"Disruptions" in Support of Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network (Part 1)

For well over a decade, my art practice has been defined by leaving things as they were. My thought process was as follows:

If it’s perfectly justifiable to change the trajectory of an object by placing it within the context of Art; the same object should be allowed to continue being of service after its moment in the gallery spotlight. All I had to do was not interfere with the it’s ability to serve its original purpose- and that object’s use value would remain intact.

Everyone and everything live many lives. Art- when reaching it’s fullest potential, shouldn’t be a dead end. It should be a beginning moment of transformation. A reminder of all that’s possible.

Then Donald Trump was re-elected as the President of the United States. Like many of us, I was shocked and grief stricken. And like many of us, I figured the best course of action was to fuck some things up. I tried my liver; but quickly decided it was too precious a commodity. So instead I set my sites on signs of authority. Who on Earth needs any more of those? Certainly not the folks whose struggle remained constantly on the forefront of my mind.

I cut and chopped; arranged and rearranged until the signs’ original information began to dissolve. Their homogenous format became scrambled, and a new visual rhythm began to emerge. They looked familiar, but at the same time made anew.

I found myself completely re-energized - excited by the strange possibilities that came from the simplest deconstruction of authority.

Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network

Mutual Aid LA Network (MALAN) is a connector and information hub for mutual aid efforts, people and resources across Los Angeles. We’re building toward abolition and believe in an abundant world that can be freed of oppression through community solidarity.

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