[Rumori] Illegal Art appropriated

[mainstream love]

Greetings. Elliot Lessing and Gordon Winiemko here. We
put together the show called "I Want A Mainstream!" in
San Francisco on July 5th at the Build art space (and
to some extent in cyber space). 

Witnessing the online discussions in the wake of "I
Want A Mainstream!" (of which the "appropriation" of
the Illegal Art show was a small component) is
gratifying and exciting, to say the least. A lively
dialogue about important issues is exactly what one
hopes for in making and curating art.  What's
regrettable is the suggestion that, in so doing, there
was any malicious intent. On the contrary, the show
was about joy. 

One way of framing the event is that it was done to
call into question divisions like
Underground/Mainstream, Illegal/Legal and indeed
Art/Corporate Product. That someone made the comment
that there was not much art in evidence at Build that
night represents exactly the kind of point of view
that we wanted to address. Missy Elliot? Ridley Scott?
Terry Gilliam? Philip K. Dick? Miles Davis? Callie
Khouri? Sleater-Kinney? These people are not artists?
Another all too regrettable division might be
identified as Art/Entertainment. It's that border we
wanted to confront. To put it another way, rather than
thumbing our noses at the so-called Mainstream, we
wanted to offer a love letter to It. 

While both of us have more or less always been members
of the "border patrol," the Illegal Art show (to the
organizers' credit) provided the impetus to delve into
this territory both at this particular time and in the
particular way that we did. 

That a part of what we did was to "appropriate" the
Illegal Art show (in the form of the "shadow" web site
illegal-art.com and images of the "illegal art"
presented as part of "I Want A Mainstream") struck us
as not only a complimentary response to the Illegal
Art show, but an acceptance of its implied invitation.

It's bewildering that anyone could take offense at
that, and contend that we did it out of any sense of
"sour grapes." We thought it eminently Sweet for an
appropriation show to be appropriated, and we imagined
the organizers would too. It doesn't seem a big
stretch to imagine the organizers of such a show being
proud of such a complimentary action, and proclaiming
it, rather than disparaging it. Especially since it
was done to help stimulate more thought and dialogue
about the issues the Illegal Art show raises.

Once again, we're glad to see that people are engaging
in dialogue, choosing to be active participants in
culture rather than passive consumers, unwilling to
take what is offered at face value.  That of course
would include not taking "I Want A Mainstream!" at
face value, as well as not taking at face value
mistaken assumptions about the motives behind it.

I Want A Mainstream! continues! As a forum to study,
examine, and test objects and concepts reportedly
associated with The Mainstream. We welcome people to
send lists of what they love that they consider
Mainstream, as well as things they love that they
would like to see in the Mainstream.  These lists will
then be posted on the website 
www.illegal-art.com

Please indicate whether or not the lists should be
anonymous.

Thank you! I Want A Mainstream!


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