Helpful hints for your visits includi ng parking\, directions\, and more!
Please visit our secure di rect giving page and make a gift to support the Department of Art today!\nMake a Gift
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241005T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241214T180000 LAST-MODIFIED:20250920T015121Z SUMMARY:Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action TRANSP:OPAQUE X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=TEXT/HTML:Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action Curated by Juli Carson and Sasha Ussef
Exhibition design by Richard Kahwagi
Oct. 5-Dec. 14\, 2024 (Hours: 12-6 p.m.)
Opening R eception: Saturday\, Oct. 5\, 2-6 p.m. Room Gallery
So\, you want to pl an an action.
We live in tumultuous times. There are culture wars t he likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1980s. Looming even larger is a pernicious anti-democratic turn—in both the US and abroad—that’s instill ed a general sense of dread whenever elections approach. Unsurprisingly\, there’s a strong desire to organize\, act\, and make positive change. To b e the protagonist of an empowering counter-narrative. Learning from ACT UP : Tactics of Direct Action is a performative installation—comprised of fil m\, graphics\, and archival material—that demonstrate what dogged but peac eful civil disobedience might achieve. How\, in fact\, it might even chang e the world.
Our case-study protagonist is ACT UP\, the AIDS Coalit ion to Unleash Power. Founded in March 1987\, ACT UP defined itself as “a diverse\, nonpartisan group united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis.” Their first “act” was the adoption of the famed graphic emblem SILENCE=DEATH\, printed in white Gill sanserif type underne ath a pink triangle on a black background\, which came to signify a global community set on confronting the engines of the AIDS crisis: homophobic i deologies\, government inaction\, and outmoded medical protocols. Learning from ACT UP\, by focusing on the actions initiated by the founding New Yo rk chapter from 1987-1993\, performatively shows how one might react to a social crisis\, reach a broad audience\, change the discourse of “business as usual\,” and initiate systemic change.
The endgame of systemic
change is no small feat. It entails collective organization—the building o
f a counterinstitution itself\, albeit one that’s contingent with no given
“leader.” Towards this end\, ACT UP held regular Monday night meetings ru
n with Robert’s Rules of Order. Agendas were set by the Coordinating Commi
ttee. Facilitators ran the meetings moving discussion towards various acti
ons\, in coordination with focus committees—Fundraising\, Treatment and Da
ta\, Majority Action\, People of Color\, Media\, key among them. Simultane
ously\, other people self-divided into affinity groups not accountable to
the larger body. Sarah Schulman recounts in her book Let the Record Show\,
“When the Monday-night general meeting decided to do an action at the FDA
\, it was organized through the Actions Committee\, sitting at the Coordin
ating Committee. But at the demonstration\, individual affinity groups app
eared with their own artistic and creating expression that no one had appr
oved.”
If this all seems daunting\, really\, it’s not.
Alon gside a timeline of other zaps and actions that forced the government and mainstream media to confront the AIDS crisis\, Learning from ACT UP featur es United in Anger: A History of ACT UP\, a documentary that reveals the g roup’s complex culture of meetings\, affinity groups\, and approaches to c ivil disobedience\, on any given Monday night. Combining archival footage from activists\, and interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project\, the film further explores ACT UP from a grassroots perspective and through th e planning and execution of major actions including Seize Control of the F DA\, Stop the Church\, and Day of Desperation. Beating at the heart of Uni ted in Anger is the simultaneous grief\, camp\, and sexiness that defined ACT UP’s heterodoxic energy\, a tenacious life drive intent on slaying the death drive from which the group originated. In these tumultuous times\, this is a lesson we must learn from ACT UP.
Curator Bios:
Juli Carson is Professor of Art\, Theory and Criticism in t
he Department of Art at UC Irvine and Director of the University Art Galle
ries. From 2018-19 she was the Philippe Jabre Professor of Art History and
Curating at the American University of Beirut. Her books include: Exile o
f the Imaginary: Politics\, Aesthetics\, Love (Vienna: Generali Foundation
\, 2007) and The Limits of Representation: Psychoanalysis and Critical Aes
thetics (Buenos Aires: Letra Viva Press\, 2011). Her two most recent books
are The Hermeneutic Impulse: Aesthetics of an Untethered Past (Berlin: b_
books\, 2019) and Mary Kelly’s Concentric Pedagogy: Selected Writings (UK:
Bloomsbury Press\, 2024).
Sasha Ussef is the Asso ciate Director of the University Art Galleries at the University of Califo rnia\, Irvine. She received a Masters in Urban Planning and an MA in Art and Curatorial Practices in the Public Sphere from the University of South ern California. She has taken on curatorial and programming positions at t he Sursock Museum in Beirut and the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angele s.
Learn More
Image credit: Poster by Richard Kahwagi
University
Art
Galleries
Department of Art: 949-824
-4917 | art.arts.uci.edu | StuArt@uci.edu
University Art Galleries:
949-824-9854 | uag.art.arts.uci.edu | gallery@uci.edu
Gallery hours:
Tuesday-Saturday\, noon-6 p.m.
Gallery hours are subject to change \, please check the gallery website for up to date information.
Free admission
Know Before You GoHelpful hints for your v isits including parking\, directions\, and more!
Please visit
our secure direct giving page and make a gift to support the Department of
Art today!
Make a Gift
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:31323530-3839-4265-b135-643939383834 DTSTAMP:20260603T153826Z CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20250920T015121Z DESCRIPTION:Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action Curated by Juli Carson and Sasha Ussef
\nExhibition design by Richard Kahwagi
Oct. 5-Dec. 14\, 2024 (Hours: 12-6 p.m.)
\nOpening Reception: Satur day\, Oct. 5\, 2-6 p.m. Room Gallery
So\, you want to plan an action.
We live in tumultuous times. There are culture wars the likes of whi ch we haven’t seen since the 1980s. Looming even larger is a pernicious an ti-democratic turn—in both the US and abroad—that’s instilled a general se nse of dread whenever elections approach. Unsurprisingly\, there’s a stron g desire to organize\, act\, and make positive change. To be the protagoni st of an empowering counter-narrative. Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Di rect Action is a performative installation—comprised of film\, graphics\, and archival material—that demonstrate what dogged but peaceful civil diso bedience might achieve. How\, in fact\, it might even change the world.
Our case-study protagonist is ACT UP\, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Founded in March 1987\, ACT UP defined itself as “a diverse\, nonpa rtisan group united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AID S crisis.” Their first “act” was the adoption of the famed graphic emblem SILENCE=DEATH\, printed in white Gill sanserif type underneath a pink tria ngle on a black background\, which came to signify a global community set on confronting the engines of the AIDS crisis: homophobic ideologies\, gov ernment inaction\, and outmoded medical protocols. Learning from ACT UP\, by focusing on the actions initiated by the founding New York chapter from 1987-1993\, performatively shows how one might react to a social crisis\, reach a broad audience\, change the discourse of “business as usual\,” an d initiate systemic change.
The endgame of systemic change is no sm
all feat. It entails collective organization—the building of a counterinst
itution itself\, albeit one that’s contingent with no given “leader.” Towa
rds this end\, ACT UP held regular Monday night meetings run with Robert’s
Rules of Order. Agendas were set by the Coordinating Committee. Facilitat
ors ran the meetings moving discussion towards various actions\, in coordi
nation with focus committees—Fundraising\, Treatment and Data\, Majority A
ction\, People of Color\, Media\, key among them. Simultaneously\, other p
eople self-divided into affinity groups not accountable to the larger body
. Sarah Schulman recounts in her book Let the Record Show\, “When the Mond
ay-night general meeting decided to do an action at the FDA\, it was organ
ized through the Actions Committee\, sitting at the Coordinating Committee
. But at the demonstration\, individual affinity groups appeared with thei
r own artistic and creating expression that no one had approved.”
\nIf this all seems daunting\, really\, it’s not.
Alongside a timel ine of other zaps and actions that forced the government and mainstream me dia to confront the AIDS crisis\, Learning from ACT UP features United in Anger: A History of ACT UP\, a documentary that reveals the group’s comple x culture of meetings\, affinity groups\, and approaches to civil disobedi ence\, on any given Monday night. Combining archival footage from activist s\, and interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project\, the film further explores ACT UP from a grassroots perspective and through the planning an d execution of major actions including Seize Control of the FDA\, Stop the Church\, and Day of Desperation. Beating at the heart of United in Anger is the simultaneous grief\, camp\, and sexiness that defined ACT UP’s hete rodoxic energy\, a tenacious life drive intent on slaying the death drive from which the group originated. In these tumultuous times\, this is a les son we must learn from ACT UP.
\nCurator Bios:
Juli C arson is Professor of Art\, Theory and Criticism in the Departmen t of Art at UC Irvine and Director of the University Art Galleries. From 2 018-19 she was the Philippe Jabre Professor of Art History and Curating at the American University of Beirut. Her books include: Exile of the Imagin ary: Politics\, Aesthetics\, Love (Vienna: Generali Foundation\, 2007) and The Limits of Representation: Psychoanalysis and Critical Aesthetics (Bue nos Aires: Letra Viva Press\, 2011). Her two most recent books are The Her meneutic Impulse: Aesthetics of an Untethered Past (Berlin: b_books\, 2019 ) and Mary Kelly’s Concentric Pedagogy: Selected Writings (UK: Bloomsbury Press\, 2024).
Sasha Ussef is the Associate Direct or of the University Art Galleries at the University of California\, Irvin e. She received a Masters in Urban Planning and an MA in Art and Curatori al Practices in the Public Sphere from the University of Southern Californ ia. She has taken on curatorial and programming positions at the Sursock M useum in Beirut and the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angeles.
\n
Learn More
Image credit: Poster by Richard Kahwagi
\nUniversity
\nArt
\nGalleries
Depar
tment of Art: 949-824-4917 | art.arts.uci.edu | StuArt@uci.edu
\nUniv
ersity Art Galleries: 949-824-9854 | uag.art.arts.uci.edu | gallery@uci.ed
u
\nGallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday\, noon-6 p.m.
Gallery hour s are subject to change\, please check the gallery website for up to date information.
Free admission
Helpful hints for your visits includi ng parking\, directions\, and more!
Please visit our secure di rect giving page and make a gift to support the Department of Art today!\nMake a Gift
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241214T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241214T180000 LAST-MODIFIED:20250920T015121Z SUMMARY:Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action TRANSP:OPAQUE X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=TEXT/HTML:Learning from ACT UP: Tactics of Direct Action Curated by Juli Carson and Sasha Ussef
Exhibition design by Richard Kahwagi
Oct. 5-Dec. 14\, 2024 (Hours: 12-6 p.m.)
Opening R eception: Saturday\, Oct. 5\, 2-6 p.m. Room Gallery
So\, you want to pl an an action.
We live in tumultuous times. There are culture wars t he likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1980s. Looming even larger is a pernicious anti-democratic turn—in both the US and abroad—that’s instill ed a general sense of dread whenever elections approach. Unsurprisingly\, there’s a strong desire to organize\, act\, and make positive change. To b e the protagonist of an empowering counter-narrative. Learning from ACT UP : Tactics of Direct Action is a performative installation—comprised of fil m\, graphics\, and archival material—that demonstrate what dogged but peac eful civil disobedience might achieve. How\, in fact\, it might even chang e the world.
Our case-study protagonist is ACT UP\, the AIDS Coalit ion to Unleash Power. Founded in March 1987\, ACT UP defined itself as “a diverse\, nonpartisan group united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis.” Their first “act” was the adoption of the famed graphic emblem SILENCE=DEATH\, printed in white Gill sanserif type underne ath a pink triangle on a black background\, which came to signify a global community set on confronting the engines of the AIDS crisis: homophobic i deologies\, government inaction\, and outmoded medical protocols. Learning from ACT UP\, by focusing on the actions initiated by the founding New Yo rk chapter from 1987-1993\, performatively shows how one might react to a social crisis\, reach a broad audience\, change the discourse of “business as usual\,” and initiate systemic change.
The endgame of systemic
change is no small feat. It entails collective organization—the building o
f a counterinstitution itself\, albeit one that’s contingent with no given
“leader.” Towards this end\, ACT UP held regular Monday night meetings ru
n with Robert’s Rules of Order. Agendas were set by the Coordinating Commi
ttee. Facilitators ran the meetings moving discussion towards various acti
ons\, in coordination with focus committees—Fundraising\, Treatment and Da
ta\, Majority Action\, People of Color\, Media\, key among them. Simultane
ously\, other people self-divided into affinity groups not accountable to
the larger body. Sarah Schulman recounts in her book Let the Record Show\,
“When the Monday-night general meeting decided to do an action at the FDA
\, it was organized through the Actions Committee\, sitting at the Coordin
ating Committee. But at the demonstration\, individual affinity groups app
eared with their own artistic and creating expression that no one had appr
oved.”
If this all seems daunting\, really\, it’s not.
Alon gside a timeline of other zaps and actions that forced the government and mainstream media to confront the AIDS crisis\, Learning from ACT UP featur es United in Anger: A History of ACT UP\, a documentary that reveals the g roup’s complex culture of meetings\, affinity groups\, and approaches to c ivil disobedience\, on any given Monday night. Combining archival footage from activists\, and interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project\, the film further explores ACT UP from a grassroots perspective and through th e planning and execution of major actions including Seize Control of the F DA\, Stop the Church\, and Day of Desperation. Beating at the heart of Uni ted in Anger is the simultaneous grief\, camp\, and sexiness that defined ACT UP’s heterodoxic energy\, a tenacious life drive intent on slaying the death drive from which the group originated. In these tumultuous times\, this is a lesson we must learn from ACT UP.
Curator Bios:
Juli Carson is Professor of Art\, Theory and Criticism in t
he Department of Art at UC Irvine and Director of the University Art Galle
ries. From 2018-19 she was the Philippe Jabre Professor of Art History and
Curating at the American University of Beirut. Her books include: Exile o
f the Imaginary: Politics\, Aesthetics\, Love (Vienna: Generali Foundation
\, 2007) and The Limits of Representation: Psychoanalysis and Critical Aes
thetics (Buenos Aires: Letra Viva Press\, 2011). Her two most recent books
are The Hermeneutic Impulse: Aesthetics of an Untethered Past (Berlin: b_
books\, 2019) and Mary Kelly’s Concentric Pedagogy: Selected Writings (UK:
Bloomsbury Press\, 2024).
Sasha Ussef is the Asso ciate Director of the University Art Galleries at the University of Califo rnia\, Irvine. She received a Masters in Urban Planning and an MA in Art and Curatorial Practices in the Public Sphere from the University of South ern California. She has taken on curatorial and programming positions at t he Sursock Museum in Beirut and the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angele s.
Learn More
Image credit: Poster by Richard Kahwagi
University
Art
Galleries
Department of Art: 949-824
-4917 | art.arts.uci.edu | StuArt@uci.edu
University Art Galleries:
949-824-9854 | uag.art.arts.uci.edu | gallery@uci.edu
Gallery hours:
Tuesday-Saturday\, noon-6 p.m.
Gallery hours are subject to change \, please check the gallery website for up to date information.
Free admission
Know Before You GoHelpful hints for your v isits including parking\, directions\, and more!
Please visit
our secure direct giving page and make a gift to support the Department of
Art today!
Make a Gift
END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR