Dedicated to critical cultural production at the intersection of art and activism.

We cover artists from around the globe whose work explores and realizes social change. Our goal is to provide a narrative about these activist efforts while simultaneously participating in them. Maintained by The Groundswell Collective since 2007.

I Want to Live Here: The War on Creativity

James David Morgan wrote this post at 5:18 pm on December 8th, 2009.

Richard Florida’s concept of the creative class, that mantra of capitalist urban planning and development, can be simplified into two stages: creatives move in to a neighborhood, bringing their bohemian trendiness along, and opportunistic developers swoop in to brand and capitalize upon the new, hip ‘hood.

To Florida and many, this is a good thing, but the recently juried I Want To Live Here film competition recognized the negative effects of this policy of gentrification and took it head-on.  The winner, above, conceived of the re-zoning and rent hikes that accompany so-called development schemes as a war on creativity, which drives artists to produce more client work, and consequently lower quality work.

Other entries are gradually being posted to their website, including the runner-up.

Thanks, Rayna!

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