music art film review - REDEFINE magazine » politics

The Knife – Shaking The Habitual Album Review & Olof Dreijer’s Manuscript

Erik Burg — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:57:09 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

The Knife – Shaking The Habitual Album Review & Olof Dreijer’s Manuscript

“We do not want to please, we want to question the Knife.” – Olof Dreijer, in the manuscript for the group’s latest album, Shaking The Habitual.

From the heavy-handed manuscript and bio written to accompany their first album in seven years to the album’s eye piercing artwork, The Knife pull no punches in making sure the ideology behind Shaking The Habitual is made clear. And while it’s not always executed gracefully, the two Swedish siblings certainly remain a relevant force on this indoctrinating album.

What’s most difficult to ignore upon first glance is Shaking the Habitual‘s expansive track listing. Clocking in near 100 minutes, with a 19-minute track positioned squarely at the center, Shaking the Habitual is an album bent on perturbing even the most dedicated of listeners. And herein lies the major crux of the album, the very essence of The Knife which allows them to differentiate from their peers: Shaking the Habitual is not music written for escapism; it’s a social enigma masquerading as music. Instead of something to enjoy, “to please” as Dreijer put it, Shaking the Habitual rails against every conceptual conceit in modern music. Or at least that’s what The Knife want you to think.

Manuscript by Olof Dreijer

We didn´t plan to make another album.
We wanted to do something again but had to find a purpose.
Music can be so meaningless.
We had to find lust.

We started to read together
approached each other through books, gathering knowledge

they have been there before us
they made a difference
the words of others

we get our language back through the language of others
and return to the meaningful in creation.

We played, felt joy.

Started to improvise
to find something less predictable
to let go of what we already knew about music
explore what we didn’t
without requiring complete answers

lust
letting go
step in to oblivion
to forget expectations.

We made up our own sound sources
used made up, home made instruments
played traditional instruments in non traditional ways
tried to find non traditional ways of creating traditional sounds
we wanted to find a room where all sounds are just as odd, just as normal,
where the border between normal and strange is erased

We made studies, recorded improvisations,
and turned it in to compositions.

Studies –
such as working your way to the core of an instrument to find out its potential.
Like finding sounds in which the bed spring
sounds like a voice or a voice sounds like a bed spring.

To listen when you play within the non definable now,
not considering what’s right and what’s wrong.

by entering the work process with an open and inquiring mindset, the record turned in to something completely different than it would have been if the end goal had been a finished album all along.

Once you stop caring about rules.

Time, for example. It’s been important to experiment with time. To question the function of popular music, to make music that demands peoples time and consciousness. That is impossible to consume in a quick and easy way. Long difficult songs

What we do is political.
That should be impossible to misunderstand.
We do not want to please, we want to question the Knife.
How we make music, in what ways we are influenced by the market judgments on what is good and what is bad,

what is allowed to exist and what is not.

The lyrics are more conceptually conceived than the music.
Inspired by 70′s political hymns from our childhood.
Or maybe our record poses the question about what a politicial hymn is in our time.
We know that there is no easy answers.
There are answers that hurt
answers that are noise.

We are privileged.
We can afford to fight commercial homogenization – the ideals reproduced in the extremely hierarchical structure that the music industry constitutes.
Making music within it tends to feel meaningless.
That is why the process has become so important to us.
Creating a space in which we want to exist.
Working collectively is becoming important, letting others contribute their knowledge.

Viewing the process as the creation of a collective.

We asked our friends and lovers to help us.

We felt too safe behind the masks, the mask had become an image of the Knife, something that was meant to question identity and fame became a commercial product, an institution.

Through our community we felt less alone, felt safer
became brave enough to let our old masks fall.
behind the masks are other masks

there are ways to get to know us through the music

to open up

The creation of identities as a way of mirroring oneself in others

to go where we do not recognize

daring to question. The process of understanding that we don´t have to reproduce identities that is expected from us.

Music as a tool that create movements, a room where everything is possible. The revolution of bodies opening up. Transformation as a physical feeling.

We use our lyrics to not be misunderstood. We are longing for something else, a more bearable world

In our lyrics we criticize the institution of the royal family.
A symbol for the illusion in which the world is embedded,
     ℀ the construction of the nuclear family
         an institution that conserves inequality, injustice and exclusion.
         that our belonging, our conditions in life, are determined by our blood.
The challenge is to live together in solidarity beyond nuclear families, nations and unions.
It’s time to move, to fall, to fly

Dreijer goes on to write in the same manifesto that the two were hoping to create “… [music] that is impossible to consume in a quick and easy way. Long difficult songs.” This idea forms a tension on the album, and one that wholly distracts from the bulk of the songs. The 19-minute “Old Dreams Waiting To Be Realized” is nothing more than the noise of a few industrial machines carrying on for about 19 minutes too long — though it is incredibly triumphant in its ability to achieve exactly what The Knife set out to do: dare the listener to turn it off. “Crake” and “Oryx” function as much shorter ways to create this tension, accomplished by the sounds of instruments pulling at each other in a way that’s both unsettling and generally discomforting, just as likely to be skipped as something nineteen times its length. These three tracks, which sorely stick out from the rest of Shaking the Habitual, so desperately fill the desire of the group to be subversive and counterculture that it detracts from the album as a completed work. The lack of structure or nuance — traits that have defined and enriched past albums — makes these pointless tracks all the more frustrating. But maybe this is the way both Olof and sister Karin purge their hatred of pop culture norms, creating something so insidious that regardless of its success there remains a sense of accomplishment; a weight lifted.

The rest of the album, which I should point out is most of the album, plays out tremendously. “A Cherry On Top” owes its debts to David Lynch scores, a haunting formation of organ sounds and indistinguishable loops played mostly in reserve before barreling towards a crescendo of what sounds like an oil drum being rolled down a hill, set to the sputtering of a tractor engine. In so many ways, Shaking the Habitual is like a car crash playing out on a fuzzy television screen. You wince and squint, never looking away for fear of missing an important human action or display of physics-defying mutilation. Even on tracks like “Without You My Life Would Be Boring” and “Raging Lung”, two of the more exuberant, dance-oriented songs on the album, Shaking the Habitual commands every bit of energy and attention a listener might have. Maybe it’s the way the group has positioned the album, what with the lengthy PDFs explaining the release and their mindset, that I feel guilty pulling even my eyes away from the ticking MP3s. Breathing too heavily, blinking too fast — any disruption in your normal routine seems to disrupt the organic music, but with songs as impressive as “Ready To Lose”, it’s hard to not play by their rules.

But for all the album’s successes, from the whimsical flute interludes to the home-recorded hauntings and incredible live drums, Shaking The Habitual leaves little room for its listeners. It’s an entirely insulted experience, one that feels like it should be left alone and admired but never tampered with. To think outside of its predetermined box would be blasphemous. For an album so esoteric and politically-charged, it should, and likely will, warrant a deal of discussion from its fans. But to impose opinion on a piece of art so definitely set in its ways seems almost rude, in a way. For as much as The Knife question social norms, it’s awfully bad at questioning its own habits.

Shaking the Habitual could do a better job at teaching rather than preaching, but their music remains an industry outlier, and a good one at that. The ambient numbers are indeed challenging (don’t mistake that for a good thing), and the album as a whole requires a commitment few people are able to make. If you’re excited about Shaking the Habitual as a way to reaffirm the notion that The Knife are indeed the greatest electronic artists out there, as so many fans seem to think, then you’re no doubt going to fall in love all over again. But for newcomers, and those who are just curious, you might also find something worthwhile here. Just whatever you do, don’t call it “pleasing”.

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

The Knife – Shaking The Habitual Album Review & Olof Dreijer’s Manuscript

Antony And The Johnsons – Cut The World / Future Feminism Music Videos (ft. William Dafoe, Marina Abramovic)

Vivian Hua — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:00:41 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Antony And The Johnsons – Cut The World / Future Feminism Music Videos (ft. William Dafoe, Marina Abramovic)

With a drab color palette of greys and and blues, reminiscent of somber films like A Single Man, comes the music video for Antony And The Johnsons’ emotive new track, “Cut The World”. At just under 5 minutes, the music video features some well-known faces and figures, like William Dafoe, Marina Abramovic, and Carice van Houten. The slow-moving mini-drama finds its main strength in singular facial expressions, moods conveyed by slight gestures, and focuses on minuteia. And with this brief description, you should watch this video (along with the one for the philosophical “Future Feminine” — both available after the jump), as it is a miniature cinematic achievement in music video form.

Directed by Nabil

This title track comes from Cut The World, Antony’s new track which will be released on August 8th on Secretly Canadian. It is also one of many of Antony’s songs to be featured in The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, a performance production centered around Abramovic’s death. (Antony himself, william Dafoe, Marina Abramovic, and Robert Wilson were all involved in this performance. You can see photos from it HERE.)

“Future Feminism”, the opening track on Cut The World, is not a song, but a straight-forward monologue from Antony about sexuality, politics, spirituality, and how it all relates to one another.

I’ve been searching and searching for that little bit of my consistution that isn’t of this place, and I still haven’t found it. Every atom of me, every element of me, seems to resonate; it seems to reflect the great world around me.” – Antony Hegarty, in “Future Feminism”

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Antony And The Johnsons – Cut The World / Future Feminism Music Videos (ft. William Dafoe, Marina Abramovic)

Charitable Musicians: Hip-Hop Rapper Ikonoklasta Protests Against The Angolan Government

Vivian Hua — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:45:47 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Charitable Musicians: Hip-Hop Rapper Ikonoklasta Protests Against The Angolan Government

Background On The 2011 Angolan Demonstrations

Lá Vai María feat. Ikonoklasta by Batida

Luaty DaSilva On His Airport Experience

In early 2011, as the turmoil from the Arab Spring protests made their way into pockets of Africa, Angolan youth began taking to the streets themselves. At the heart of their ongoing dissatisfaction remains the 32-year reign of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who protesters cite as the cause of mismanaged oil revenues, suppressed human rights, and widespread poverty, amongst other corruptions. ¹

One early advocate for the protests include hip-hop musician Luaty DaSilva, aka Ikonoklasta, who openly voiced his support for the uprising during one of his February 2011 concerts, listing government officials as “exploiters of the oppressed” while the crowd responded to push them “out!”

In June 2012, DaSilva departed Angola for Lisbon, Portugal, to play with the Kuduro band Batida. DaSilva’s supporters at the Angolan airport warned him that his luggage had been tampered with by the National Crime Investigation Department, and DaSilva decided that upon arrival in Lisbon, he would tell customs that he suspected foul play. But he never made it there, as the police were upon him as soon as he got his luggage. A kilogram of cocaine was discovered in DaSilva’s luggage, but the presiding judge of the case set him free, because, in Luaty’s words, “the framing was so gross that not even the judge bought it.” ²

For the following month-and-a-half, DaSilva stayed in Portugal, and has only just returned to Angola. As he shares in the interview below, he suspects that the government “must have something ready for me, some sort of “warm welcome home” for when I return on the 25th of July.” He is just one of a handful of musicians known to have faced persecution. ³

The 2012 parliamentary elections are to be held in Angola on August 31st — hypothetically the first time the government will respect the constitutional deadline of having four years between elections. Yet despite this fact, which ostensibly seems to be an improvement, demonstrators both young and old have seen an intense increase in violence in the past year, much of which has been captured on video and disseminated widely via the internet. As recently as July 15th, several hundred protestors, knowing very well the potential dangers which faced them, risked likely violence from security forces and protested in the Sao Paolo market. Twelve were arrested, including two journalists working for Portuguese publications, sparking a call for the postponement of the August elections until free and fair polls can be guaranteed. ⁴

In the following Q&A with REDEFINE, DaSilva gives his perspective on the situation in Angola, offering a point of view from the young and frustrated underclass, in both Portuguese and English.

September 2012 Headlines
Thousands stay away from Angolan elections (AP News – 2012, August 31)
Angola’s ruling party declared election winner (CNN – 2012, September 2)
Angola court rejects UNITA appeal, says vote was fair (Reuters – 2012, September 19)

“In 2011 President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in power for 32 years, faced an unprecedented wave of criticism. Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring movements, Angola witnessed an incipient movement of anti-government protests. In response, authorities used excessive force to crack down on the protests, most of which were organized via the internet, and curtailed media coverage of the demonstrations.” – Human Rights Watch

Protestors Facing Violence From Angolan Security Forces

You encouraged protestors to speak out against the government at one of your concerts. What was your role in the protests prior to and after that? Was there a particular point when you decided that enough was enough, or have you long been dissatisfied with the government?

Num dos teus concertos, incentivaste a plateia a sair em protesto contra o governo. Qual foi o teu papel nas manifestações antes e depois desse dia? Existe algum momento particular em que tenhas decidido bater com o punho e dizer basta, ou o descontentamento com o governo já é antigo?

I will start from the second half of this question: I have always been dissatisfied with governments in general, mine in particular. I grew up under the impression that politicians were the biggest crooks walking the earth, their cynical and pompous behaviour having always raised suspicions that they were not to be trusted to manage whole population’s resources. The more I grew, the more I solidified the impression, that grew into a blind certainty, that politicians are foul, looking after the interests of the rich and powerful whilst finding ways of elluding the rest of us with neatly written and celebrated concepts of democracy and freedom that are not applied in day-to-day life.

Now, how active was I before that concert? That March 7th demonstration was the beggining of a new era where, symbolically, the youth broke the mold of fear and took it to the streets, without beating around the bush to what the purpose were: decomissioning of this never elected, senile president. Before this demonstration, I was just making music; I’m an hip hop artist and my lyrics are very often socially/politically inclined. I’ve been doing it since 1994, but it wasn’t until 2002 that I started speaking out against the government.

Começo pela segunda parte desta questão: desde miúdo que desconfio dos governos e da classe política em geral, dos meus em particular. Cresci com a impressão que os políticos são os maiores ladrões à face da Terra. O seu jeito cínico e pomposo nunca me convenceu, antes pelo contrário, despertava em mim agudizadas suspeitas de que não seria gente a quem se deveria confiar a gestão dos recursos pertencentes à Nação. Quanto mais cresci, mais cimentei a impressão, entretanto tornada certeza, de que os políticos são facínoras que tomam conta dos interesses dos ricos e poderosos, desenvolvendo táticas cada vez mais refinadas de ilusionismo, para fazer crer aos comuns mortais que gozam de conceitos bem enfabulados de liberdade e democracia.

Quanto a primeira parte da questão: o dia 7 de Março de 2011 foi o início de uma nova era para Angola, foi o momento em que um grupo pequeno de pessoas rompeu com a barreira opressiva do medo e saíu à rua sem dissimular o seu verdadeiro objetivo: a destituição de um presidente caduco, jamais sufragado por voto popular. Antes dessa manifestação eu limitava-me a fazer música e, sendo um artista de hip-hop, muitas das minhas músicas têm um forte cariz social e político, mas nunca tinha participado de nenhuma manifestação no meu país porque elas eram virtualmente inexistentes.

“What I feel is: everyone is fed up but most people are terrified of losing whatever little commodity they have conquered by publicly admitting it. I was told that even within the MPLA (the ruling party which we fight against) there are many people who silently support us. To what extent is that true I cannot say.”

“Se é verdade ou não, não posso confirmar, mas em jeito de sustentação deixe-me só acrescentar que dois generais na reserva de uma influente família do MPLA, abandonaram recentemente o partido, tendo um deles associado-se a uma nova agremiação partidária e vindo à público tomar o nosso partido.”

– Luaty DaSilva (Ikonoklasta)

What role would you say influential people and technology have played in the creation and subsequent growth of this particular movement?

Qual terá sido na tua ótica o papel de personalidades influentes e da tecnologia na criação e subsequente engrandecimento deste movimento em particular?

Considering the fact that Angola has an education deficit reflected by its catastrophic literacy rate (aprox. 70%) ⁵ and that only a mere 10% of the population has access to the internet ⁶, I’d say technology played a small part in mobilization from within. It did help keep both the lucky 10% inland and the rest of the immense diaspora abroad [informed], something that wouldn’t be conceivable a few years back where everyone had to rely on perfectly controlled, manipulated Angolan media. The videos we’ve captured on protest days were simply divulged on the internet, which helped spreading the sense of indignation amongst our fellow countrymen and foreigners who cared about what was taking place in Angola.

As far as the “influential people” are concerned, I don’t think any of them have played pivotal roles, since most of the people that are somewhat trusted by certain segments of the general population (amongst them one of the country’s ex-prime minister), did little more than voice their support for the youngsters in very limited public means. Few people had access to it. There’s a huge information clot in Angola promoted by the government either by state media or by coercive/dissuasive methods employed within “privately-owned” media, which is the only explanation (besides illiteracy) for the effectiveness of archaic tools used by the regime to hold on to power for so long. ⁷

Tendo em conta que somos um país onde a informação ainda é controlada e deturpada pelo partido de forma que já roça a infantilidade de tão grotesca, que Angola tem um dos seus maiores flagelos na sua elevadíssima taxa de analfabetismo (aprox. 70%) ⁵ e que uns escassos 10% da população angolana tem acesso à internet ⁶, eu diria que a tecnologia desempenhou um papel menos preponderante em Angola do que nos países irmãos da África do Norte. Os vídeos que captámos das agressões sofridas em dias de protesto, por exemplo, foram divulgados unicamente na internet, o que limita o potencial de indignação que teria perto da população que sofre diariamente as agruras de uma governação que não lhes contempla.

Quanto às personalidades influentes, dentre os quais contamos um ex-primeiro ministro, também vejo a sua intervenção como limitada e logo, não terão pesado muito, pelo menos não até agora, na agregação de massa popular ao movimento. Infelizmente, mesmo tendo tornado públicos os seus posicionamentos, estes não foram divulgados pelos mídia angolanos, todos muito dependentes do poder vigente. ⁷

After the incident at the airport, has the Angolan government tried to threaten you in other ways?

Depois do incidente no aeroporto o governo angolano voltou a tentar ameaçar-te de alguma outra forma?

Not yet. I’m still in Europe where is a bit harder to do me wrong without making too much of a fuss. They must have something ready for me, some sort of “warm welcome home” for when I return on the 25th of July [to my jungle].

Não. Ainda estou na Europa. Se têm alguma coisa planeada, deverão estar a espera do meu regresso para me fazer a folha. Dia 25 de Julho volto à minha selva.

Batida – “Cuka” feat. Ikonoklasta (English Subtitled)

Youth and war veterans have been two groups of particular note in the Angolan protests. Asides from them, what would you say public opinion is generally like?

Os jovens e os veteranos de guerra são dois grupos a destacar nos protestos que se desencadearam em Angola. Para além deles, o que dirias da opinião pública em geral?

I wish I could speak of this matter being able to sustain my theory with undeniable evidence, but the fact is I can only speak about my own experiences and from what I observe daily — from interacting with other people and hearing their private opinions, or from surfing the internet, a place where people maintain a relative anonymity and speak more freely. What I feel is: everyone is fed up but most people are terrified of losing whatever little commodity they have conquered by publicly admitting it. I was told that even within the MPLA (the ruling party which we fight against) there are many people who silently support us. To what extent is that true I cannot say.

Gostaria de poder sustentar a minha resposta com provas documentadas, mas o facto é que só posso referir a minha impressão pessoal, derivada das conversas que tenho com os meus concidadãos e das tendências para as intervenções nos portais angolanos na internet, onde felizmente, as pessoas se sentem menos inseguras de assumirem as suas verdadeiras opiniões. O que eu sinto é o seguinte: está toda a gente farta mas, simultaneamente, aterrorizada de meter em risco as parcas comodidades que conseguiram assegurar, assumindo publicamente as suas posições. Disseram-me que dentro do próprio MPLA há um enorme grupo de pessoas que silenciosamente se regozigam com as nossas ações. Se é verdade ou não, não posso confirmar, mas em jeito de sustentação deixe-me só acrescentar que dois generais na reserva de uma influente família do MPLA, abandonaram recentemente o partido, tendo um deles associado-se a uma nova agremiação partidária e vindo à público tomar o nosso partido.

The election in Angola will be held on August 31st. Violence and action taken against protestors seems to be ramping up. What do you envision happening between now and then, and what is the ideal scenario you hope for?

A eleição em Angola será realizado em 31 de Agosto. A violência e as medidas tomadas contra os manifestantes parece estar incrementando. O que você imagina acontecer entre agora e depois, e qual é o cenário ideal que você espera?

I have no hope in ideal scenarios. There are none. The ideal scenario is Dos Santos stepping down, the elections being delayed for a few months in order to make the whole process transparent (which is everything but up until now), but this would be pure wishful thinking. Violence will carry on as long as there is dissent, and taking into account the escalation of violence we’ve been witnessing lately, homicide is not to be discarded. ^{8, 9}

Não tenho nem uma ponta de esperança em cenários ideais. Não há um cenário ideal que se perfile no horizonte. O cenário ideal seria o Jose Eduardo dos Santos desistir da ideia de ser cabeça de lista pelo MPLA e adiarem-se as eleições até estarem criadas as condições que garantam a total transparência na sua realização, o que não é DE TODO o cenário atual. Esse cenário é pura fantasia tendo em conta os desenvolvimentos dos últimos meses. Prevejo que a violência vá continuar a aumentar e não se deve descartar a possibilidade de entrarmos em práticas de homicídios, tendo em conta os sinais que nos têm sido enviados por parte do governo. ^{8, 9}

What issues and government wrongdoings are people most fired up about?

Que problemas e erros do governo são as pessoas mais raiva?

People are weary of (mis)governance by the same party, 37 after gaining independence. Moreover, people finally have realized that war was a pretext to justify the incompetence of the government in managing public affairs. Generals and government officials have become pornographically enriched by the many years of civil war and are completely shameless in their shameful display that, judging by their arrogance, seems to give them the feeling of being untouchable, superior beings. People are tired of systematically seeing their most basic rights appropriated by those who must enforce them, charging them fees known as “gas” to earn them. I speak essentially of the right to health, education and employment. In every country there is corruption that is only controlled by counter-powers among them — perhaps most importantly, the pressure of public opinion. In Angola is controlled by public opinion or misinformation or psychological terror, thus creating the feeling that people are resigned to the rhythm of “work” of the government, accepting that they can not go faster, tolerating that they continue to use to war as an excuse. But that’s a lie; anyone walks in the street know that the population does not fall in this trap.

As pessoas estão exaustas da (des)governação do mesmo partido, 37 após a conquista da independência. Mais, as pessoas finalmente deram-se conta que a guerra era um pretexto para justificar a incompetência dos governantes na gestão da coisa pública. Generais e membros do governo enriqueceram pornograficamente ao longo dos muitos anos de guerra civil e são completamente despudorados na sua vergonhosa ostentação que, julgando pela sua arrogância, lhes parece conferir a sensação de intocáveis, seres superiores. As pessoas estão fartas de verem sistematicamente os seus direitos mais elementares apropriados por quem devia garanti-los, cobrando-lhes taxas conhecidas como “gasosas”, para deles auferirem. Falo claro essencialmente do direito à saúde, educação e ao emprego. Em todos os países existe corrupção que só é controlada por contra-poderes dentre os quais, talvez o mais importante, a pressão da opinião pública. Em Angola controla-se a opinião pública ou pela desinformação ou pelo terror psicológico, criando-se assim a sensação que as pessoas estão conformadas com o ritmo de “trabalho” do governo, aceitando que não podem ir mais rápido, tolerando que continue a usar-se a guerra como desculpa. Mas é mentira, quem anda na rua sabe que a população já não cai nesse engodo.

How can people within Angola, and people outside Angola, help?

Como podem as pessoas dentro e fora de Angola ajudar?

Everyone, having contact with interviews like these, is spreading the information and must act according to what your conscience dictates, and you do what you can. I will not enumerate the various ways that exist to help, because I believe that each person is aware of their ability to interfere. I am glad if there is sufficient disclosure so that the number of people aware of what is happening in Angola, in widely different countries, is more comprehensive.

Cada um, tendo contacto com a informação que, com entrevistas como estas, se está a disseminar, deve agir de acordo com o que a sua consciência lhe ditar e fazer o que pode. Eu não vou enumerar as várias maneiras que existem para ajudar, porque acredito que cada pessoa tem noção das suas capacidades de interferir. Fico satisfeito se houver divulgação suficiente para que o número de pessoas conscientes do que se está a passar em Angola, nos mais distintos países, seja mais abrangente.

Sources

¹ Reuters Africa, July 2012. Angolan Police Arrest 12 At Anti-Government Rally
² YouTube, June 2012. Luaty revela detalhes do “caso cocaína”
³ Global Voices, March 2012. Violence Against Protest for Fair Elections
⁴ Novo Jornal(Luanda), February 2012.
⁵ Angola Statistics, UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/angola_statistics.html
⁶ Angola Statistics, UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/angola_statistics.html; Google (data from World Bank). World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance
⁷ Aljazeera, March 2012. Angola’s Police Raid Newspaper Office
⁸ Human Rights Watch, July 2012. Protestors Detained, Disppeared: Pre-Election Environment Marred By Crackdown
⁹ Human Rights Watch, April 2012. Violent Crackdown on Critics: Increasing Violence and Threats Raise Concerns about 2012 Elections

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Charitable Musicians: Hip-Hop Rapper Ikonoklasta Protests Against The Angolan Government

Rebellion (2011) Film Review

Peter Woodburn — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:38:02 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Rebellion (2011) Film Review

Expectations can be a tricky best, especially when it comes to films. The trailer for Mathieu Kassovitz’s newest film, Rebellion, really makes it seem like a wartime story. In a sense, Rebellion is a wartime story, insomuch that it is set against the tense occupation of the French colony of New Caledonia. But from pretty much the opening sequence on, Rebellion is less a story of battle than it is a story of trying to stop one.

Fellipe Legorjus (Kassovitz) is the captain of the GIGN, a special forces unit trained to tactically deal with terrorist operations generally involving hostages. Legorjus arrives on the island of New Caledonia because Kanak separatists led by Alphonse Dianou (Iabe Lapacas) have taken 30 French policemen hostage. Legorjus meets with Dianou in an effort to peacefully return the hostages against the odds and pressures of the French government and elections back home.

The film is based on real life events and challenges the notion that the victor gets to tell the story. The politics of France throughout the film challenge Legorjus’ efforts throughout the entire film. But outside of one fantastically shot warlike sequence, Rebellion moves the story along and a quick pace. The film counts down the ten days leading up to the chaos forshadowed at the beginning and Kassovitz has a knack for making sure things never slow down too much.

Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Rebellion (2011) Film Review

Italy: Love It or Leave It Film Review (2011)

Peter Woodburn — Sat, 26 May 2012 13:36:00 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Italy: Love It or Leave It Film Review (2011)

Italy, for all of its romantic and historic wonder, is a country that often seems to be masquerading as a third world country. This is a country, after all, whose recent Prime Minister resigned after a sex scandal (his umpteenth one) that would make a soap opera love triangle seem standard. Italy is a country thoroughly embracing the European debt crisis, and the unemployment rate in young adults is sky high. But despite all of this, Italy, is still a country that virtually every foreigner loves unto death.

Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi are looking at a crucial moment in their life. Most of their friends have departed from the country, and Gustav wants to move to Berlin. Luca still has his hearts set on his homeland, though — so the two get the classic Italian car, a Fiat 500, and set on a cross-country trip in the documentary Italy: Love It or Leave It.

Hofer and Ragazzi forgo the renaissance splendors of Florence and Rome, and head off to the real bastions of Italy — the northern part of the country in Milan and the southern portion of the country in Cambria — to find whether or not Italy is a country worth sticking around in. They interview people from all ages and all spectrums who are tirelessly working to correct many of Italy’s very public ills, from sexism in the media to support for the immigrant laborers that live in squalid conditions. Italy: Love It or Leave It is a tongue-in-cheek look at a country with very serious issues, and while the duo find themselves in the depths of government spending gone crazy in Sicily, they still aren’t willing to take the country to task over it. There isn’t much brought up in the film that really jabs at the heart of Italian culture — because to do that would be tearing at the hearts of Hofer and Ragazzi as well, and also brings up the ultimate issue with a scathing criticism of Italy: most Italians are just nice, hard-working (sometimes), honest individuals who believe in family, wine, and the goodness of the Earth.

The fact that the duo stay off the beaten path for the most part is the beauty of the docu-drama. Italy is a two headed beast, with a government in shambles, but whatever; they have the Ponte Vecchio and there are many memories made throughout life there. The romanticism of Italy stays surprisingly in check and alive through the film, and for anyone that has been to the country and loves it, Italy: Love It or Leave It won’t make you love it any less. If anything, it will make you chuckle more at how such a seemingly civilized society can live in such a crumbling, backwards fashion.

Directed by Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi

SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012 SCREENINGS
June 3rd @ Noon, SIFF Cinema Uptown
June 5th @ 6:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Italy: Love It or Leave It Film Review (2011)

Compare & Contrast: Mao Zedong, Then And Now

Vivian Hua — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 23:24:53 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Compare & Contrast: Mao Zedong, Then And Now

Dictators! Love them or hate them (philosophically-speaking), it’s hard to argue that a Communist aesthetic a la Mao Zedong or Joseph Stalin doesn’t have a compelling color palette and welcome vintage grain associated with it. Perhaps in spite of themselves — or perhaps not — illustrators and artists the world over are constantly reinventing these iconic images of humanity’s most well-known leaders; the question is why.

Andy Warhol included Mao in his collection of silkscreened works in 1972. Since then, many artists have followed in his footsteps to reimagine the dictator’s face and place. In this post is a mix of classic images of China’s Mao Zedong, alongside new interpretations of his distinguished mug and some philosophical ramblings.

OLD _ a paper-cut propaganda poster discovered by the University of Michigan’s Center for Chinese Studies. SEE MORE IN HI-RES

NEW _ Mao Money 8 by David Foox. SEE LARGER IMAGE

David Foox

David Foox might envision a future where economic differences between the United States and China might be settled by an international currency. About Mao Money 8 and Mao’s influence, he states: “It is clear to me that Chairman Mao was a truly iconic leader and his image is a larger than life representation of forces and factors that have helped shape the modern era. My artwork titled “Mao Money 8″ was a re-visualization of future US Currency and as part of that notion, I included both the concept of a world currency and a US currency backed by Chairman Mao. It is a commentary on the ever changing notion of money – and who knows we may all see the day where there is an international currency based entirely in the digital world.” You can learn about the full symbolism behind the piece HERE.

—

OLD _ Portrait of Portrait of Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Gate

NEW

Marko

Marko Koeppe is one artist who became interested in Mao Zedong after seeing Warhol’s Mao.

As a German artist, Koeppe holds strong opinions about borders and walls; he hopes that his art, including his incorporation of Mao’s image, can transcend those boundaries.

“The [Berlin] Wall is standing (for me) as a border, not to think outside your world view. To be limited [by] your horizon… is something that is all the same with dictators and similar systems. If you wanna go deeper, it’s the same with all human beings here,” Koeppe says. “Everyone has got his own horizon, and most of us do not want to be disturbed [by outside influences]… I’m making pictures for the ones that want to be disturbed, that want to extend their horizon. Everything develops in the eyes of the viewer – (so open your mind).”

—

OLD

NEW _ Representation of an Idea to the Outside by Ever

Ever

Argentinian street artist Ever works a great amount with Mao’s image and has thought quite deeply and extensively about the subject. At the very heart of his work is his desire to talk about what he calls the “human contradiction.”

“In a capitalist society, the volume of information available to us affords us an incredible degree of choice in what we want to consume. However, when faced with the sheer number of options, we often end up overwhelmed and unsure about our own objectives. So, though happy to buy into the appealing illusion of freedom offered by capitalism, we ironically find ourselves frequently plagued with the paralysis of indecision and distracted from our own ideological desires with constant material craving[s]. To illustrate this contradiction we have only to consider the current youth generations in the western world. They find themselves at their peak and with the whole world within reach, but paradoxically they often feel stagnant and impotent, temporarily satiating themselves with a new iPod or car while battling disillusionment in a failing system which can no longer fulfill the promise of a bright future. Despite this dilemma, Western society defends its system with conviction when faced with other options, like that of Communism. China is a country long exposed to Communism while Western society [has] demonized it, but all are now involved in the same economic system. China gave up true Communism long ago and is now the creator of the majority of the products used in modern day capitalism to satisfy our most immediate and shallow needs.

Often when we defend our systems against those that we think threaten them, in reality we are only defending outdated ideologies which are no longer truly embodied by our current political systems. To reveal these contradictions, I have chosen to utilize the images of Chineses Posters for describe Mao Tse Tung and the Chinese culture. When I see [those] posters, you see [the] progress of an idea, but on the facts at this time, you see a bad ending.”

—

OLD

NEW

David Szauder

When glitch artist David Szauder decided to explore how glitch art could be combined with iconic imagery, his mind went directly to Mao — an individual that, for him, provided “direct connection to pop art.” Perhaps it as the callback to Warhol that made this connection, but working with Mao has led Szauder one step further, to contemplate the relationship between pop art and glitch art. Nonetheless, despite the bright colors and fanfare, Szauder’s impressions of Mao are less than positive. “I am coming from an ex-Communist country. I have total bad feelings about Mao, because the blood [is] on his hand[s], but visually… I [see how] the idealistic images from that era [are] totally [controversial],” he says.

Read David Szauder’s complete statement

—

OLD _ Urgently Forge Ahead and Bravely Advance with Great Leader Chairman Mao (Jin gen weida lingxiu Mao Zhuxi fenyong qianjin!), 1971

NEW _ Long Live Chairman Mao

Hongtu Zhang

On Long Live Chairman Mao and about his Mao-related series, Material Mao, Zhang bluntly says, “I believe in the power of the image, but I don’t believe in the authority of the image. If you stare at a red shape for a long time, when you turn away, your retina will hold the image but you will see a green version of the same shape. In the same way, when I lived in China, I saw the positive image of Mao so many times that my mind now holds a negative image of Mao. In my art I am transferring this psychological feeling to a physical object.”

In a sarcastic and joking tone, Zhang downplays the importance of his ethnic heritage by continuing, “Sometimes the hole in my work might remind you of the Nothingness of Taoism or the negative space of traditional Chinese ink painting, but the visual inspiration of my work comes directly from a bagel.”

In reality, though, China’s influence — and subsequently Mao’s influence — continue to have an impact upon his life. In a public talk, he was quoted with the following:

“Mao followed what Karl Marx said: “Religion is the opium of the people”. After he took power, all religions were banned in China. During the Cultural Revolution, anything that had any religious meaning, such as books, statues, portraits… were destroyed. As a result, Mao created a huge vacuum of belief, and at the same time, he used his power and all the propaganda tools including literature, art, music… to make himself a new religious icon.

It was a hot late summer day in 1966, when I went to a rally at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing. Around a thousand students sat on the ground of a sports field. Suddenly, I heard someone yell: ” Beat, beat this counterrevolutionary, he dares to sit on our great leader Chairman Mao’s portrait!” That student was beat-up by at least 10 people, and blood was all over his body. In reality, he was only sitting on a newspaper. But Mao’s portrait was printed on every single newspaper, every single day.

It was a lesson that showed me how powerful and how terrifying an image can be when it becomes a religious icon.

Like everyone in my generation, at the beginning of the Culture Revolution, I had complete trust in Mao. Some writings in his Red Book were so romantic, so idealistic. But ironically, the CR and Mao himself made me change my mind. I saw people dividing into different groups, fighting and killing each other, but everyone including the killers and the victims declared they were on the side of Mao’s revolution. I felt that all of the young people, including myself were fooled and used by Mao.

After I left China and moved to the States in 1982, I tried to forget everything that happened in China by doing so called “pure art”. I hated any political content in art. But I just couldn’t erase Mao’s image from my mind.”

END.

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Compare & Contrast: Mao Zedong, Then And Now

Charitable Musicians: Wetlands Support Guatemala’s Xela AID (w/ Interview)

Vivian Hua — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:08:12 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Charitable Musicians: Wetlands Support Guatemala’s Xela AID (w/ Interview)

Though they are currently on hiatus, Wetlands are taking their time off to do what they can to evenly disperse wealth and spread compassion. Vocalist and keyboardist Jeremy Reineck explains to us why all proceeds for the band’s intheraw EP will be going towards the non-profit organization, Xela AID.

Why did you choose to benefit the specific charity you chose?

intheraw by wetlands

The drummer — Justin Flint — and I spent the summer of 2011 in Guatemala working directly with Xela AID high up in the mountains of Quetzaltenango. We would travel back and forth between the rustic mountain village of San Martin Chiquito and the wild hum of Guatemala’s cultural center Xela. By day, we assisted locals in the Xela AID clinic and witnessed San Martin’s poverty close-up (sanitation issues, widespread parasitic infection, poor housing conditions, little access to education/medicine) all the while happily fumbling through Spanish with the Guatemalan locals — all curiously serene, gentle, pure of heart. By night, we explored the throbbing, cobbled alleyways of Xela, making merry with the Xela AID family — truly the most genuinely compassionate and worldly people I’ve ever met — and making deep connections with the country itself. After much hard work, we came to see Xela AID as a non-profit with close, real ties to the people they were helping. Their focus is very much on assimilating in and creating a dialogue with the community rather than forcing any particular standard on them. This way, problems are met with the local way of life in mind, wherein progress can continue to be made through sustainable methods that the people are in tune with.

Considering the whole “starving artist” mentality, what led you guys to decide to give all proceeds to a charity rather than keeping some yourselves? Was there a specific moment that it became clear this was the idea you wanted to embark on?

We’d never made much money to begin with and that was fine by us. Sometimes we would take on shows for free. We had a kind of a punk rock attitude about the whole thing, playing anywhere with little regard for promotion and making sure we gave that venue and the people there [got] absolutely everything we had. We weren’t necessarily “rocking out”; we were projecting our energy honestly… dancing, screaming, improvising songs for 20 minutes, coaxing the audience into doing bizarre things, having random folks up on stage singing, drumming, etc. — essentially just letting it all go. We were really engaging in the moment, free from set-lists and general ‘stage etiquette.’

Over time, all of this built in us a spirit that was incompatible with commercialization. Trying to “brand” the band as a business just had no romantic appeal, no energy, and though it can certainly be rewarding in the long run, I think it often gets in the way of milking the truly transcendent moments that music allows us. As such, it seemed like the obvious choice to direct any money from intheraw to Xela AID — a business with the same goal — not of running people through the system, but of engaging them directly, compassionately, and energetically.

About Xela AID

Xela AID empowers children and their families to break the cycle of poverty and to live healthier, more abundant lives through the opportunities afforded by education. They aspire to ensure that every child in our focus area is educated, and every family is safe, healthy, well-nourished, and equipped to be self-reliant by providing educational scholarships, tutoring, leadership training, and local partnerships to remove the health, environmental and socioeconomic barriers to well-being and learning. Their integrated models of community development provide solutions that are comprehensive, sustainable, scalable and transferable.

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Charitable Musicians: Wetlands Support Guatemala’s Xela AID (w/ Interview)

Attenberg Film Review (Greece)

Erik Burg — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:20:48 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Attenberg Film Review (Greece)

Written and Directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari; 2010

Although I’m no Greek film aficionado, it doesn’t take one to figure out that the new film from writer and director Athina Tsangari is a strange observation on the societal and governmental downfall of Greece. Tsangari’s post-modern take on the modernist movement is certainly obtuse, all the while remaining inventive and intriguing.

The film’s main plot involves a naive but mature woman by the name of Marina, played by Ariane Labed. It opens with Marina and her best friend Bella, played by Evangelia Randou, practicing how to kiss — a vivid and awkward scene that immediately places the viewer in a rather surreal world. As the camera finally pulls away and the two break from their act, Marina and Bella begin to engage each other as cats, pawing and hissing and crawling on all fours. The entire opening is strange, especially when one is given almost no context about the characters. Much of the film carries on in the this same pattern, but this first image remains the most vivid.

REVIEW CONTINUES BELOW

The title Attenberg is taken from Marina’s obsession with the films of documentarian David Attenborough, which is knowingly mispronounced when she speaks with Bella. Marina’s infatuation with animals and their behavior is reflected both in her real interactions, and in those moments of make believe which she shares not only with Bella but with her father as well. She’s inhumane when it comes to sexuality and most social experiences,; she’s rigid and cold, the same bland feeling that her father, an ex-engineer, gets from the state of Greece. Attenberg is angular and sharp, a direct comparison to how the area Marina lives has been devised. Bland square buildings stretch along the coast, a characteristic which the father criticizes for being a disgusting trope of modern art.

The film is essentially composed of various vignettes stitched together to tell a vague story, but often feel more like small windows peeking into these character’s lives rather than documents of interactions. As Marina tells Bella, “I have never desired,” and talks about her asexuality while firmly grasping Bella’s bared breast, the sort of animal-like nature of humanity becomes rather obvious. Our desire as humans to lust and to organize things was manifested in the modernist era, but ultimately it just alienated us more than ever from our neighbors. And that’s essentially what Attenberg is about, what humans experience means in relation to our animal heritage. Sure, Marina’s father dies of cancer and she eventually loses her virginity to a stranger, but it’s the way in which Tsangari frames the human emotion, so often childish and animalistic, which makes the film unique and bizarre.

END.

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Attenberg Film Review (Greece)

Tibet : With Scenery And Colors Like These, No Wonder Photographer Jan Reurink Keeps Coming Back.

Vivian Hua — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:05:01 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Tibet : With Scenery And Colors Like These, No Wonder Photographer Jan Reurink Keeps Coming Back.

Netherlands-based photographer Jan Reurink can’t get enough of Tibet, and captures Tibetan landscape and everyday life with a dedicated selfless passion. In our brief Q&A with Reurink below, he tells us about the rainbow plethora of reasons he keeps returning to the sacred land.

The prayer flags in this image are wind horses; they are called རླུང་རྟ་ — or lungta. They serve as an allegory for the human soul, and now ritually used as a symbol of well-being and good fortune in Tibet.

The mountain range of Mount Ti Se (གངས་ཏེ་སེའི་རི་རྒྱུད or gangs te se’i ri rgyud/ gangté serigyü). Also called the Kailash Mountain Range.

Brief Q&A With Photographer Jan Reurink

Your images are often landscape shots or portraits of people, which, in themselves, do not carry much political weight. Yet a lot of your descriptions on Flickr are matched up with news stories of a somewhat political or historical nature. Asides from visual beauty, what are things that you hope to convey with your imagery?

For everyone to see and find out the history of Tibet, as in the early days and the present day. I want to show Tibet. I have never experienced [Bad Tibetans]; Tibetans are always open and friendly. Tibetan culture is disappearing very quickly. I try to capture Tibet mostly for Tibetans in exile everywhere in the world. Once a Tibetan lady who lives in exile, mailed me [and said] she found her brother on several photos (I send her some).

How would you say is the general attitude and the spirit of the people in Tibet on a day-to-day basis? How much do relations with China affect them?

If Europe were still occupied by the Third Reich, everything would be changed: street names, city names, region names, province names, and even your own country name. This is happening in Tibet; the occupier named this country Xizang. [The name] Xizang is recognized world-wide on maps, magazines, and so forth. By doing this, the [Tibetan] culture and their identity will be lost.

What role do you think color plays in life in Tibet, and has it changed your perception of color?

Like many things in Tibet, it is strongly connected with Buddhism, the color Blue symbolizes sky/space, white symbolizes air/wind, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth. This is for prayer flags. For me, color is optimistic; it can be bright, it gives depth, and can highlight a picture. I like color like the Tibetans do.

What is it that keeps you coming back to this place?

As with the landscape, nature and the Tibetans, it is original. There is something in their eyes of peace, openness and friendliness; that is the nature of Tibet.

Ganden Monastery — or དགའ་ལྡན་ — is one of the “great three” Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located at the top of Wangbur Mountain. It is the original monastery of the Geluk order, founded by Buddhist teacher Je Tsongkhapa in 1409, and considered to be the seat of Geluk administrative and political power.

Here, Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ, the Tibetan sanskrit scripture, is painted on an old pool table.

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Tibet : With Scenery And Colors Like These, No Wonder Photographer Jan Reurink Keeps Coming Back.

Protect Creative Content Creation & Join REDEFINE In SOPA/PIPA Blackout

Admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:30:12 +0000

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Protect Creative Content Creation & Join REDEFINE In SOPA/PIPA Blackout

> Up-To-Date List of Music/Arts Sites Joining Us In Opposing SOPA/PIPA { HERE }

> Commentary From Music Sites Blacked Out TODAY { HERE }

> Cohesive List of Companies and Organizations Opposing SOPA/PIPA { HERE }

Letter From The Editor

Dear REDEFINE reader,

I am writing this letter with the sincere hopes of convincing anyone involved in or inspired by the music, film and arts industries to join REDEFINE in taking a united stand against two bills that, if passed, may greatly restrict creative freedom as we know it. The possibility of government-sanctioned censorship of the internet is very, very near.

On Tuesday, January 24th, 2012, Congress is set to vote on Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP Act (PIPA), two extremely loosely-worded and broad bills that would give the United States government the power to deny user access to any websites they feel are violating piracy laws.

UPDATE: The SOPA bill is effectively “shelved” but the PIPA bill is still being sent to Senate. Neither bill is officially dead. Click here for details about PIPA.

If they pass, SOPA and PIPA have potentially serious repercussions for smaller and independent music and arts publications, blogs, record labels, and distribution sites. They are backed by the major music and film industries, and if these bills pass, we will see the distribution of media controlled by companies that care only about profits and the preservation of their businesses in the digital age.

First, if you’re skeptical that these bills will affect you or I, you should also know that:
THESE BILLS HAVEN’T EVEN PASSED AND WE ARE ALREADY BEING AFFECTED.

One hip-hop site was seized for a year without warning, for posting content that they were given by the record labels to post. They were punished simply because RIAA assumed they were posting unauthorized content, although everything was fully authorized.

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.”
– George Orwell, 1984

If SOPA and PIPA pass, we would be relying on the judgment of the government and major film and music corporations to determine who is actually violating piracy rules. And considering how personally disconnected from the arts all of those entities are, it would be the overwhelming influence of money, not of maintaining artistic integrity, that ultimately wins. Smaller publications without the financial or influential means of defending themselves could find themselves being unfairly punished. Even artist-supported distribution sites like SoundCloud may be considered a threat.

A quote from German historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler paints a vivid picture of how innovation and growth will be limited, should these bills pass:

“… an older alien Culture lies so massively over the land that a young culture born in this land, cannot get its breath and fails to achieve pure and specific expression-forms, but even to develop fully its own self-consciousness.”
– Oswald Spengler, The Decline Of The West

The internet that we know it — an unregulated one — blooms with brilliant ideas. With it has come developments more incredible and wide-reaching than we ever would have imagined, including new media distribution models which have given your average content creator and passionate human a fighting chance. Our favorite artists, musicians, and filmmakers have the internet to thank for this. But under PIPA and SOPA, the government will be employing tactics Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin considers to be akin to those employed by the governments of China and Iran, and the internet will be regulated in a way that effectively limits creative expansion.

To anyone who sincerely cares about artistic growth and integrity, I hope that you will join REDEFINE — and countless other sites — in 12 hours of Blackout on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 from 8:00am to 8:00pm, to help raise awareness about the issue. Send me a message with a link to your website if you plan to participate or view a list of participating sites. Those without websites can help spread the word or find other ways to get involved via the links below.

Creation paves the way towards a better future. Let’s work together on supporting what we love.

Vivian Hua
Editor-in-Chief
huav@redefinemag.com

BLACKOUT Is Easy

JAVASCRIPT BLACKOUT
www.sopablackout.org
Insert a simple piece of code.

WORDPRESS BLACKOUT

http://wpmu.org/7-wordpress-plugins-to-fight-sopa-pipa/

Choose a WordPress plugin.

Get Involved

STOP AMERICAN CENSORSHIP
www.americancensorship.org
Multiple ways you can get involved.

ENGINE ADVOCACY
www.engineadvocacy.com/voice/
Contact your Congressperson.

Read The Bills

SOPA On OpenCongress
PIPA On OpenCongress

About PIPA

The Protect IP Act (PIPA, S. 968) is SOPA’s twin in the Senate. Under current DMCA law, if a user uploads a copyrighted movie to sites like Youtube, the site isn’t held accountable so long as they provide a way to report user infringement. The user who uploaded the movie is held accountable for their actions, not the site. PIPA would change that – it would place the blame on the site itself, and would also provide a way for copyright holders to seize the site’s domain in extreme circumstances.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation laid out four excellent points as to why the bills are not only dangerous, but are also not effective for what they are trying to accomplish:

The blacklist bills are expensive. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that PIPA alone would cost the taxpayers at least $47 million over 5 years, and could cost the private sector many times more. Those costs would be carried mostly by the tech industry, hampering growth and innovation.
The blacklist bills silence legitimate speech. Rightsholders, ISPs, or the government could shut down sites with accusations of infringement, and without real due process.
The blacklist bills are bad for the architecture of the Internet. But don’t take our word for it: see the open letters that dozens of the Internet’s concerned creators have submitted to Congress about the impact the bills would have on the security of the web.
The blacklist bills won’t stop online piracy. The tools these bills would grant rightsholders are like chainsaws in an operating room: they do a lot of damage, and they aren’t very effective in the first place. The filtering methods might dissuade casual users, but they would be trivial for dedicated and technically savvy users to circumvent.