Expressive Matter

**Warning... to be intriguing this video needs the viewer to be at least somewhat interested in the artists vs. the parks department battle of keeping the public parks freely open to artists. This is a video of an artist (Jessica) being asked to stop selling her art work (Peace Tie Dyes) or receive a criminal court summons for unlawful vending and after which she would most likely risk confiscation of her work. The issue revolves around how much of a political statement was being made by her art. To the officer "wanting peace" is a concept that can be directly measured in the size of the logo on the front of the shirt. Jessica's and common sense's argument was that her text message of "Peace" on the back by the neck line that was part of the dying process and the dying itself were a "cohesive" representation of peace. The video is a bit long, my questions are a bit leading from being very close to the citation, and it was filmed from the perspective that I really didn't want anyone 100% aware I was filming to alter their responses, when in reality they probably knew anyway...so sorry for the horrible cinematography...if you can get by all that, for me it was about the dialog, and the absurdity of public officials determining art and what is allowed under the law. Though it does seem to mimic the whole gallery process, so perhaps it's just how the world works :( p.s. The vendors in the Holiday Market inside Union Square Park pay $15k for their booths to parks and recreation...they are most likely putting pressure on increased enforcement of these "general merchandise" laws against the artists who now freely sit on the perimeter of the park. If you are interested in more info on this situation please see this post: http://www.noshiz.com/index.php?philo_ID=272

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• artists
• union
• square
• park
• nyc
• expressive
• matter
• first
• amendment

[mydailycomplaint]

They have no idea how screenprinting is done. Parks officers are total "power" trippers. They act like a gang!!! Time to stand up--the peoples voice