rad.art was interviewed by Nicolas Lampert via email.  6/03

        How would you describe rad.art to a person unfamiliar with the project?

Founded in the Fall of 2002, rad.art is an unending series of radical art events in Ann Arbor. It is organized by a collective of about four students at the University of Michigan. rad.art is a name given to this series as a way of producing a sense of continuity between individual events. rad.art hopes to facilitate the creation of a "culture of resistance" in Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan. There is a fairly strong and dynamic community of progressive and radical activists in Ann Arbor and at the University. We consider ourselves a part of this community and we hope that rad.art contributes to the strengthening of our community by providing it with spaces in which radical politics can be affirmed through art. Getting involved in activism can be an alienating experience for those who aren't used to or necessarily interested in activst rhetoric and long meetings. rad.art events engage political issues in a more casual setting, providing newer activists with a more accessible entry point through which they can confront new political issues. In this sense, rad.art contributes to the creation of a more sustainable radical political culture. rad.art, as an official student group, also allows us to use the resources available to us as students to support radical artists. We do this by setting up events and, when possible, providing funding for artists on tour.

Who have you brought to Ann Arbor?

Since Fall 2002, we have hosted events for the following, in no particular order: Sue Coe (dead meat), -David Rees (get your war on), -the film Hot and Bothered, a documentary on feminist pornography by Becky Goldberg, Seth Tobocman, David Rovics, The Long Hairz Collective and MC Invincible (for a "Folk the War" show), the beehive design collective, Alfredo Jaar, the stencil pirates all stencil art show, drawing resistance, the Lost Film festival. We also set up a "Drop Bass Not Bombs" house/techno party at a local club in order to raise money for an antiwar conference at U-M and we set up a show for the hardcore band Black the Skies, but they unfortunately had to cancel their tour so that didn't work out

Who would you like to bring in the future?

How much funds are made available to you by the University?

It depends. One member of our collective, who has now graduated, was a graduate student in the art school. That allowed him to get funding for some of the more expensive artists that were brought to Ann Arbor. Other than that, we are highly dependent on the funding that we get from our student government. Sometimes they give us a few hundred dollars for our events, other times they choose not to fund our events at all. Donations from the people who come to the events also help. When we hosted Drawing Resistance, the University gave us a whole bunch of food gratis.

Any incidents of censorship?

None. When we brought the Drawing Resistance show we displayed it for a week in a highly visible study area in the University Union. We expected to catch some flak for works such as the "Stop U.S. Aid to Israel" poster--the Israel/Palestine issue being a highly polarized issue on our campus--but no one said anything. Maybe that’s cause it was finals week...

Has the University been receptive to the idea? Do they leave you or alone or present obstacles to work around?

University administrators leave us alone and probably don't know that we exist. We are one of about 800 student groups at U-M. Students at the University have been very supportive of this project. We have not worked much with faculty, but those that we have worked with are supportive, helping us borrow LCD projectors from the university and whatnot...

Any suggestions for students at other Universities for starting a similar project?

If you're an activist, you should realize that your activism will not be attractive to many unless there is a strong, positive and open culture that surrounds it. We can make our campus activist scenes more durable if we root them in the lives and cultures of the students that participate in them. Art events are a great way of affirming that your activism is about more than politics, that it is about life and living. They are also can provide a more accessible entry point into radical politics for newer activists. If you host events such as those done by rad.art, you should get your friends onto whatever funding committees exist at your school so that you can get money for artists. And this is something that rad.art has done to some extent, but could do better: work in conjunction with other student organizations whenever possible. This is a good way of introducing new student populations into the culture you are creating through hosting radical art events. In terms of getting turn-out for events, we put a big emphasis on creating excitement about upcoming rad.art events through extensive flyering, email lists, and word of mouth. Talking to people one on one has been invaluable in getting large turnouts at rad.art events.

What other types of projects are you involved with in Ann Arbor?

Max, Jenny and Mike are all very involved in the Michigan Indymedia Center. The three were all also involved in recent antiwar and pro-affirmative action stuff in our area. Jenny and Mike are also involved in the student-labor movement at the University of Michigan. During the Summer, Jenny also works full-time at Detroit Summer, a grassroots community organization in Detroit. Colin spends much of his time on projects that combine animal rights activism and art. He is also involved with a campus animal rights group and Ann Arbor critical mass.

How receptive has the Ann Arbor community been to rad.art?

We've had lots of community members come out to our shows. I think it helped that we did a lot of our shows at off-campus spaces like the 555 on Third Gallery, which is unfortunately part of a massive warehouse of cheap studio spaces that is being bulldozed in order to build a new YMCA. Art shows like the ones we do are a great way for building relationships between students and the local community.

Considering that rad.art is an excellent use of University Funds- could you briefly describe some negative use of funding/projects by the University of Michigan.