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.

City from Below: Resisting Gentrification in the Creative City

James David Morgan wrote this post at 12:39 pm on April 2nd, 2009.

Resisting Gentrification in the Creative City

Stevphen Shukaitis, Beka Economopoulos, Christine Ulke, Alan Moore, and Adrian Blackwell teamed up on this City from Below panel to discuss the history of social movements’ creative potential, its exploitation and cooption by capital, and the reclamation of integrity.

To frame the discussion, Stevphen describes the city as a site where our creativity is frequently turned against ourselves, wherein urban planners have adopted Richard Florida’s creative class lens, and now look to artists and other creatives as a vanguard to exploit for capitalist development.  In turn, other panelists describe the forms and sites of both successful and failed resistance, from Williamsburg hipsters to architecture in Toronto.

Listen in English:

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Or in Spanish:

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City from Below: Anarchitecture

James David Morgan wrote this post at 2:24 pm on April 1st, 2009.

The Space Hijackers’ Anarchitecture manifesto introduced us to the concepts upon which a tripartite panel expanded at the 2009 City from Below conference.

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In the audio above, Shiri Pasternak unpacks the linkages between seemingly disparate struggles through a complex analysis of historic capitalist notions of property.

Francesca Manning seeks the tools, knowledge, and strength necessary for a world prepared for ourselves – without capital – through structures that can grow large, strong, and autonomous.

Finally, Etienne/Stephen Turpin declares that “Art is a cart!” and investigates the ways artists can contribute to inquiry, analysis, and struggle through collaborative and strategic design for direct integration/intervention into the city

Download it here.

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City from Below Reportback

James David Morgan wrote this post at 1:38 pm on March 30th, 2009.

City from Below

After an incredible weekend of theorizing capitalism, enjoying some What Cheer? jubilation, and driving red-eyed from Baltimore, Groundswell is back from the City from Below conference, and will be delivering some documentation from the weekend.

Several workshops focused on cultural production within social movements, with presentations from such familiar faces as DS4SI, Not An Alternative, and the Midwest Radical Culture Corridor drifters.  Others discussed media activism, victory gardens, and anarchitecture, so stay tuned, there’s much to come!

All posts related to the conference will be tagged “City from Below,” and you can click here to get an overview of the happenings.

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