No Pinky Show store at the moment...

Posted by Pinky.

Announcement: We've closed the Pinky Show store. We did that because right now Bunny and I are working hard to build a permanent studio.

Details: Since we started this project five years ago, we've been making all our Pinky Show stuff in a cramped, dimly-lit, unruly mess of old computers, semi-functional audio equipment, tangled cables, crumpled/trampled scripts, etc. etc... arrgh, what a nightmare. Well, finally I had a nervous breakdown (or something like it) and after throwing my "I CAN'T TAKE THIS MESS ANY MORE!!!" mini-tantrum I asked Bunny to shut down the store so that we could have some time to focus on cleaning up. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll have a less crazy (and depressing) work environment to work in. So that's what we're doing at the moment. Well, actually we're still doing Pinky Show work (that stuff never really stops) but the work-space cleaning/rebuilding is the main reason why the store is closed now.

Oh, by the way, for those of you who were on the verge of ordering a Pinky Show t-shirt or some other item, we apologize for the unexpected wait. We're planning to open a new Pinky Show store after we have things cleaned up and organized around here - my guess is (I'm not good at guessing timetables)... sometime in September?

The new Pinky Show store will have its own URL:

pinkyandbunny.com

We'll make an announcement when it's open. Oh, and it will have some new stuff in it too!

Please take care,
pinky

AIM sends Pinky Show a letter

Posted by Bunny.

Couldn't believe this letter we received yesterday:

"From: American Indian Movement
To: Pinky, Daisy et al:

The San Francisco chapter of the American Indian Movement (AIM) would like to commend your work for its insightful, innovative, and broad-scoped examination and criticism of current human power structures.

AIM would also like to applaud the Pinky Show for its consistent attention to Indigenous issues and current struggles. We believe that open-minded dialogue and exchange between the empowered European colonial culture and the indigenous and non-human cultures of the world is critical to our common survival.

Yours in struggle,
Mark Anquoe
AIM-West
http://www.aimwest.info "

Wow. AIM is an organization that’s been a huge inspiration to all of us, so it feels crazy to receive a letter from them. Still can't believe it.

~Bunny.

Pinky Show at the Berlin Biennale

Posted by Bunny.

We've finally arrived home safely from Berlin. We did a lecture-type thing to a bunch of young curators from all over the world on the subject of failure. It was a good lecture, then we wished them much failure and departed. I ate quite a few sausages while I was there. The beer was fantastic. Special thanks to Rhea Dall and Ana Janevski for providing us with airplane tickets and a lovely hotel room, with the most delicious bread, in Berlin-Mitte. Also big hug and kisses to our friend and comrade Bojana Piskur from Radical Education Collective, Ljubljana, and art warriors Etcétera from Buenos Aries, errorists extraordinaire.

Last but not least, a very special thank you to our old friends Harry & Yana, for taking care of us like we are really your kittens, thank you, we love you very much.

Bunny & Pinky

Pinky Show at American Association of Museums Expo

Posted by Bunny.

We just dismantled our installation and interviewing station at the American Association of Museums' giant annual conference/trade show/extravaganza-thing in Los Angeles. We're tired but happy with the results. It may take us a few weeks but as soon as we find the time we'll convert our installation into some kind of internet-friendly format so that everybody can see what we did.

Next week we are off to Berlin, to do a presentation at the Berlin Biennale.

~Bunny.

Mimi Has Kitten

Posted by Bunny.

Mimi is now a mommy. Zoe Kitten was born today; welcome to this world! I asked Mimi if it was really painful and she said "not really". She made just one kitten, and she is very cute. So now we are all aunties!

~Bunny.

Three new videos from Daisy

Posted by Bunny.

Our friend Daisy has been in Hawaii for the past several months doing research. In his spare time, sometimes Daisy documents talks and stuff, which is great because usually he sends us the video afterwards. He shoots, we edit. So, we now have three new videos posted for you to enjoy in the Pinky Presents area:

Donna Haraway on the movie Avatar.

Sunsara Taylor on the oppression of women and the need for revolution.

Greg Grandin on the Tea Party movement and American Exceptionalism.

If you find any of this stuff mesmerizing, please support our activities. We (Daisy included) are broke.

~Bunny.

[ Update: Sorry, the Pinky Show website no longer has a “Pinky Presents” area. ]​

Please Circulate: Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

Posted by Bunny.

The Declaration below was adopted by the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, recently concluded in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The Bolivian government has submitted it to the United Nations (UNFCCC) for consideration. Please circulate this widely - this is an important document and needs to be read, contemplated and discussed by as many people as possible. Posted by Bunny.

< begin document >

Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

Preamble

We, the peoples and nations of Earth:

considering that we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny;

gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning and provides everything we need to live well;

recognizing that the capitalist system and all forms of depredation, exploitation, abuse and contamination have caused great destruction, degradation and disruption of Mother Earth, putting life as we know it today at risk through phenomena such as climate change;

convinced that in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth;

affirming that to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and defend the rights of Mother Earth and all beings in her and that there are existing cultures, practices and laws that do so;

conscious of the urgency of taking decisive, collective action to transform structures and systems that cause climate change and other threats to Mother Earth;

proclaim this Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, and call on the General Assembly of the United Nation to adopt it, as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations of the world, and to the end that every individual and institution takes responsibility for promoting through teaching, education, and consciousness raising, respect for the rights recognized in this Declaration and ensure through prompt and progressive measures and mechanisms, national and international, their universal and effective recognition and observance among all peoples and States in the world.

Article 1. Mother Earth

(1) Mother Earth is a living being.

(2) Mother Earth is a unique, indivisible, self-regulating community of interrelated beings that sustains, contains and reproduces all beings.

(3) Each being is defined by its relationships as an integral part of Mother Earth.

(4) The inherent rights of Mother Earth are inalienable in that they arise from the same source as existence.

(5) Mother Earth and all beings are entitled to all the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as may be made between organic and inorganic beings, species, origin, use to human beings, or any other status.

(6) Just as human beings have human rights, all other beings also have rights which are specific to their species or kind and appropriate for their role and function within the communities within which they exist.

(7) The rights of each being are limited by the rights of other beings and any conflict between their rights must be resolved in a way that maintains the integrity, balance and health of Mother Earth.

Article 2. Inherent Rights of Mother Earth

(1) Mother Earth and all beings of which she is composed have the following inherent rights:

(a) the right to life and to exist;

(b) the right to be respected;

(c) the right to regenerate its bio-capacity and to continue its vital cycles and processes free from human disruptions;

(d) the right to maintain its identity and integrity as a distinct, self-regulating and interrelated being;

(e) the right to water as a source of life;

(f) the right to clean air;

(g) the right to integral health;

(h) the right to be free from contamination, pollution and toxic or radioactive waste;

(i) the right to not have its genetic structure modified or disrupted in a manner that threatens it integrity or vital and healthy functioning;

(j) the right to full and prompt restoration the violation of the rights recognized in this Declaration caused by human activities;

(2) Each being has the right to a place and to play its role in Mother Earth for her harmonious functioning.

(3) Every being has the right to wellbeing and to live free from torture or cruel treatment by human beings.

Article 3. Obligations of human beings to Mother Earth

(1) Every human being is responsible for respecting and living in harmony with Mother Earth.

(2) Human beings, all States, and all public and private institutions must:

(a) act in accordance with the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;

(b) recognize and promote the full implementation and enforcement of the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;

(c) promote and participate in learning, analysis, interpretation and communication about how to live in harmony with Mother Earth in accordance with this Declaration;

(d) ensure that the pursuit of human wellbeing contributes to the wellbeing of Mother Earth, now and in the future;

(e) establish and apply effective norms and laws for the defence, protection and conservation of the rights of Mother Earth;

(f) respect, protect, conserve and where necessary, restore the integrity, of the vital ecological cycles, processes and balances of Mother Earth;

(g) guarantee that the damages caused by human violations of the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration are rectified and that those responsible are held accountable for restoring the integrity and health of Mother Earth;

(h) empower human beings and institutions to defend the rights of Mother Earth and of all beings;

(i) establish precautionary and restrictive measures to prevent human activities from causing species extinction, the destruction of ecosystems or the disruption of ecological cycles;

(j) guarantee peace and eliminate nuclear, chemical and biological weapons;

(k) promote and support practices of respect for Mother Earth and all beings, in accordance with their own cultures, traditions and customs;

(l) promote economic systems that are in harmony with Mother Earth and in accordance with the rights recognized in this Declaration.

Article 4. Definitions

(1) The term “being” includes ecosystems, natural communities, species and all other natural entities which exist as part of Mother Earth.

(2) Nothing in this Declaration restricts the recognition of other inherent rights of all beings or specified beings.

< end document >

For more information: http://pwccc.wordpress.com/​

Pinky Show Guest Blog at CFM: PS in Los Angeles

Posted by Bunny.

Here is a guest blog that Pinky wrote for the Center for the Future of Museums blog announcing our crashing the American Association of Museums' Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo next month in Los Angeles. Click here to go to the original post at the CFM blog.

---

< start blog entry >​

Hello Museum People!

My name is Pinky and I am from The Pinky Show. Bunny and I were invited do a guest CFM blog, so here we are. We realize that many of you may not know who we are or why we are interested in museums, so we will start with that.

We run an education project called The Pinky Show that studies social structures, ideology, and power. As you can imagine, this makes us particularly interested in certain institutional formations - especially schools and museums. For us, museums are fun to study because they're so often discussed via such a fascinating mess of contradictory, reductive representations that make it almost impossible to see clearly what they really are or how they're really functioning. For example:

Museums are instrumental in drawing attention to under-known histories and knowledge;
Museums are inherently conservative in nature.

Museums help educate the general public about democracy and injustice;
Museums are instrumental in maintaining the hegemony of the ruling class.

Museums try to be as fair as possible in the presentation of histories and ideas;
Museums allow themselves veto-power over marginalized people's ability to represent themselves.

Museums promote compassion and fairness;
Museum institutional culture is extremely hierarchical and anti-democratic.

Community programming is a high priority for most museums;
Museums' community programming is not done with communities, it is done for communities.

Museums want broad-base support and audience participation;
Certain classes of people are not welcome.

Museums are all about education;
Feminist, radical, grassroots, and other forms of counter-hegemonic educational practices don't count as legitimate forms of education in museum education departments.

Museums are interested in bettering society;
Museums uphold the dominant values and practices of capitalism.

Museums are constantly mindful of the future;
Museums people do not think revolution, only reform.

We could go on and on with a hundred more examples, but basically we just think (hope!) that trying to untangle this giant heap of narrative-static will bring us closer to unlocking the mysteries of how people understand their complicated relationships to history and power. Which reminds me...

Next month, May 24, 25, & 26, The Pinky Show will be at the American Association of Museum's Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo in Los Angeles. We'll be there, along with over 4,000 museum people from all over the world, to do two things:

1. We'll be exhibiting a small collection of museum-related artifacts that we brought back from our recent expedition to the future. (Actually, it would be more accurate to add an "s" - as in "futures" - since there are actually an infinite number of futures...) Our expedition was not a comprehensive survey of possible futures, but rather, due to the high cost of gasoline, we were only able to stop off at a few random future-moments. However, the objects that we were able to bring back with us are pretty neat to look at. Time-travel is a pretty big hassle so if you can stop by for even a few minutes that would make our day - especially for Bunny, who really wore herself out building the time travel machine.

2. We'll also be bringing a video camera & microphone and will be interviewing anyone willing to share their thoughts and ideas concerning the future of museums. We're focusing our attention on what you - museum people - have to say about where museums are headed because, One, you're the ones who perform the day-to-day, hands-on transformational work that will directly reshape museums' relationship with the general public; and Two, the general public isn't allowed inside the convention hall.

We're very excited to do something at the AAM Thing because we believe that museums are like everything else in the world - they can be used for good or they can be used for evil (or most likely some undetermined ratio of both), and of course if we can do something to nudge things more toward the former and away from the latter, that's wonderful. Coming at things from an education perspective, we always think it's a good idea to start where people are at, so showing up with a microphone and asking simple questions about the future of museums seems like a reasonable way to go. If you're going to be there, please come looking for us!

Hope to see you in Los Angeles!

pinky & Bunny

< end blog entry >

Bunny Mailbag: "Class Treason show lacking hugely!"

Posted by Bunny.

We just received a very provocative e-mail from someone who's obviously thought a lot about some of the issues we talked about in our Re: Power, Structure, Agency episode. However I disagree with many of her points and since she's posted at various places around the internet I thought this would be a good opportunity to respond in order to clarify where we are coming from. My responses are interspersed in blue:

To: The Pinky Show
From: diana
Subject: 'Class Treason' show lacking hugely!

[I] wrote the following on youtube, and on Facebook:

"I have some issues with this instalment: the attention aimed at women (who reinforce but are not the power-brokers in the system) and the focus on personal change (too-minimally challenged), and the trashing of theory. But most of all, the absence of class consciousness - "all classes of people just looking out for ...their own interests"??? WTF? Pinky - of all beings - just presumed a level playing field? OK, at just short of 18 minutes, it gets better. But I still hate the invisibilizing of working-class people."

Bunny: 1) Everybody, including women, who help maintain harmful social structures should be critiqued. 2) This episode is not so much about 'personal change' (a very ambiguous term) but rather the question of individual agency and its relationship to exploitative social/institutional structures. 3) We trash theory? Where did we do that? We use theory all the time. No further comment. 4) You quote out of context in order to make your own point, then accuse us of saying something we never said as a counter-example? Not cool. In the section of the video you reference, we were pointing out how society is not only broken up into political-economic binaries (bourgeoisie/proletariat, ruling class/working class, etc.) but also many other social, ideological, and other class-forms. We in no way imagine that society is a level playing field. Please re-watch the video more carefully. 5) Regarding our supposed rendering of working class people as "invisible" - and this is the most important point - Why do you think we've chosen not to speak to or about working-class people in a video about stucture/power/agency? Is it possible that our decision to focus on privileged people was a strategic one? Do you really think working class people need to be lectured on the logic of class treason?

In all fairness, the people who comment well on classism are ... either dead or not born yet?  but since we're all in bad company, it'd be useful to challenge the worst of our offerings.  And I suppose if you-all weren't so exceptionally good under other circumstances, I wouldn't be SOOO disappointed.  But I am.

Bunny: Actually there are lots of people who are very much alive that do talk about class struggle all the time. They're not often on t.v., especially here in the U.S., but they're out there. Please do not render them invisible.

Soccer moms?  These moms' SUVs?  Yes!  Because *women* are murdering the planet with their heavy industrialization, these goddesses of capitalism!  (No, we were a one-car family until I had to carpool to the alternative elementary school, a decent option for a working-class family - and even soccer was carpooled-to.  But even so, those other moms?  They didn't singlehandedly trash the world.  And my contribution meant nothing - it's *industry* that does 97% of the polluting, and all the moms in the world doing zero-waste processing still don't account for the 97%.)

Bunny: Yes, soccer moms are not solely responsible for destroying the planet - so what? Does that mean that we should not point out that an enormous number of ordinary people - including supposedly non-threatening soccer moms who may or may not resemble you in some way - actively contribute to the destruction of this planet on a daily basis? Like it or not, American soccer moms are a fair example of the kind of family-minded 'good citizens' that politely assist this planet toward Epic Planetary FAIL as they dutifully go about their daily activities. For you to imply that "Industry" (Who or What is this monolithic "Industry"? Does anybody work in it? Does anyone consume its products or services?) is The Real Culprit responsible for 97% of the destruction - as if it doesn't require a ravenous appetite by ordinary, not-fabulously-rich, relatively affluent First Worlders to consume and demand more of that production - your argument makes little sense to me. They are intertwined via the broader logic of capitalism, and you and me and probably everybody we know are firmly planted within it. And by the way, I do applaud you with my little cat-hands for carpooling and supporting alternative forms of education.

College means something very different for working-class people with activist backgrounds.  It's still problematic, but it's about the only way to get recognized by those who otherwise won't listen.  I'm an activist.  I write fairly awesome political theory, from which I work diligently.  I have one fan, maybe two, in Seattle.  I now have the attention of the head of the Gender & Women's Studies department of the local college in this small midwestern town - the college where I work as a clerk in the convenience store, so that my daughter has lowered tuition and can earn a degree that gives her credibility when she goes out to make social-justice change.  I know how far I can get.  Um, did I mention cashiering?  I can't guarantee she'll have better access, but it gives her a shot at it!

Bunny: Until there is some kind of radical transformation in the structure of society, it's likely that universities and other kinds of hegemonic institutions will be seen by most people as the only legitimate game in town. With this in mind, we do not go around telling oppressed people that they should not go to school. Instead, we are focused on telling privileged people of conscience to find creative ways of devaluing the social, political, and economic currency of hegemonic institutions. The one example given at the end of the video was the school teacher - he leaves his current position within an establishment institution in order to form a different (i.e., more ethical) kind of institution. It isn't easy and there are many complications AND it is not an instant societal fix. But we think it is a reasonable first step that ordinary people can actually do. Please try to consider the political utility of what this could produce if in every town and city several hundreds or thousands of people would actually do something like this.

What really frustrates me is the presumption that you're only talking to the elite.  Facebook, especially, is full of working-class activists who are either retired from their w-c jobs or are winding down into greater activism.  The one person who's commented on FB so far (and to whom I gave your link) is a retired gentleman several years older even than me, and decidedly working-class as well.  Please don't render us invisible!  We exist!  And please don't paint us as ineffective, either.  There are lots of us, and though the media writes us off, we don't expect it from 'our side.'  Please.

Bunny: I don't think we're rendering working class people invisible by creating a video aimed at privileged functionaries of the state. Class treason is a political strategy to change society. It's logic is rooted in an analysis of structure and power. It wouldn't make sense to make a video urging working class people to commit class treason. Oppressed people of all different kinds are already on the move - have been for quite some time - and don't need us to speak for them. And finally, just to be clear, we are not using this video to argue that the goal of transforming society should be to redistribute wealth in the U.S. so that the U.S. working class can have all the goodies they want or deserve. The question of the relative privilege enjoyed by most working class people in the U.S. - compared to what working people in so-called Third World countries experience - is an important reality that must be directly addressed by any vision of a more just future. What would be the point redistributing wealth here in the U.S., if in the end, it still required millions or billions of expendable people worldwide to exist under the weight of our desires?

Thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to write us. I hope you will consider my responses.

Posted by Bunny.

May 12 Update, posted by Bunny: We receive a lot of criticism via e-mail. Most of it is ridiculous and not worth responding to, sometimes it is more thoughtful (like the e-mail above). I responded to diana's comments because I think it's very important to examine how something can be thoughtful and wrong at the same time - especially when spoken by someone on 'our side'. We received a reply today and so I’m adding it below - if we're misogynist and classist then hopefully it is all more fully explained. Or this may be an example of how difficult it is to recognize or understand other arguments once we've claimed the positions from which we speak. Either way, the struggle continues. - B.

May 12 e-mail response from diana: "Everybody ... should be critiqued." Yeah, well, sure, if you're writing a book. But if you're not, then singling out certain people, and making others invisible, these are terribly political acts - for which you can expect to face the consequences. And targeting soccer moms, or any other group of women, is downright coerced, because the cultural feeling against women who've relatively made it is too easy to tap into. It's misogyny that makes it so easy. Target CEOs and senior execs? Well, no, rich white men don't get the same kind of indignation that wealthy/ish white women do. And "individual agency" - seriously? You've simply renamed 'personal change.' And you haven't added much, because any genuine foray into personal change will still examine it, if briefly, in relation to the structures of the culture around it. The reason my claim that you trash theory is even made, above, is because you have previously regularly used and promoted theory that was breathtaking in its clarity; I recommended Pinky to people *because* of the excellent theory. The fact you 'use it all the time' is a straw argument. And your 'where did we say that' right next to 'the section of the video you reference' is an odd pairing, showing that I really have told you 'where.' But most of all, to say *clearly,* if in essence, that 'all classes of people are just looking out for their own interests' truly flattens the perspective and renders invisible a great deal of dissimilarity in privilege and power. You can't choose not to speak about a group, and then leave it at that. That is exactly what renders a group invisible.

You know, I really don't want to do any more of this. You've been a great resource for gently explaining theory at a depth few others, short of authors of thousand-page books, have managed. You hit upon two of my areas of disprivilege, and I called you on it. Let's don't spend time arguing. Take a look at your own stuff, and either you'll see it over time, or you won't. I found this episode terribly, oddly misogynistic and classist, and way below your normal standard. I keep the bar pretty high for you guys because your show is normally so very good. Everyone - every single one of the people I initially posted to - knows that I have recommended your show repeatedly. And now are they gonna see your defensive response with some pretty weird claims back at me ("quote out of context ..."), and my challenges? Doesn't help clarity; doesn't help dialogue to have to engage in defensiveness. You can keep the last word (or not, your call). What I don't want is to drift toward a more-horizontal hostility. We eat each other up on the left, do the dirty work for The Powers, in getting locked into such engagements.

Take a look at the stuff I've called you on ... over time (and no, you haven't, it's in your defensive words). Or don't. But the revolution, or life post-collapse, or whatever it is we're all looking toward, will be much richer (in real wealth - Earth health) if misogyny and classism are also understood, and not furthered, and not accepted-in-passing. Thanks, diana

Bunny Mailbag: A letter from Eric & Nibblet TWK

Posted by Bunny.

I don't need to preface this e-mail by saying much - it's just a good letter and I wanted our readers to be able to read it too. Very important to think about.

To: The Pinky Show
From: Eric and Nibblet the Wonder Kitty
Subject: Ancient Athens, Sparta, Rome, and the United States

message: Hello Pinky, Bunny, and the gang!  I've been thinking allot about history and current events.  We study the Ancient cultures of Athens, Sparta, and the Roman Empire and feel superior to them because so much of their populations were slaves or impoverished laborers who worked to support the small upper classes of their cultures.  We also study the antebellum South and feel proud that we have eliminated chattel slavery here in the United States.

Yet it strikes me to ask what price does the rest of the world pay so that we here in the United States, and the other 'developed' countries, might enjoy the lifestyle that we have come to see as our birth right?  How much of the world's arable land and water resources are devoted to growing crops for export to the U.S. and other 'developed' countries, rather than being used to grow food for the people living in the countries this land is in?  How much of the world's population toil in factories, fields, and slave labor colonies for almost nothing so that we can buy our shirts and toys cheaply in big box stores rather than paying the prices that would result from these people being paid what we consider a living wage?  How much hunger, disease, tyranny, and suffering are required to maintain our lifestyles?  In the end, are we really ethically superior to the ancient Athenians, Spartans, and Romans?  They, at least, were willing to be open and honest about their exploitation of other peoples and nations for their own comfort and convenience.

I realize that these are very dangerous questions to be asking.  Yet, someone needs to ask them.  Have you Ever thought about this?  Have a great Spring and I look forward to your future endeavors!

Sincerely,
Eric and Nibblet the Wonder Kitty

PS button design for AAM Thing not happening

Posted by Pinky.

Here's a design I made for a pin-on button. We were thinking of possibly making some buttons as give-aways for the interviewing project we're doing with Center for the Future of Museums at the AAM Annual Meeting & Museum Expo next month in Los Angeles. Unfortunately in the end there was no money in the budget for their production, but rather than just send the design into my computer's virtual rubbish can I'm posting it here if anybody wants to use it to make their own Pinky Show button (you may have to expand the edges - I never made a button before so I don't know). There is a small print shop near here that has a button-making machine; I suspect most print shops (Kinko's and places like that?) will probably make one for you for a couple of dollars.​

Take care,
pinky​

....................................

Posted by Bunny: That looks fun - I wish I had that machine. Apparently they're called "pin-back buttons". 

Sketchy Bunnies

Posted by Bunny.

Hilarious.

www.sketchybunnies.com

Link from Izida.

Annoying Happenings; Good News; The Shopping Song

Posted by Bunny.

Too many ridiculous things have been happening around here lately. We recently lost our work-space to termites and 50-year old asbestos. Then Pinky's computer died again (this is the second time already - it's getting pretty old) and right after I finally got that fixed, a tree blew down and took our internet cable with it. So we didn't have internet until today. Or telephones either, because we actually use the internet to place telephone calls. We've been going to the library to use the internet and also "borrowing" (*ahem*) wi-fi to make Skype telephone calls. Add to all this the loss of our t.v., cell phone, water heater, and nearly all of our project funding, the past six months has felt more like a low-intensity war waged against The Pinky Show by electricity, electronic devices and... the universe.

In between trying to deal with all this ridiculousness, we've been keeping busy. Whenever possible we work on Pinky Show stuff and the rest of the time Pinky and I've been looking for jobs. Ah, job hunting - is there anything more amusing in life? So if you see a large fluffy grey/white cat flipping your hamburger soon, I guess that means I've successfully integrated myself into "the workforce".

But it's not all bad news, we have some good news too. First one is that we've started work on a Pinky Show comic strip. This came about when the folks at Fuse magazine asked us recently if we'd like to put a Pinky Show cartoon in their magazine on a regular basis. Well, we like Fuse magazine a lot so of course we said yes. We've been talking about making a Pinky Show cartoon for a long time, but without an actual place to put it we just kept putting it off while we worked on other things. Good timing, I say - comic strips are a nice format because they don't require a lot of fussy electronic equipment to make. This may be a good medium for us to work in while we try to figure out how to fund the production of more Pinky Show videos.

Second good news: ...I forgot. If I remember I'll post it later.

Finally, here is a song that you may enjoy. Kim wrote it. (You know Kim right? Tiny, black, long fur?) It's a traditional cat-form song, which means that you can use any melody you like when you sing it. In fact, if you and your friends sing it simultaneously, feel free to sing different melodies at the same time, which sounds terrific. Enjoy.​

I'll write again soon. ~Bunny.​

View fullsize

Pinky Show at extra-curricular (Toronto, CANADA)

Posted by Bunny.

The extra-curricular conference Part II is now over. Special thanks to HR03, who accompanied us to Toronto to do all the human being stuff that's generally expected at these things -  presentations, workshops, etc. He did a good job (*sound of clapping*).

Here is a list of the other participants who participated in Part II.

Center for Urban Pedagogyy (NYC, United States)
colourschool (Vancouver, Canada)
Dodolab (Waterloo, Canada)
La Lleca (Mexico City, Mexico)
Radical Education Research Collective (RERC) (Toronto, Canada)
The Pinky Show (middle of nowhere)
Toronto School of Creativity & Inquiry (Toronto, Canada)
Ultra-Red (London, UK)
Annette Krauss (Utrecht, Netherlands)

We also did a joint-presentation with Winnipeg-based curator Milena Placentile for extra-curricular Part I last month (we did that one via video conference - awkward! - probably won't be trying that again until the technology improves...); the participants list is as follows:

Carmen Mörsch (Zurich)
Rubén A. Gaztambide-Fernández (Toronto, Canada)
Rodrigo Hernandez-Gomez (Toronto/Mexico City)
Andrew Hunter (Waterloo, Canada)
Michelle Jacques (Toronto, Canada)
Amos Latteier (Montreal, Canada)
Syrus Marcus Ware, Srimoyee Mitra and members from the AGO Youth Council (Toronto)
Darren O’Donnell (Toronto, Canada)
Milena Placentile (Winnipeg, Canada)
The Pinky Show (middle of nowhere)
Christine Shaw (Toronto, Canada)
Kim Simon (Toronto, Canada)
Stephanie Springgay (Toronto, Canada)
Daisuke Takeya (Toronto, Canada)
Maiko Tanaka (Toronto, Canada)
Xu Tan (Guangzhou, China)

A special, big thank you to Maiko Tanaka for organizing the whole thing. We hope you will come visit us soon.

Siya, the ice cream in the freezer is for you. xoxo

~Bunny.

Pinky Show in Lecture Performance Catalogue

Posted by Bunny.

Today we received a nice surprise in the mail. Radmila Joksimovic, curator at Museum of Contemporary Art-Belgrade mailed us the catalogue for the Lecture Performance exhibition.

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The exhibition and catalogue was a collaboration between MoCA-Belgrade (Serbia) and Kolnischer Kunstverein (Cologne, Germany). It's a very nice book so we've very pleased. Pinky and I spent the evening reading through a couple of the essays and looking at the work of the other artists in the show.

Introduction
Kathrin Jentjens, Radmilla Joksimovic, Anja Nathan-Dorn, Jelena Vesic

Ars Academica - the Lecture between Artistic and Academic Discourse
Jenny Dirksen

Doing Lectures. Performative Lectures as a Framework for Artistic Action
Marianne Wagner

A Piece about a Lecture
Vit Havranek and Boris Ondreicka

Performing Lecture Machine
Aldo Milohnic

Performance as Research and Production of Knowledge in Art
Ana Vujanovic and Jelena Vesic

Artists & other Lecturers/Performers:

Fia Backstrom
Walter Benjamin
Pauline Boudry/Renate Lorenz
Dan Graham
Andrea Fraser
Mark Leckey
Robert Morris
The Pinky Show
Piratbyran
Martha Rosler
Grupa Spomenik
TkH
V-Girls
Jeronimo Voss
Katarina Zdjelar/Jan Verwoert

This is fun. I will read the rest of the essays tomorrow.

~Bunny.

some random thoughts regarding hope & loss

Posted by Pinky.

recently i made a drawing of a skull. i'm not sure exactly why i drew it - it was just a picture that i've been seeing in my head for the past few years.​

to me, it's mostly a reminder to myself that i have a lot of things that i need to do and i better stay focused because you never know when you're going to drop dead. that's all. i sent it to my friend and she said something like "are you okay? there are so many dark thoughts in your head lately!" (this was news to me). she quoted nietzsche, "and if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you".

i think i understand the meaning and usefulness of these kinds of statements. but i think maybe i also have a different relationship to the underside of things than what she is suggesting.

a lot of pinky show viewers send us e-mails, asking us why in our videos we usually don't offer some kind of resolution, provide a solution, or leave them with some feeling of hope. instead, they see our work as just a big pile of negative hopelessness. sometimes i feel like responding "well maybe that's your job, to figure out what you can do next. and emotionally, go feel any way you want, what does it have to do with me how you feel after you watch one of our videos?" i guess that sounds not-very-nice, but i think it's very weird how people who want a better world are often so unwilling to linger in discomfort. they want hope!

what is it about so many social change people, that when you speak of loss and maybe even the absence of hope in some situations, they quickly try to steer you back towards hope? as if we shouldn't dare be without hope for even a moment; it is too dark and we will be eaten alive! really? are we sure this is a good way to look at things?

to me, it's important to remember that lots of people are engaged in personal or political struggles that they know for sure they are going to lose. what is the role of hope then? can someone continue on, knowing full well that their side has been persevering, fighting, resisting but also mostly losing for the past 500 or 4000 years? are these people’s souls just heavy and dark with loss? does strength or justice always come with hope?

which i guess raises another question: is the pinky show for hopeless losers?

i say: "hmmm!!!" i realize hope is powerful and sustaining, but it is also only half of something. in many circumstances loss (and its many manifestations) just is what it is. personally i can't think of any good reason to avoid them. i just want to focus on fulfilling my obligations and if loss is a big part of that, that’s fine. loss is a very good teacher.

please take care,
pinky

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Posted by Bunny: I like the drawing but this is one of your worst entries. I don’t know what you’re saying.

Freedom Riders: Why did it work?

Posted by Pinky.

Bunny and I are super excited that a new documentary about the Freedom Riders (Freedom Riders, 113 min, Stanley Nelson, 2009) just debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. They've been written about a lot but I hope this film will bring the story to a wider audience. It's important to learn how ordinary people have challenged injustice at different moments in history, to understand what worked and what didn't work and why - otherwise The Wheel has to be reinvented over and over again.

Democracy Now! did a segment on the new film: here:

In our most recent video we used the phrase class treason a lot. Thinking about the Freedom Riders, I think it is important to consider how history might have been different if only black people were Freedom Riders. Or only white people. Why did it have to be black and white people? And also male and female - why was that important? It brings me back to the question of whether or not we can expect change if the oppressed are left to fight for freedom all by themselves.

Take care,
pinky

....................................

Posted by Bunny: I love the 2nd half - the interview with the two old guys. I think most young people in America aren’t often given a chance to learn from their elders. They aren't raised to think about commitment, sacrifice, solidarity, strategy or anything else meaningfully related to politics and power. As far as I can tell young people in the U.S. are schooled to believe that making society better is the responsibility of politicians, corporations, and famous people. ]

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Posted by Bunny: Another must-see: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. I'm expecting this one to be good too. ]

Bunny Mailbag: Wikipedia; Hawaii Connection; Unemployability.

Posted by Bunny.

I haven't done Bunny mailbag for a while. Might as well do it while Pinky tries to fix the floor (we have termites). First one:

Hello Pinky Show, I have been watching for some time the back and forth fighting about The Pinky Show on Wikipedia. Are you even aware that you have an entry at Wikipedia? If so, do you think that the characterization of your show is accurate? Also, why don't you correct the false statements made about your show? I think the characterization misses the mark. And I think it's very damaging to let inaccurate information stand. Because people consider Wikipedia to be a reliable source of information. Anyway, I thought you should know what is happening there. Jean

My reply to Jean:

Hello Jean. Wikipedia is great if you want to know how many legs an ant has or need Creative Commons photos of donkeys. The everybody-chime-in premise behind Wikipedia works okay for stuff like this, but it's not going to produce a fair or accurate representation of counter-hegemonic concepts, histories, or entities. I mean seriously, have you seen how stupid some of these people are?

I've also noticed that entries generally tend to get stupider when the topic under discussion is more overtly 'popular' (i.e., popular as in accessible or understandable to everyone). For example, I'd expect the Wikipedia entry on dictatorship of the proletariat to be somewhat less stupid than The Pinky Show's entry. Why? Because idiots generally don't read Lenin or Marx (why should they?), but everyone feels like they can understand (and then comment on) talking cats.

I've had lots of conversations about democracy and knowledge and power with Pinky; as far as I'm concerned Wikipedia is just another interesting case study. Considering the kind of work we do, it's predictable that we'd have a really stupid Wikipedia entry. And we do. -Bunny

Next e-mail, this one from Matthew.

Hi. I'm curious about the connection to Hawai'i. I've spent a little time there on the Big Island because my aunt and uncle live there. We're haoles and they don't really consider themselves as colonists or participating in that (at least, no more than I do myself living on the mainland) but they aren't blind to the dynamics, either. I drove through the big military base one night on the way home from Mauna Kea and it was freaky. How did your program get involved there? Were there connections that existed before the show? Best, Matthew

My reply to Matthew:

Hi Matthew. Our connection to Hawaii is that Pinky was born there. Also, since we are committed to developing an understanding of imperialism and U.S. hegemony, Hawaii is an important place for us to study (for obvious reasons). Regarding your letter though, I would like to point out that from a political perspective, it is totally irrelevant if you, aunty, uncle, me, Pinky, or anybody else thinks we are not participating in an imperialist project. The fact is that the continued occupation of Hawaii - as well as the ongoing violence perpetrated against Native Hawaiians - absolutely depends on the silence and inaction of everyone who's not getting attacked. As Howard Zinn used to be fond of saying, "You can't be neutral on a moving train." If, like you say, your aunt and uncle really aren't blind to the dynamics, then it's probably fair to ask them something like "What have you done to restore Hawaiian independence lately?" or "What are you doing to help dismantle U.S. imperialism?" If they say 'nothing', well, then U.S. Empire says "Thank you for not participating."

As many people already know, Mauna Kea is a sacred mountain to Native Hawaiians. The fact that anybody can go driving around on it any time they like, and that the U.S. military gives itself permission to practice war with Strykers and bombs and depleted uranium on its slopes, and that the State of Hawaii allows scientists from around the world to pollute and build giant telescopes on its summit even though it's illegally seized Hawaiian Kingdom crown lands - these are all examples of U.S. dominance over all things Hawaiian. Very similar examples exist throughout the continental U.S. as well, so if any of this seems wrong to you the good news is we have lots of fighting we can do to keep us busy.

By the way again, none of this is meant as a personal attack on you or your aunt or uncle. I'd be saying the same thing even if you were Sandy from SpongeBob SquarePants, who I think pretty much everyone agrees is totally awesome. - Bunny

And finally, an e-mail from Eric & Nibblet:

Hi Pinky!  Your recent video from your bed was very thought provoking.  One thing that wasn't addressed is negative class treason:  i.e. people in exploited classes who act in support of the systems that exploit them, rather than in their own interests. I suppose this is due to the fact that this just represents part of the status-quo. The system relies on the willingness of the designated 'under classes' to pursue paths created for them by the system, rather than working to change the system for the better.

I have tried over the years various times to earn a college degree. For various reasons, I was unable to. Now I find myself in a position where I am virtually unemployable.  (Or so it seems, having tried to find employment for periods of up to several years with no luck.)  Living in the North East, where many of the institutions of 'higher learning' are based, this area is particularly 'degree happy', as I call it.  No degree, no career, for the most part.

I don't know if you can offer any advice as to how someone in my position can seek to improve society, but, after seeing your last video, I just felt the need to let you know that I do feel the need to do something.

Reply:

Hello Eric, hello Nibblet, Pinky is trying to repair the floor right now so I am answering. But she is right over there and I am talking out loud as I type things so maybe she will jump in if I say something totally outrageous. Alright, Pinky is saying “hi” right now. Anyway, yes, what you describe as negative class treason I would just call subjugation. Like you say, it is the status quo and we must find ways to upend unfair systems whenever possible.

Which brings us to the second part of your e-mail. I empathize with your situation. I don't have advice, but I have met hundreds and hundreds of people who are being marginalized and disregarded by the dominant work-system. And I've noticed that this work-system is really good at making un-legitimized people (and there are many different kinds of un-legitimized people!) appear INFERIOR and feel ISOLATED.

The first part - the cultivation of the appearance of inferiority - is designed to simultaneously inflate the value of those who have passed through the legitimation system, while attempting to destroy the dignity of those who have not, for whatever reason, completed their rites of initiation and credentialing. The value of this to the status quo is obvious.

The second part - isolation - is maybe more important because it shields the status quo from competition. If small- or medium-sized clumps of people who are being marginalized by the work-system were to start getting together and forming egalitarian institutions of work, play, and other kinds of cultural production... oh-oh, this would be bad for those who own and control the so-called legitimate work-systems and their corresponding processes of legitimation.

So what can be done? Well, to me, I don't think it's ever too late to embrace upside-down-ness as a positive trait, and a good way to live. There'll always be conventional jobs and schooling out there, but there's also millions of upside-down people out there working their way through life according to upside-down rules, and in many cases improving the planet a good deal as they do it. It can be hard to find them but that's just because there's so much effort put into making people believe they don't exist. Just one example - have you looked into intentional communities? A lot of people might think, "Oh no! Hippies! I don't want to be a hippie!" but actually there are all kinds of intentional communities.

Pinky is over here saying "monster institution". Yup, that's another possibility. If you're not into the already-established institutions, why not band together with some other losers and start your own? (That's what Pinky and I did!) Sure it can take a while to get up and running, but lots of things take a long time to get started, and at least with monster institutions when you're doing it it's yours.

We'll continue to write more about monster institutions and upside-down-ness in general. The need to "do something" will always be connected to analyses of hegemony and testing different ways to dismantle unjust social orders. So we'll keep on going, I hope you will too. Please take care. Bunny.

End of Bunny mailbag.​

Pinky Show at MoCA-Belgrade

Posted by Bunny.

Radmila Joksimovic, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art-Belgrade, just sent us a couple of photos of our work as it appears in their exhibition Lecture Performance. It's neat to see our videos translated into other languages.

Pinky Show : Entounters on Radical Education : Cats in Slovenia!, installation view at the Lecture Performance exhibition, Belgrade Heritage House, January 2010. (Photo: Saša Reljić)

I can't read this, but for our friends who can read Serbian...

[ lecture-performance-predavanje-performans-muzej-savremene-umetnosti-beograd ]

Unfortunately we weren't able to participate in any of the dialogues or programming associated with the exhibition (there wasn't any funding available to send us to Serbia), but hopefully we will go to Serbia 'one day'. In the meantime, it is just very nice to be included in exhibitions, as it's another way for our work to make contact with new audiences.

~Bunny.

Bunny Report: Pinky Show in Toronto & Sherbrooke

Posted by Bunny.

Canada Part 2 trip was very successful. Our talks with Toronto and Sherbrooke-area cats were extremely productive. Though there is still much work to do we are definitely making good progress with forming new working relationships with our allies in Canada. Likewise, our human representatives gave good talks to the Canadian humans. We installed the exhibition at Toronto Free Gallery on time and with no major injuries with lots of help from nice people. Here are some photos.​

Aaron Cain does the wiring for the data projector while Siya Chen does her thing in the corner.

Curator Milena Placentile preparing the paintings for hanging.

Toronto Free Gallery is located at 1277 Bloor Street West near the Landsdowne subway station.

Done!

The rear mini-classroom area. Thank you to Laura Paolini for letting us borrow your school-desks.

The crowd, hardly able to contain their excitement, due to mesmerizing presentation by Pinky Show HR03. (Photo: Milena Placentile) Note guy in front, head ready to explode.

Flowers got a little tired the morning after the opening. Thank you Heather.

This is Bishop's University in Sherbrooke (Québec), where we gave a talk. Besides work stuff, we also got to walk around in the snow and watch midnight ice skating (we didn't have skates but that's okay). Also, I ate poutine (no photos, sorry).

Big wall signage at the Foreman Art Gallery, Bishop's University.

Pinky speaks French! Flier for the Pinky Show screenings at the Foreman Art Gallery.

Of course it would have been impossible for us to do our work in Canada without the help of many people:

Heather Haynes, one-woman tornado that is the heart and soul and muscle of Toronto Free Gallery, and Izida Zorde, editor at the extraordinary Fuse Magazine. It was an honor to work with you both.

Siya Chen, who took care of us the whole time we were in Toronto. She even cooked dinner for us, unbelievable. We wanted to bring her home with us but she has things to do in Toronto.

Aaron Cain & Amber Landgraff, thank you for helping install all the stuff.

Sayed Mohammad Afzal the taxi driver who gave us the most excellent lecture.

Stéphanie Corriveau and Vicky Chainey Gagnon at Bishop's University in Sherbrooke. Just many thanks for 'everything'. You two are so special and we hope one day we will meet again.

The amazing Kosasa sisters, Karen & Eiko, for their help in sending the human delegation to Toronto and Sherbrooke. We love you.

Lynette Cruz for always taking care of HR02.

And of course, curator Milena Placentile, for inviting us to come to Winnipeg last November, which then turned out to be the start of all these other great experiences for us in Canada. It is so easy and fun to work with you; now you are our friend so come to Death Valley and do stuff with us over here.

The Class Treason Stories exhibition at Toronto Free Gallery closees February 21. End of Canada 2 report.

~Bunny.