Here a video report of Left Vision on Blocupy Frankfurt.
In the end a magic inflatable cobblestone also shows up..
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Cop beating an inflatable..
New footage on youtube turned up how cops beated a dangerous inflatable to death..
In a way it looks a bit absurd, doesn't it?
In a way it looks a bit absurd, doesn't it?
Friday, May 18, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Under the pavement, the beach! Gigantic inflatable cobblestones at the May 1 Revolutionary demonstration, Berlin.
On the 25th revolutionary 1st of May demonstration in Berlin-Kreuzberg, protesters were throwing huge inflatable cobblestones, made of silver-reflective foil and tape. The creative intervention was initiated by the art-activist collective “Eclectic Electric Collective” (EEC) and was meant as a celebration of an object which is both a symbol and a material weapon of anti-authoritarian struggle everywhere. It also aimed to bring new strategies of tactical frivolity into the demonstration.
A member of the collective explains:
“Through 25 years of riots, the cobblestone has become an icon for protests at the May 1 in Berlin Kreuzberg. The use of cobblestones in social uprisings is however much older: from ancient Rome, to the Paris Commune in 1871 to the ´68 movement, cobblestones have been used for barricades and as a weapon of defense. Taking stones out of the pavement is a favoured act of those who refuse to consent to an oppressive social order.”
The May 1st demonstration in Berlin has long been a testing-ground for police tactics of crowd control and restrictions on protest. This year, 7000 highly-armed and aggressively shielded cops matched some 15 000 protesters, who were warned that a new water cannon, with a 10 000 L water-capacity, would be ready to be used against them. The inflatables are a collective creative intervention against this growing repression of protest and dissent, in ways that are both concrete and as well as symbolic. The experiences of the inflatables on May 1 proved their many uses in situations of protest, which can be summarized by the term “tactical frivolity”. Inflatables bring celebration and play to a demonstration while at the same time having strategic functions in situations of conflict... Cops can be easily perturbed by the unpredictable and un-categorizable.
At first the cubes appear to be shiny, desirable, playful objects; a visual spectacle which attracts little suspicion from cops looking for glass bottles and stones. The gigantic 3 x 3 x 3m cobblestone spontaneously attracted a crowd of people bouncing it up in the air. This brought a strong visual element to the demonstration1 similar to the use of giant puppets in protests. The advantage of inflatables in contrast to puppets however is that although they look massive, they are lightweight and easy to handle. Carrying a giant inflatable together creates a sense of crowd unity, while it can also keep the group moving forward despite a demo having been attacked and dispersed by cops.
Movie above: Aufblasbare Pflastersteine bei 1.Mai-Demo Source: Berliner Morgenpost TV, 1.May 2012
We laughed at the cobblestones as they were thrown into the air above us, the absurdity of their size in comparison with a small traffic light and their uncontrollable nature seeming ridiculous in contrast with the sharp, directed throw of a stone. But we laughed even harder when the cops began to beat these cubes of air with their batons, glad that the inflatables were there to take the blows instead of our bodies.
Movie above: Protesters and cops fighting with an inflatable in-between them. (Source: anonymous)
When the biggest cube was thrown towards them, not knowing what else to do, they responded by throwing it back. In this moment, despite their shields and their weapons, despite their uniforms which are meant to give them the appearance of scary robots, their power vanished as suddenly they were engaged in a game of beach ball with the people they were meant to control. This situation provoked loud applause and cheers from the crowd.
The inflatables action also had the aim of ridiculing the mainstream media images of “stones throwing trouble-makers”. By throwing gigantic inflated stones, we exaggerate this empty media spectacle ad absurdium. This image also subverts the strategic division of protesters into “violent” and “non-violent” and makes it harder to justify police brutality.
Not everyone at the demonstration liked the cubes. Early on some tried to break them with keys, and shouted things like “hippies!”, ”this is only distracting us” or "this is not a party-event!”. These responses were unfortunately not surprising. We limit ourselves when political protest is viewed as only being able to follow one pre-determined trajectory with fixed identities of what may or may not constitute radical action. Many others welcomed the inflatables as an element of creativity in a day of protest that all too often feels like a script whose rules of performance are closed and pre-determined.
Strategically combining art with anti-capitalist action does not entail a distraction from other more obviously militant forms of action. Our actions can only stay one step ahead of repression by constantly expanding into a multiplicity of forms, remaining unrecognizable and unpredictable to the forces we seek to challenge. We see the inflatables as a new tactic in the toolbox of already existing practices.
Inflatable cobblestones have also been used at the March 29th General Strike in Barcelona. Art-activists in Spain are now building a super hero army (“los reflectantes” i.e. the reflective block) who, dressed in silver reflective clothes, will be using large inflatables during the May 12 action day in Spain.
Inflatables are cheap and easy to make. EEC run workshops on how to build inflatables for protest. The collective, of course, strongly discourage the inflatables being used for anything illegal.
Links: Video and images of action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE8EB4hd-BI&list=UU7Z2Z_qjp3iDp9Ek5Vi6Xqg&index=8&feature=plcp Inflatable
Tutorial by the Eclectic Electric Collective in Barcelona, Spain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w-8JYZLub-A
 |
| Image 1: Gigantic cobblestone at the revolutionary first of may demonstration. (Source:Verena Meyer 2012) |
A member of the collective explains:
“Through 25 years of riots, the cobblestone has become an icon for protests at the May 1 in Berlin Kreuzberg. The use of cobblestones in social uprisings is however much older: from ancient Rome, to the Paris Commune in 1871 to the ´68 movement, cobblestones have been used for barricades and as a weapon of defense. Taking stones out of the pavement is a favoured act of those who refuse to consent to an oppressive social order.”
 |
| Image 2: Cobblestones used as barricades in the Paris Commune, 1871 |
The May 1st demonstration in Berlin has long been a testing-ground for police tactics of crowd control and restrictions on protest. This year, 7000 highly-armed and aggressively shielded cops matched some 15 000 protesters, who were warned that a new water cannon, with a 10 000 L water-capacity, would be ready to be used against them. The inflatables are a collective creative intervention against this growing repression of protest and dissent, in ways that are both concrete and as well as symbolic. The experiences of the inflatables on May 1 proved their many uses in situations of protest, which can be summarized by the term “tactical frivolity”. Inflatables bring celebration and play to a demonstration while at the same time having strategic functions in situations of conflict... Cops can be easily perturbed by the unpredictable and un-categorizable.
At first the cubes appear to be shiny, desirable, playful objects; a visual spectacle which attracts little suspicion from cops looking for glass bottles and stones. The gigantic 3 x 3 x 3m cobblestone spontaneously attracted a crowd of people bouncing it up in the air. This brought a strong visual element to the demonstration1 similar to the use of giant puppets in protests. The advantage of inflatables in contrast to puppets however is that although they look massive, they are lightweight and easy to handle. Carrying a giant inflatable together creates a sense of crowd unity, while it can also keep the group moving forward despite a demo having been attacked and dispersed by cops.
Movie above: Aufblasbare Pflastersteine bei 1.Mai-Demo Source: Berliner Morgenpost TV, 1.May 2012
We laughed at the cobblestones as they were thrown into the air above us, the absurdity of their size in comparison with a small traffic light and their uncontrollable nature seeming ridiculous in contrast with the sharp, directed throw of a stone. But we laughed even harder when the cops began to beat these cubes of air with their batons, glad that the inflatables were there to take the blows instead of our bodies.
Movie above: Protesters and cops fighting with an inflatable in-between them. (Source: anonymous)
When the biggest cube was thrown towards them, not knowing what else to do, they responded by throwing it back. In this moment, despite their shields and their weapons, despite their uniforms which are meant to give them the appearance of scary robots, their power vanished as suddenly they were engaged in a game of beach ball with the people they were meant to control. This situation provoked loud applause and cheers from the crowd.
The inflatables action also had the aim of ridiculing the mainstream media images of “stones throwing trouble-makers”. By throwing gigantic inflated stones, we exaggerate this empty media spectacle ad absurdium. This image also subverts the strategic division of protesters into “violent” and “non-violent” and makes it harder to justify police brutality.
 |
| Image 3: Cops and inflatable at May 1st demo (Source: Berliner Morgenpost/ dadp) |
Not everyone at the demonstration liked the cubes. Early on some tried to break them with keys, and shouted things like “hippies!”, ”this is only distracting us” or "this is not a party-event!”. These responses were unfortunately not surprising. We limit ourselves when political protest is viewed as only being able to follow one pre-determined trajectory with fixed identities of what may or may not constitute radical action. Many others welcomed the inflatables as an element of creativity in a day of protest that all too often feels like a script whose rules of performance are closed and pre-determined.
Strategically combining art with anti-capitalist action does not entail a distraction from other more obviously militant forms of action. Our actions can only stay one step ahead of repression by constantly expanding into a multiplicity of forms, remaining unrecognizable and unpredictable to the forces we seek to challenge. We see the inflatables as a new tactic in the toolbox of already existing practices.
Inflatable cobblestones have also been used at the March 29th General Strike in Barcelona. Art-activists in Spain are now building a super hero army (“los reflectantes” i.e. the reflective block) who, dressed in silver reflective clothes, will be using large inflatables during the May 12 action day in Spain.
Inflatables are cheap and easy to make. EEC run workshops on how to build inflatables for protest. The collective, of course, strongly discourage the inflatables being used for anything illegal.
Links: Video and images of action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE8EB4hd-BI&list=UU7Z2Z_qjp3iDp9Ek5Vi6Xqg&index=8&feature=plcp Inflatable
Tutorial by the Eclectic Electric Collective in Barcelona, Spain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w-8JYZLub-A
 |
| Image 4: Inflatable cobblestones in between protesters and riot police on the general strike in Barcelona on 29.03.2012 (Oreana, Enmedio) |
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
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