interactive game mods, video projections, sound works and site-specific installations, these works activate an immersive space from which to critically and creatively consider how reality and simulated environments both construct and reconfigure our ideas about the nature of identity.

Howlett’s work asks us to reflect on how we function as a society in response to these new spaces of interaction, how we might respond to the political dimensions of these expanded sites of inhabitation, and how they might also represent a more troubling scenario for the possibility of dissent or opposition in our media saturated culture.

More from Chris Howlett dot com dot au