Chalking it up to age and... love of our civil rights.
Sira meets Julia, 1984
It could all just be chalked up to my age, a love of democracy and an infatuation with civil
rights. Our constitutional rights exist to make our lives, culture and neighborhoods,
civil. Gotta love that! Yet, it was more. I felt compelled to do my crazy and ill-timed ( for my schedule) project for many reasons. One was to mark many decades of trying to find an effective way to be an artist and add something to the ongoing struggle for human dignity, justice and peace. Another reason was purely sentimental. My first ever Arts Grant was a teaching project in 1984, where I took a group of kids out on the sidewalks of Central Square Cambridge and taught them some drawing basics as we moved through the neighborhood, creating art in unexpected places. At some point during the 4 week project, WGBH covered our proceedings and the clip of us working in early July, 1984 was aired (or repeated?) on September 8th. This also was the day our 2nd daughter, Julia was born. A maternity ward nurse recognized me and said, "Who would have thought you'd be out drawing on the sidewalk and having a baby the same day?" I was confused but she explained and we sorted it out. Back in the day, we did not have a TV and I was too busy before and right after Julia was born to be able to track down and see that video.
4:15 am Jul 18, 2013
Through the years I have marked my birthday by asking my family to cut me some slack and take care of business so I would have the time to do something nutty like chalk drawing from dawn to dusk. I find the process of chalk drawing delightfully ephemeral, completely impracticable, a bit challenging and totally enjoyable. I am not even very good at it at this point - so woefully out of shape am I. Not only is squatting difficult but I have not been drawing regularly for over 8 years. When you were never very gifted to begin with (like me) you'll find that your rendering chops fall away like a towel at a pool side. Still, it seemed like it would be too much fun not to at least try.
But in my 60th year, chalking had a new element; First Amendment Rights. A few weeks ago, I had read about the then pending case of a young man being charged with 13 counts of "disorderly conduct" for chalking the following message "Corbett [Gov of PA] has health care and we should too." [see above] His fines could be as high as $13K and his sentence as long as 13 years. I was amazed. I was incredulous. Mostly, I was deeply affronted by this attack on our civil rights.
5:00 am Jul 18, 2013
A friend showed me several instances of similar cases and this moved me to include a political statement in my artsy-fartsy birthday plans. Here is one of the cases that especially piqued my interest: "A jury Monday acquitted a 40-year-old man of all charges connected with writing protest messages in chalk on the sidewalk outside branches of the Bank of America. Deliberating for only a few hours, the jury...declared Jeff Olson not guilty on all 13 misdemeanor counts filed by Goldsmith’s office. Olson never denied writing the slogans. One slogan said, “No thanks, big banks.” Another, “Shame on Bank of America.” And in yet another, the bank was portrayed as an octopus grabbing at cash with its tentacles. “It’s chalk,” Filner told reporters last week in an exasperated tone. “It’s water-soluble chalk. They were political slogans.”But courts have held that graffiti remains illegal even if it can be easily washed off, Goldsmith said. That the Bank of America contacted the city attorney’s office to reportedly urge prosecution has become part of the dispute.
6:35 am Jul 18, 2013
Really? Corporations telling a DA who to prosecute? Faster than you can say "David and Goliath" I had chalk in hand and a full head of steam. I was pissed. BUT... instead of rushing headlong into this contested arena I decided to check my natural rash impulses and read the Town By-Laws. Finding no explicit rule against chalking on sidewalks, I found a copy of a Brookline Rec Department flyer that invited citizens to participate in sidewalk chalk art. Then I also dug up a 9 year old article about me drawing in chalk on my birthday. Thus prepared I called Town Hall the next day to see if drawing in chalk, in Brookline, required permission. My first encounter was with the Building Department, which seemed like the wrong town agency but in fact, all signage and public space in Coolidge Corner are under the Building Inspector's jurisdiction. Mike Yanovitch said that as long as my work was not "political or offensive" it should be fine. I bristled and my sub-clinical Tourette's kicked in and I blurted that I was not asking for a critical opinion on my art, just the legal stance of the Town of B on chalking sidewalks. Mr. Yanovitch immediately changed tacks and so did I. Within hours I had sent him an email thanking him and giving him tons of "background" information. And I waited.
6:55 am Jul 18, 2013
After 5 days I wrote again asking if Mr. Y had received my information. He had and said he was fine with the project and, he freely offered, without any prompt from me, that permission is not based a "content thing" but that I did need to talk to Department of Public Works. So, I journeyed on.
I called Peter Ditto at the DPW. Mr. Ditto said the main issues were about space - I must not block traffic and I must leave a 4' wide for handicap access. I explained that I had taken some pictures of where I wanted to work and would send them. I added that I try to work before rush hour, 5AM - 8AM and likely would need more than one day due to my day job schedule.
7:00 am Jul 18, 2013
Mr. Ditto asked me to send the info I sent to Mr. Yanovitch and add to it locations of the sidewalks I was interested in, which I did in a neat pdf proposal. He said I should check in with the Police Department too. Only too happy to, said I BUT suggested that someone might issue a letter of permission just in case. What if not everyone on the BPD force gets the word of mouth that my actions have been authorized? In the past I have been stopped and challenged by officers of the law and always found it useful to have a document on my person. Mr.Ditto promised he would get back to me.
So, I waited. And waited. On July 10, I received this email [below]… denying me permission. This is where my story may have taken a very different turn if not for my fortune to count as a friend and colleague an ace, 1st amendment lawyer. Enter (stage left) Michael Anderson.
A civilized exchange
Michael Anderson is a prestigious attorney, a wonderful storyteller and a fabulous Shakespearean actor as well. Michael's bio and tagline, which I have typed into many a program note ends with:
8:01 am Jul 18, 2013
"There is no such thing as free speech if you do not use it." It seemed like I was getting no where, fast, so I wrote to him for advice on finding a pro-bono lawyer. He offered his service, a winning strategy and we hit the sidewalk - um, road, running. In no time Michael had cases, examples of chalk art on Town sidewalks and a very comprehensive letter formulated. When permission was officially denied, my lawyer ( sounds impressive, no? ) sent the letter to the Town Counsel. I believe there was a quick response by phone and after a conference between Michael and Jennifer Dopazo Gilbert, verbal permission was granted. And we waited some more. Finally, on July 15th I received my permit for 4 hours on July 18th of chalking in the areas I requested.
It is a victory. I know. But seriously folks? I thought that the Bill of Rights protected us average citizens who normally cannot afford a consigliere. Did I really need to explain myself so extensively, then lawyer-up and persist just to do a few chalk drawings? Apparently, the answer is yes. But my lingering questions are, should this be? And, if so, what are we going to do about it ?
"Chalking is a spontaneous act of beauty." - sidewalk artist, Norah Dooley
To celebrate her 60th birthday, on Thursday July 18 from 4-8am,
Brookline artist Norah Dooley will execute an art project in
chalk on the sidewalks of Coolidge Corner. She says her work will be " A
poor girl's Jenny Holzer." Holzer is an American conceptual artist who
is mostly known for her large-scale public displays of provocative
words, mantras and ideas. Dooley's
work is much smaller in scale and will feature small colorful mandalas
and the sayings of dead and live presidents on the sidewalk. Dooley has
executed similar works in the past in Central Square, Cambridge and
Athol, MA.
"Like
sand paintings, sunsets and other natural ancient forms, the art is
meant to be temporary and, like life itself, fleeting" said Dooley.
The
Town of Brookline initially refused Dooley permission. But with the
help of ace First Amendment lawyer Michael Anderson, Dooley eventually
convinced Town officials that she has a right to peaceful expression on
the sidewalk. “The Town of Brookline allows commercial newspapers to put
large newsracks on the Coolidge Corner sidewalks. If the Boston Herald
gets to occupy public space to sell its point of view, then the Town
cannot constitutionally prohibit me from expressing mine in washable
chalk,” said Dooley. There has been much civil rights litigation over
protest chalk drawing in the wake of the Occupy movement, from San Diego
(where a jury acquitted a chalk artist of thirteen criminal counts) to
Flint, Michigan to Orlando. “I am glad that the Town officials acted
responsibly to recognize my free speech rights, rather than requiring us
to go to court.”
Below are the words she
chose. They will be bracketed with mandalas - one will have in a circle
of words around it - "If you see something, say something." The other
mandala will have just one word : either " racism" or "poverty" or
"injustice" or "violence "
To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.
Abraham Lincoln
A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"A society's soul is most keenly revealed in the way it treats its children."
Nelson Mandela
She says she is not sure about this last one.... "I may just add it as my signature!"
"...if I did not laugh, I should die."
Abraham Lincoln
What
is this all about, really? The artist shrugged and said... " I like to
add beauty to disused public spaces and I have a friend who says 'Free
speech isn't free if you do not use it.' Two birds with one stone?"
When you listen to a storyteller, you are helping create the story while you listen. After you hear a story it is yours. To play with…to learn from…to imagine with. Here are a few ideas that I share with the students who listen and create stories with me at Read Boston.
Playing is a powerful way to learn. And it is now scientifically proven to be important to our health and well being. From the TEDx site "Dr. Stuart Brown came to research play through research on murderers
-- unlikely as that seems -- after he found a stunning common thread in
killers' stories: lack of play in childhood. Since then, he's
interviewed thousands of people to catalog their relationships with
play, noting a strong correlation between success and playful activity. His book Play describes the positive impact play can have on one's life." Dr. Brown says that play and story are closely related. "Three dimensional play lights up the cerebellum"
So when your are having fun with your own version of a story you heard, you are creating and bein as you mix up what you heard with your own rich imagination.
Exercises: Woolgathering 1.4 - Play With it!
1. Imagine a new ending.
A story with a completely or even slightly new ending is, a different story. It is fun to think of different ways the same things could end or different things the same events could lead to. It is like yoga for the mind. It stretches your thinking and strengthens your problem solving ability.
2. Draw some pictures.
What’s is your picture of the main characters in the story ? Make masks of your favorite characters. Or each one can draw a favorite part of the story. Put these all together and arrange in order, from beginning to end. Add any parts that were missing. Show these as a story line or tape drawings together to make a kind of story “quilt .
3. Tell the story through action.
Instead of telling the story with words see if you can tell it with your gesture, your posture and your facial expressions.
4. Pretend.
Pick a character from the story that interests you. Then speak, act, walk and breathe like that character for the rest of the day.
by Norah Dooley
Theory and Practice for Storytelling as a 21st Century Skill
Think&Do 1.1 Listen first
Storytelling is as common as rain and often almost as invisible. It is not like reading or film or theater or song yet all these art forms require story and can tell stories. For our study, storytelling is a live performance of a narrative by one or more performers who work without scripts, illusions, costume, makeup or props. There is no “fourth wall”. The storyteller and the listeners create images and emotions, together. The audience is a active participant and without the audience – the story is not alive. The adoption of radio, television, and video almost eclipsed storytelling BUT people yearn for more personal contact, and realizing that television and other media cannot take the place of a storyteller sharing a story in person.
Listening to our friends experiences as they create stories, informally or otherwise is a gift to them and to you as a listener. A great blog post on Active Listening here says we retain about 25% -50% of what we hear. Listening is about awareness and feeds our wells.
Exercise: Think&Do 1.1 Active listening
1. Listen to a story - live is best but recorded is fine - just listen however you can. Remember (in silence) how you pictured an image or several images. Verbally share images with one or more listening partners. You may also wish to write about the image after telling.
2. Listen in the dark or with your eyes closed. Make up images an story to make sense of the sounds.Verbally share the sounds and images with one or more listening partners. You may also wish to write about the image after telling.
Nearly all of Monday was spent driving up and down Route 2. I was taking youngest daughter for her obligatory immunizations before college. This was a lot of time in the car - 7 hours due to traffic but relatively easy. Easier than we had thought and Rosie and I enjoyed pleasant conversations and a nice breakfast at Whole Foods on the way out and she was much relieved that the this series of shots was not very painful as the previous ones. I also arranged other important doctors visits as I drove so it was a good day. And if not a vacation precisely at least some stress was removed from the summer.
On the way to Mimi's there is new farm stand that is owned by Pete Johnson - a shaker and mover, who is responsible for much of this ... article excerpt from http://www.slowfoodusa.org SlowFood blog:
"We all know what local, sustainable food can do for the health of our bodies, but could it also be a cure for the health of ailing economies? Ben Hewitt’s book The Town that Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food delves into this question, exploring the growth of a vibrant local food economy in Hardwick, Vermont, population 3,200. Hardwick is a lot like how it sounds – unemployment in the town is 40 percent higher than the state average; incomes are 25 percent lower. But in the last few years, Hardwick has returned to its historical roots in farming, with a new twist – local, sustainable agriculture. It’s growing a vibrant local food system that is restoring not only some jobs and higher wages, but a sense of community and food that’s connected to it. A diverse network of “agrepreneurs” in Hardwick– High Mowing Organic Seeds, Pete’s Greens, Jasper Hill Farm, the Vermont Food Venture Center and so on - are producing organic and artisanal foods and seeking investors. Business owners share advice, capital and facilities. About a hundred jobs have been created. Sounds great, but is the story of this one town’s thriving local food system unique, or is it a viable model for other communities? As I read, part of me hoped to find an easy-to-follow plan - just do it like we did! Farm this way, market that way, save the world, take a nap. Sadly, social change isn’t that easy, but while Hardwick doesn’t offer an exact blueprint, it is a thought-provoking example of a thriving local food economy. Hewitt suggests that a couple of unique, and surprising, variables have contributed to the town’s growing local-ag economy: poverty and small size. Hewitt believes that Hardwick’s success is founded upon trust and collaboration which “are in no small ways social and cultural responses to economic hardship.” He also suggests that the population had a “just right” quality that was big enough to be ambitious, and small enough to be fast-acting and flexible. The best lesson to be learned here is about cooperation and inspiration. The Town that Food Saved is a story about the ability of a group of likeminded folks to come together in pursuit of a passion for sustainable, local food– not without challenges, but with dedication to a bigger vision. That’s what Slow Food is all about too. If you’re interested in learning more about thriving local food entrepreneurs, BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) has some exciting network programs focused on sustainable agriculture. And for ideas on how to invest in other inspiring small food enterprises, you can check out Slow Money, a non-profit dedicated to investing in local food systems and connecting investors to local economies.
We were earlier than planned but Mimi was gracious and read her book as we paddled around her pond and walked the dirt roads a bit, eating fresh raspberries. Then we watched a huge thunder storm roll in, roll over and pass on. Mimi made a delicious curry chicken dinner and we played a few rounds of banana gram and slept soundly in a room overlooking pond. A gray morning greeted us as we left later than planned for Montreal. But the drive was pleasant and again, shorter than we had thought. We arrived at our 'hotel' at noon and the room was not ready. We discovered only as we were leaving the next day that we had misread the time and we were a full 2 hours early.
Robert and Rosie did the framing of the screen house/shed extension.
Robert and I talk a good game about sweetly "doing nothing" but as soon as the sun went down I was immediately engaged in transferring old family videos to DVD. This is my idea of fun. I love that the little gizmo in white is now all that is needed to connect and digitize from VHS tapes to .mov files. Back in the day I had to borrow a set up from a film-maker friend that cost about $1000 and was 20Xs the size. This set up was less than 1/10 the cost as well. Early in the AM I set this up to run with tapes of Xmas 2000. But when, like an old fire horse, I heard Robert pounding nails into his screen house project and I found myself strapping on a tool belt to help shingle while the infernal machines worked on my project.
White rectangle in middle is 'gizmo'
My favorite yellow hammer - which I used for 2 years as we built the houses here in Royalston, felt like an old friend. The hammer is light, well balanced and has an easy grip. But my upper body muscles did not find work familiar and hammering was not an old friend. The only muscle I use in my upper body is my damn mouth. Which came in handy as I convinced Robert that the 90+ degree heat was better suited to blue berry picking. After whacking my index finger, nailing shingles too low and bending and pulling 2 nails to each I sent home, we broke for a quick late lunch. And then we went in search of the low bush blueberries that were sited by Maureen earlier in the week. The roads in Lake Dennison were dry and dusty so we went slowly, drinking in the smells and sounds of summer.
Patti was our guide/companion on the back roads of Dennison and we found the blue berries after a few false starts. The berries were not as plentiful as we hoped. Nothing like the top of Gap Mtn. I pick berries carefully, eating a lot as I go and with a mind towards cooking and freezing them. Robert picks with a clear "quantity over quality mentality" and I have always been the one to prepare the berries for eating. His is a tough act to follow - it can take hours to get his berries usable! This time I got him to agree to clean and separate the berries when we got home. He was happy to agree because he was certain I was just being whiny - How hard can it be, really? Just to sort the ripe berries from the leaves, twigs, unripe greens and dessicated grey berries? Well, it took him over an hour to clean about a gallon. I think I have a convert to quality picking. The heat was relentless so we drove down to the lake for a swim. Normally, it takes me many minutes to walk in and get all over wet. I'll dive into anything but I HATE walking into cold water. This time I was in before Robert. The water was about 70 degrees and the air temp was over 90 - my fave conditions for swimming. It was luscious.
We had a quick dinner after our swim and finished the day with more work on the screen house. This has been Robert's project - I have not been any help. In fact, the project has been stalled for years because we could not agree on the location, design and materials. I gave in ( I want a barn with a studio - been promised one for 30 years...bon chance ) and Robert, assisted by youngest daughter, Rosalie, did all the framing during the precious 3 weekends while I worked on grant reports, videos and other matters. It was fun to be swinging a hammer again. We worked in the cool of evening until the bugs drove us in.
Patti is the gardener. We appreciate and eat. She plants, weeds and waters.
Our first day of official vacation involved rising early and paying bills, answering and emptying email in-boxes until 3PM. This seemed an inauspicious but necessary start to a week without internet and sometimes even without cell phone as we would see once we were au Canada ( O,Canada ?). I felt guilty for being the cause of such a late start. But we were rewarded by the beauty and hushed industry of bees and butterflies as soon as we arrived. The slanting light of early evening gave the garden a luxiourious butterry wash. Ah. En vacance. I forgot all and simply enjoyed the “dolce far niente” – Italian for the “sweet doing of nothing”.
" [with the game] BioShock, the developer Irrational Games...is... "testing the
limits of the ultraviolent gaming genre with a strategy that enables
players to kill characters resembling young girls." The game presents an
ethical choice to players, whether to kill 'Little Sisters' for extra
abilities or save them and receive less."
Dear Justice Scalia:
I hope your mother is not alive to hear the latest nonsense you delivered from the bench. Were you raised by wolves-or what ? Are you *pazzo?
Me, I got to wonder if you have actually seen ( or Saw) or played a video game or recently read a fairy tale? ( I have a few highlights of some great games below). You may say and even believe that that the violence in video games is protected speech. Fair enough. I mean, getting extra points for killing a prostitute after you have sex with her ( as featured in older versions of Grand Theft Auto ) is not only protected by the First Amendment, it is the American Way. That's just like the evil stepsisters having their eyes pecked out as in some classic versions of Cinderella - right?
Wrong.
Saying that the violence in video games is like violence the Brothers Grimm fairy tales is simply bone-headed. First, the violence in a folk or fairy tale has some context and reason embedded the plot or the social context of the listeners. Second, in fairy tales, there is always a resolution to the violence. Yes, innocents are often irrationally and violently victimized, but the guilty are always punished. And sure, a person could read the gory parts of any fairy tale over and over again. Reading compulsively like that is not only unlikely it is distinctly different from the exciting simulation and repeated perpetration of violent acts upon others. Duh!
It must be exciting to pretend to rape and murder over and over again. I don't know. Me? I prefer to make pesto. But I assume the pleasure in dangerously anti-social patterns of behavior is why video games sell so well? But, let's not talk about what I think. Let's talk about you, the wise judge in the highest court of the land.
*Che fai? What are you doing down there? Beyond protecting business
interests, do you guys ever attend to or speak about moral considerations?
You did feel free to open your big mouth and talk about literature.
The issue of violent video games has social implications that deserve very careful
consideration. During WWII, the Nazis were the first to use repeated viewings of filmed violent acts to train and desensitize their concentration camp guards.
Just sayin'.
The First Amendment is one thing. I am a huge fan of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But only a *citrull' could think that violent video games are harmless, or would compare them favorably to our valuable cultural heritage of oral narrative.
So, wise up, Antonin! What would your mother think? And say hello to your *fratello, Romulus for me.
Romulus and Remus were raised by a she-wolf until a kindly shepherdess took over. Due to their humble beginnings they grew up without an X-Box or cable.
2006 RapeLay PC Illusion Soft Rape forms a core part of the gameplay leading to controversy raised in the UK Parliament and elsewhere.
2006 Rule of Rose The mayor of Rome called for the game to be banned from Italy, saying children "have the right to be shielded from violence". The then European Union justice and security commissioner wrote an open letter condemning the game for "obscene cruelty and brutality". An Italian magazine, Panorama, claimed that in order to win the game players must bury a girl alive which the game's European publisher disputed. On the UK release day, the publisher announced that Rule of Rose would not be published in the UK, despite the game being approved for release by the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) and Video Standards Council regulatory bodies
2007 BioShock Xbox 360, PC, PS3 2K Games An article in The Patriot Ledger, the local paper of developer Irrational Games, argued that the game is "testing the limits of the ultraviolent gaming genre with a strategy that enables players to kill characters resembling young girls." The game presents an ethical choice to players, whether to kill 'Little Sisters' for extra abilities or save them and receive less. 2K president Ken Levine defended the game as a piece of art, stating "we want to deal with challenging moral issues and if you want to do that, you have to go to some dark places". Jack Thompson took issue with advertisements for the game appearing during WWE SmackDown's airtime, writing to the Federal Trade Commission and stating that M-rated games should not be advertised when large numbers of under-17s are watching.
2007 V-Tech Rampage PC This game simulated events from the 2007 Virginia Tech Shootings and has music targeting the RIAA
