The movie is technically not a science fiction, but really it fits right in. It is both a pre and post-apocalyptic look into our world. Herzog asks questions about why humanity feels the need to control other animals and nature and to put our fingerprints on everything in the world. He assures us that, according to popular theory, nature will not allow humanity to live on this planet forever.

In another scene we see someone who used to be a linguist. This person says that it is possible that 90% of languages will be extinct in our lifetime. (I actually have a friend who, as an art project, teaches people the alphabet of a dying language – her website is at Daikons.com). Herzog says, “In our efforts to preserve endangered species’ we seem to overlook something equally important. To me it is a sign of a deeply disturbed civilization where tree-huggers and whale-huggers in their weirdness are acceptable, while no one embraces the last speakers of a language.”

At one point Herzog has researchers watching the doomsday creature-feature “Them” (the one with the giant ants) saying the film “express[es] grave doubts about our long-ranging presence on this planet. Nature, [the movies] predict, will regulate us.” In the very next scene we see images of single-celled creatures found by Antarctic divers displaying what Herzog calls a display of intelligence.

This movie was challenging in a way that I’m not sure I can describe yet. It is quiet and simple, yet in its simplicity it is haunting. There are, of course, beautiful landscape and underwater shots, but the movie is more about the actual infiltration of the last remaining wilderness. I highly recommend it for any science fiction lover.

Leonid Meteor Shower -

Time to start practicing your Friluftsliv. In the next few days the earth will be passing through some cloud dust that was left in space by the Comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1466 and 1533 AD. Get out of the city, leave your houses, run for the hills, the night is going to light up! According to this article at RedOrbit, the peak hours will be this Monday night (actually Tuesday morning 11/17/2009) in the wee hours of the morning (about 1am PST). That’s not going to work! It’s Monday night, I work the next day! Quit thinking like a robot, participate in humanity and do this because this is what will improve your quality of life – enjoy the meteor shower.

Sam Adams Utopia -

This article from Beer Advocate talks about Jim Coch, founder of Sam Adams, and the creation of a beer that invites drinkers to explore new possibilities for beer drinking. The Utopias beer is supposed to redefine beer with 25% alcohol, with huge amounts of flavor, very experimental brewing and aging techniques, and extremely nice packaging. The bottle itself looks like a brew kettle, but to me it also looks like a yert. It is possible that Sam Adams is indeed helping push the limits and boundaries of beer, and also presenting the world with a business model that takes independence and craft as a primary focus. I have never had the Utopias beer, that seems seems to be a symbolic representation of the growing craft brewing movement, because the bottle costs $150 (the aged bottles are on eBay for a lot more – see picture below). While I applaud Sam Adams for their success and great beer, it does seem that this Utopias beer is purely for the beer connoisseur and those with money to spend. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I just wanted it to lead up to the next down-to-earth-sci-fi topic: Jefferson State Brewery.

Jefferson State Brewery -

This brewery was started in 1998 and only lasted 2 years. The images and text that make up their beer labels and beer coasters seem to be utopian in their vision. Jefferson State Brewery calls for democracy, community, and freedom through their beer. Through the name of the brewery, it’s location, and their visuals they have clearly identified themselves with The State of Jefferson – a secession movement that would have parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon break off to form the 51st state. They believe their values, economy, and landscape are so far different from the whole of mismanaged California they should no longer be associated with it. They are essentially a working micronation, utopian in vision, but wholly committed to seeing their vision carried out. Many of the business and households in the designated area gladly display their support by hanging State of Jefferson signs. It’s too bad the brewery didn’t work out.

Science Pub -

Our last little bit of down-to-earth science fiction comes from the collaborative efforts of McMenamins (those masters at expanding our idea of what is a pub) and OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). For those of you near Portland, they have created the Science Pub, a venue for drinking beer while learning about science. I visited the “science of beer” lecture but they’ve also had lectures about the science of why we are afraid of spiders, and a lecture about earthquakes and tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean. Upcoming lectures include “How Gecko’s Stick and Why We Care” and then in January they’ll have “Hitchiker’s Guide to Cyber-Science.” Sounds good doesn’t it? In my opnion, and I’ve alluded to this before, Science Pub should be offering degrees and provide a recognized alternative to University education which costs too much and schools rarely allow beer on campus.

If you stuck around for the picture of the Utopias beer on eBay, here you go:

Mads Lynnerup is an artist that is addressing the same issues of labor, leisure, and productivity. In his newest art project he asked a number of people in the town of Troy, NY to “take a day for yourself.” People who have jobs and live out their daily life with a normal routine will now get to break that routine for the sake of art. They are each documenting their day in some form and I imagine we will see that maybe people are most productive when given time for themselves – to catch up on rest, to continue building relationships with their family and friends, to do something that is actually interesting to them, to give them the mental space to think for themselves. In these situations, all acts are creative. I value the utilitarian aspects of art projects such as this and the challenge they present to us to rethink how our lives will be played out. Thank you Mads Lynnerup

Here are a few links to websites that I enjoy that also address issues of productivity, busyness and seeing daily acts as a form of creativity. They take two very different approaches: Unconventional Ideas and Why Work?

And here’s another video that I’ve shown before of that giant plastic soup area in the Pacific Ocean:

Night of the Comet (1984) – Night of the Comet is one of those post-apocalyptic movies that remind us of how important it is to isolate yourself and surround yourself by walls of steel in order to avoid the coming plague. In this case, the plague disintegrates most people but a few unlucky ones turn to zombies. You need to avoid becoming a zombie yourself, so do what you’re told and sit at least three feet away from the other people watching the movie with you.

Black Sheep (2007) – Okay, Black Sheep aren’t swine by any stretch of the imagination, but I heard a rumor that there is no evidence that swine flu is even linked to pigs in the first place! I mean how do we know for sure? It could be the sheep for all we know. Either way, this movie will help you determine who’s a sheep, and who’s a bad sheep. It’s a bit gruesome, humorous, and gross-out but if you can get past the initial scares you just might make it to the end.

Here are a couple interesting links where I see activism and science fiction mixing it up in different ways:

Think Galactic – “Think Galactic is a Chicago-based reading group that seeks to discuss speculative fiction from a radical left perspective. Discussing SF lets us have fun *and* explore issues of oppressive hierarchies, confronting topics of race, gender, sexuality, class and more.” I don’t actually read a whole lot of science fiction, I just watch movies, but the descriptions of some of the books on their reading list are really amazing and I decided to order a couple and read them. If they are interesting I will blog about them. I think I will try to visit this reading group if I’m in Chicago some time.

Sleep Dealer – An indie science fiction movie that deals with issues of Mexican border control, the fight and control of other countries natural resources, and what seems to me to be problems of so-called globalization. I haven’t seen it yet, but this is my take based on what I’ve read. The movie opened this week in limited theaters in only New York and Los Angeles, so I’m super super pumped about seeing it on DVD soon.

Public Social University – A group that organizes free forums and classes as an act of radical education for the people by the people. As part of the art exhibition, Building in the Post-Apocalypse, Public Social University created an event called “Apocalypse.” They had participants play Destrukto a drawing game where you create and destroy over and over. They organized a discussion about whether or not we are currently in an apocalypse and they had someone lead a participatory dance session that explored, in form, the idea of destruction and rebuilding. Next an Urban Planning student talked about rethinking public space and the event finished with a forum of ideas on living more sustainably and re-invisioning social space.

BUILDING IN THE POST-APOCALYPSE

An exhibition that explores and documents options of community, collaboration, and education through socially engaged practices.

Please see below for details about times, events, and goings-ons.

APRIL 10TH-23RD

MK GALLERY

2000 SW 5th (2nd Floor) Portland, Oregon

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Go to beerandscifi.com/exhibition for updates.
Some events appear twice because they are in multiple categories…

GALLERY HOURS:
Monday – Thursday 9-5
Saturday April 18th, 12-4

ARTISTS RECEPTION:
Thursday April, 16th
3-6pm – Public Social University event
6-9pm – Exhibition Reception
9-12pm – Sci-Fi Screening: Panic in the Year Zero & The Man From Earth

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES:
April 13th – Monday – 10pm – Sci-Fi Screening – The Man Who Could Work Miracles
April 16th – Thursday – 3-6pm – Public Social University event
April 16th – Thursday – 6-9pm – Exhibition Reception
April 16th – Thursday – 9-12pm – Sci-Fi Double Feature (see above for titles)

MOVIE SCHEDULE:
Daily movies subject to change:
April 13th – Mon. – playing all day – The Lathe of Heaven
April 13th – Mon. – 10pm screening – The Man Who Could Work Miracles
April 14th – Tues. – playing all day – The Man Who Could Work Miracles
April 15th – Wed. – playing all day – Fantastic Planet
April 16th – Thu. – playing until 3:00 – The Man From Earth
April 16th – Thu. – 9-12pm screening – Panic in the Year Zero & The Man From Earth
April 18th – Sat. – playing 12-4pm – Panic in the Year Zero
April 20th – Mon. – playing all day – The Man From Earth
April 21st – Tues. – playing all day – A Boy and His Dog
April 22nd – Wed. – playing all day – Silent Running
April 23rd – Thurs. – playing all day – The Lathe of Heaven

*****Update: photos from the exhibition are below. Click on thumbnails to see larger images:

The gallery was divided into two spaces. The first was a classroom space where free and alternative educational exercises took place. This is where Public Social University hosted their Apocalypse class.

I led a public exercise called the Morphology Chart. The exercise gets people to place subjective interpretations onto random objects, create meaning where there may have been none.

The second room was the beerandscifi room (inspired by this blog). The room encouraged students at PSU to skip their classes, watch movies, drink beer together, and hang out.

At the opening I paid two of my students to drink beer with their friends at the picnic table in the gallery.

1.

Either spend the majority of their time portraying the destruction of the world…
[singlepic id=64 w=136 h=200 float=left]

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…OR the main character goes from place to place encountering various groups of the oppressed, or oppressors in search of some greater meaning. Often the groups are subcultures who have formed localized militia out of the rubble…

3.

…OR they show how, after the chaos of the apocalypse, a dystopian government has risen to oppress the people.

The dystopian variety are my favorite version of post-apocalypse because they often envision a place where people are nothing more than machines, property of the state, or tools for profit. Much of the way our world functions, in the 1st world and in the so-called 3rd world, is like this even though there has not necessarily been any apocalypse. Many of the movies are warnings about our behavior towards other humans as well as our behavior toward our planet.

I see many of these post-apocalyptic movies warning us but I see very little in the line of suggestions for post-apocalyptic living or specific life-changing prescriptions for our current situations. What I would like to see is more movies where we see the apocalypse, but then we ALSO see how hard work, changing our life-style, and being supportive can bring communities together. I don’t want just a “look we saved the day by killing the enemies” ending or a “we found the cure that saved the world” ending, but I want a film full of actual steps toward making our world a better place to live in. How do we do that?

Movies like Wall-E are a step in the correct direction. In Wall-E we experience the future consequences of OUR current actions and decisions. But we see a group of people that learn how to reclaim the land, grow their own food, and learn how to incorporate human interaction back into their lifestyles. I would have loved to see more of the clean-up and rebuilding of the dirty earth. What would the new economy and political structures look like? Why end the movie right as they enter the New World?

Let’s look at the 2008 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Regardless of whether or not we think the movie is successful or not, I thought the issues being raised were pertinent and similar to that of Wall-E. The earth is at a point where it’s in crisis mode and we can avoid the apocalypse if we change. However, the place where this movie ends is when one or two people convince the aliens that humans can change. We don’t get to see any of that change, and we aren’t really even convinced that our main characters care all too much about the state of the earth, but imagine if the aliens had put some demand and ultimatum on the humans where we got to see them restructure everything and attempt to turn everything into sustainable systems. Maybe that would be boring, but don’t you want to at least have some time to imagine what this new system could look like? How would humans change the world in one year if they were given that ultimatum? How could we get creative quickly? I think that could be wild. Agree?

Besides Wall-E, another movie that adds to this conversation is the 1970 film Gas-s-s-s. I don’t necessarily recommend the movie to anyone; I thought it was quite bad. In it, there is a gas that kills everyone in the world over 25 and a group of young hippy-types travel across the country in search of some sort of meaning. I’m less interested in their quest for meaning than I am in the very last scene. They ended up finding a place that just threw a big party and that was how they solved the problem of hatred and oppression in the world. While I think it’s a really silly idea to think that just throwing a party will make everything better, I do think that, in some ways, this movie addresses the need for community, friends and a sense of family. The movie itself doesn’t do a good job, but it has some little nuggets that are interesting. I would like to see what happens post-party. Partying will not solve the world problems, but it could create a very temporary moment of togetherness. Can this moment of togetherness leave enough positive residue to form a community of people that will work together? What would that look like? Would it look anything like the movie Commune? How does a community congegrate post-apocalyptic style?

My problem is that most of these movies end right as the movie is getting good. I want to see the aftermath, I want to see the challenges. I don’t want to just see that the world was saved, or that meaning was found, I want to see things being rebuilt and I want to see how to form communities. I want to see how a vision for a better place is addressed after the life as we know it disintegrates. Does anyone else agree with me? Maybe one thing that I will do on this blog now is offer alternative endings to the post-apocalyptic movies I’m watching.

And another video here.
For email subscribers: can’t see the video? click here.

*Outer Space Links*
-A meteor crashes into Oregon! I saw one of these meteors. Plus a great video of a meteor in Canada.
-What’s your age on other planets? Go here to find out!!!
-The Day The Earth Stood Still will be broadcast in outerspace so as to avoid an alien invasion. No joke!

*Beer Links*
-Gift ideas for your fellow beer snobs.
-A book – Christmas Beer: The Cheeriest, Tastiest, and Most Unusual Holiday Brews
-Portland’s Belmont Station now carries over 1100 different beers.
-Will Twitter replace the pub?

There were 3 parts to the event. There was a movie session that consisted of six sci fi movies about utopia and dystopia. The second part was presentations about utopia and the third part was a supplemental reader for the event. The idea behind the event was to have a great time watching sci fi movies, and without being too formal, to discuss the application of utopian and ideal visions into our own realities.

The event started at 8:00pm with the movie The Lathe of Heaven. This is one of my favorite sci fi movies because, even though it may be a little cheesy, it has a lot of application for today. It was written by a Portland writer, Ursula K. Le Guin she wanted it filmed in Portland (only small parts of it were), and it is about trying to create a universal utopia for all people.  In the movie, George Orr’s dreams change reality. When his doctor finds out about this, he attempts to use George for his own prideful purposes and can’t seem to realize that the world was better before he tried fixing it. In my opinion, this is a lesson we can keep in mind – not that I don’t think we should attempt to turn our world into a better place, but that we must be sensitive because we aren’t the only ones on the planet.

After the first movie there were five presentations: My friend, Ezra, talked about what “utopia is found between the cracks” could mean (Between the Cracks is the name I gave the supplemental reader that accompanied the event). Ezra said that many people dream up utopias because they think of their current world or situation as messed up (he used the words “like dirt”). He encouraged us to find utopia in the present because looking to the future to solve our problems will not help. I think he meant this in a way that meant if you are always hoping for a better future, but never do anything about it in the present, nothing will change. Three of the M.O.S.T. members gave a news broadcast informing us about how their world is doing. I have talked about the M.O.S.T. before here and here, and I think that they do a wonderful job at building and providing community. Gary Wiseman presented some found videos, including one where this guy is performing lines over and over for a science fiction movie until he gets them right. Harrell Fletcher was a last minute replacement for a German friend who was going to talk about Basic Income, something he had been studying. I included information about Basic Income in my zine instead. Harrell talked about John Holt’s book “Escape From Childhood” and its relation to alternative education and children’s rights. He also led a discussion to see what other people thought about children’s rights, asking questions such as “What is an appropriate voting age?”

Finally, I gave a presentation as well. Mine was about how I created my ideal schedule and in so doing I became more fully aware of my priorities. And even though I could never fulfill my ideal schedule completely, I was able to see where and why I had high anxiety. I was then able to make some changes to my current schedule as I felt necessary. I talked about what sorts of questions one might ask when creating their own schedule. In the zine I provided further information.

The content of the zine was a juxtaposition of utopian texts and pictures of people drinking beer. More and more I am seeing beer and pubs as great catalysts for thought expansion and social dialog. I have found that my best art has been produced either under major pressure and deadlines, or while hanging out with friends at pubs while scribbling notes on napkins.

Before we knew it, it was 8:00am. I served pancakes to the guests who stuck it out until the early morning hours. All in all, we watched The Lathe of Heaven, Logan’s Run, Soylent Green, H.G. Wells Time Machine (1960), Gattaca, and just for fun we watched Plan 9 from Outer Space. We were also going to watch Alphaville, but we ran out of time somehow.

The event was a lot of fun and intellectually stimulating. Thank you to all who came. Please feel free to contact me for any additional information, movie recommendations (although here’s a great list of recommendations that I have compiled), questions or suggestions, or proposals for making this event happen in other settings.

One of the street-dwelling characters, UpWes, is a day away from giving a presentation to the city leaders when he is ransacked by the authorities and his notes are taken from him. These notes detailed plans for a green space where the homeless could live month by month, work in the community garden, and receive training on adapting to technologies.

Wait! Turns out this is not a science fiction dystopian movie at all, it’s a true story and it’s happening in Portland, Oregon right now. See below for further reading material.

I was recently disturbed by a comment I saw in a blog about the homeless protest. One commenter said that the homeless protesters were pathetic because they were just trying to be a hero by being arrested. I happen to know at least one of the people who were arrested that day at the protest. Even after all the other protesters had gone away and scattered, he has continued to work with a group called the United Poor People and they continue to protest at Portland’s City Hall. They meet daily to discuss their plans about obtaining a green space and to update each other on what is happening around the city. And they sit in every Wednesday at City Hall and give public addresses to Mayor Potter about what is happening to them, what they want, and what they need. They currently want a repeal of the sit and lie ordinance, which makes it illegal to sit and lie in public places downtown, and they are trying to lift camping laws. These are not thrill-seeking kids, these are committed and intelligent humans.

I have written more about this subject here, as it pertains to an art show that is installed at City Hall during the month of July, 2008. The art work is a series of posters that explain what the United Poor People want, and what they are up to. It’s directly outside the office of Sam Adam’s, who currently supports the sit and lie ordinance. The project was part of a show called Municipal Maneuvers and was put on by the Portland State University Art and Social Practice students.

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Further reading about the protests and the sit and lie ordinance can be found here:

Willamette Week – Protestors Dissatisfied After a Meeting with Mayor Potter
Portland Mercury – Sit and Lie Ordinance is a Terrible Idea and Unconstitutional
Ericmsteen blog – The United Poor People at City Hall during July
Willamette Week – Park Exclusions Laws Need Changing say City Hall Protestors
Willamette Week – Homeless Protestors Not Swept From City Hall as Expected
Portland Mercury – Police Arrest Protestors
Portland Independent Media Center
Portland Tribune

A member there told us about how Sisters in Action raise women leaders in the community through social and political action. We discussed briefly the state of middle schools and how many have been shut down but they are still needed. They want to make sure the schools aren’t just sold to private investors so more condos can be put in. The issue of gentrification came up when we asked about one of their window signs that exhorted participants of Last Thursday – a monthly event that fills the streets of Alberta. The sign read “Last Thursday, What Is It You Are Celbrating?” and another sign read “Last Thursday is an Example of Gentrification.” From what I’ve heard, Last Thursday started as mostly a bunch of artist-type people having fun and doing little street performances and has now turned into a night that not only fuels local businesses but also causes police action because of the large amount of people drunk in public. The problem is that many new businesses have moved into the neighborhood solely because it is now a reasonably profitable neighborhood. This in turn is driving out lower income residents who have lived there all their life. We all know the story, this happens all over the place. What the Sisters in Action group told us is that many of the new business don’t have in mind the interests of the community but rather their own monetary intersts.

This predicament was interesting for us, being that we were a bunch of art students and thereby contributing to gentrification by erecting our own little program. But we are also “art and social practice” students and we concern ourselves with the social elements located in a given site. How could we balance this? The situation became more tense for us when the New York Times released an article about how Portland applauds itself for being so environmental and progressive, yet the people here turn their heads when it comes to the displacement of one of it’s own communities. Ouch!

After watching this movie with the group I felt more empowered to do these community-based art projects out in the neighborhood. We had been given the opportunity to work in that neighborhood, to get off of the boring PSU campus, and to really try out some public art. I was an outsider to the neighborhood and should not attempt to solve “problems,” but rather to move forward with the community’s interest in mind.

Sandy Sampson and I decided to collaborate on a project. We began what we called the “Neighborhood Resource Exchange” where people could identify their needs as well as tools/resources they could offer other community members. When we had enough information we were able to put people in contact with each other. For example, if a couple people grew to much food in their garden, and another person knew how to can food, we connected them. We launched this project with a neighborhood Meet & Greet BBQ where neighbors showed up, ate some good food, and met each other if they did not already know each other. Here are a couple images from that event:
[singlepic id="5" w="150" h="113" mode="" float="" ]

Our next event was scheduled to be a Swap Meet as a continuation of the Neighborhood Resource Exchange. Due to some unforseen circumstances, however, we needed to cancel all events on the lot and we would no longer use the space. It seemed almost fateful that this happened, many of us felt relieved, given our concerns about us contributing to gentrification.

I would like to end with a quote from an art theorist, Miwon Kwon, in her book One Place After Another: Site Specific Art and Locational Identity:
“Homi Bhabha has said, ‘the globe shrinks for thos who own it; for the displaced or the dispossessed, the migrant or refugee, no distance is more awesome than the few feet across borders or frontiers.’ Today’s site-oriented practices inherit the task of demarcating the relational specificity that can hold in tension the distant poles of spatial experienced described by Bhabha. This means addressing the differences of adjancies and distances between one thing, one person, one place, one thought, one fragment next to another, rather than invoking equivalencies via one thing after another.