Final script

[Matt - Slide 1 catch fish]
At a lake, you would except to be able to do recreational lake activities like swimming, fishing, boating, camping, or picnicking. [Slide 2 - fish dinner]. There is nothing like catching a nice big fish, then go home and have a nice big fish dinner. [Slide 3 - OL] But here at Onondaga Lake, you can not do all these normal recreational lake activities like fishing because of years of pollution. The Industrial Age has left the lake unusable for many recreation activities.

[Slide 4 - OL with smoke stack]
From 1917 to 1970, many company such as the Solvay Process Company, Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant, Honeywell International Inc, AlliedSignal, and many others contributed to the lakes outstanding pollution levels. The waste disposal caused abnormal bacterial levels along with many pollutants plaguing the waters. In the 1940’s, Onondaga Lake was declared unsafe to swim and in 1970’s there was a ban on fishing.

[Slide 5 - fish contaminant diagram by Rachael]
As a result of the Industrial Age, most of the area around the lake is polluted in some way. In the surface water there is PCBs, mercury, chromium, lead, benzene, pesticides, and more. In the ground water there is hexochlorobenzene, benezen, PBCs, phenol, toluene, and many more. In the sediment there is benzene, aroclor, mercury, lead, and hexachlorobenzene. In the soil there is lead, mercury, and PCBs. And the fish are rich in mercury.

[Justine Slide 6 - types of fish]
There are many species of fish in Onondaga lake including: Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, White Perch, Yellow Perch, Blue Gill and many more. In 1986, the fishing policy was changed to catch and release (1). People are not allowed to take the fish home to eat because of the high concentration of mercury in the fish. When small fish eat mercury in their food, it goes into their tissue. When the larger fish eat these smaller fish or other organisms, most of the mercury from the small fish is then stored in the bodies of these larger fish (2).

[Slide 7 - mercury effects on body]
Mercury can have a very negative effect on the body. It is one of the most poisonous substances on earth. Factories, such as Honeywell and AlliedSignal, that were located on the shores of Onondaga Lake contributed to the 165,000 pounds of mercury that entered the lake from 1946 to 1970. People who eat fish with large amounts of mercury develop permanent kidney, nervous system, and brain damage. Brain nervous system damage symptoms may include personality changes like irritability or nervousness, changes in vision, tremors, deafness, uncontrollable muscle twitching, difficulties with memory, and loss of sensation. Kidney damage symptoms may include nausea, diarrhea, and severe ulcers (2).

[Rachael Slide 8 - guy with light bulb]
But we have come up with a solution for this unfortunate situation of catch and release of mercury filled fish. [Slide 9 - stand] It is called the Onondaga Lake Fish Trade In. We rent out pole, bait, and holding bucket to keep the fish from dieing. But, most importantly, you can trade in your mercury filled, practically poisonous fish for a healthy, edible fish of equal size. [Slide 10- sketch of stand] In the back of the stand, we will have a pool of healthy, mercury free fish. After trading fishes, we will put the Onondaga Lake fish back into the lake so we are still following the catch and release policy.

[Slide 11 - wrapping paper]
The fish will be wrapped in this paper with our logo on it. The logo is the Mad Hatter at a tea party with fish h'ors d'oeuvres. The slogan is “Our Fish Wont Make You Mad”. For those who don’t know the story behind the Mad Hatter this may seem a bit vague but here is the story: [Slide 12 - paper close up] During the 19th century, felt hats were made with a mercury solution. The hat makers, or hatters as they were called, got mercury poisoning. As we have discussed, mercury attacks the nervous system causing the hatters symptoms like uncontrollable muscle twitching and difficulties talking and thinking. They hatter seemed to have gone mad (3). This is where the Mad Hatter character comes from.

So if you were to eat the fish in Onondaga Lake you would show similar symptoms and seemed to have gone mad. So our slogan, “Our Fish Wont Make You Mad” incorporates the fact that eating the fish would make you show symptoms similar to madness just as the mad hatters did in the 19th century. All of this madness is due to mercury.

So in the end we hope that our project would let the people of Syracuse more fully enjoy what the lake has to offer. We also are pointing out the fact that it is ridiculous that a lake cannot be used for recreational activities that are available at most other lakes. We want to bring more awareness and attention to the excessive pollution problem.

(1) http://translation.turbulence.org/Works/superfund/index.php?offset=77
(2) http://atsdr.cdc.gov/to profiles/tp46-cl-b.pdf
(3) http://www.seagrant.uconn.edu/HATTER.HTML
Mad Hatter Picture from http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/pictures/mad-hatter-pictures.html

Creative Brief

1. What is the project about?
Our project is about the catch and release policy at Onondaga Lake. It is sad that people of the area can not enjoy the possibilities of the lake because of it pollution problem.
2. Describe what FORM the project will take.
Our project will take the form of a public demonstration. We will set up a fish exchange stand on the shore of Onondaga Lake.
3. Why do you want to work in the location you have chosen?
It is a real shame that the lake’s recreational potential was destroyed by pollution. We want to highlight this fact but setting up right on the shores of the lake where people who be fishing anyway.
4. What is the history of the site?
In the 1970s fishing was banned. Later it was opened on a catch and release basis.
5. Why is this site particularly appropriate for the project?
Our target audience is those who fish and visit Onondaga Lake. We would be offering fishing equipment rentals and a fish exchange so the participants will have easy access to participation in project if we are on the shores.
6. Is this project an integration or an intervention, and why?
This is a project of intervention. We are pointing out the fact that it is ridiculous that a lake cannot be used for recreational activities that are available at most other lakes. We want to bring more awareness and attention to the problem.
7. Will you get permission to work in the site?
Yes we would need permission from the town to set up a stand and fish exchange pool.
8. How does the piece disrupt OR fit in with the surroundings?
The project fits in with the surroundings because people can fish and it does make sense to have a pole rental stand. It becomes intervention with the idea of a fish exchange
9. Name at least one artist project that we have looked at this semester that inspired your project and explain why your project is related.
The Yes Men are doing a similar project in that it suddenly points out an issue. We both will work with the surroundings to bring awareness
10. What are the goals & objectives of the project?
The goal is to remind people that not being able to do a normal lake recreation at a lake is a problem. They need to see that we really need to get this lake cleaned up.
11. How will you measure success for your project?
I will measure success by the amount of people to participate or even see our stand. Also the more publicity we get the better.
12. Profile the target audience. Who are they? What do they care about? What are their expected reactions.
The target audience is the city of Syracuse since it is their lake. They should care about the lake in the city. I hope the reactions will be slightly taken back and surprised. This will show that they realized that our stand is a satire and not a serious business.
13. How do you want your audience to interact with your project?
I want there to be people who actually rent polls and then exchange their mercury filled fish for fresh ones. I want them to ask questions and raise awareness themselves.

EC Onondaga Lake

Onondaga Lake, which is historically considered as one of the most polluted lakes in American history was not always such a tainted region. “In the late 1800s the lake was known for exceptional fishing, boating, swimming and the grand resorts on its shores” (Williamson 1). Local residents as well as I are curious as to what qualities of the lake were present then, which made its surrounding area such a sanctuary of life and recreation? In order to restore the lake to its previous glory, questions like this must be answered. One solution is through mass amounts of funding.

Throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries many hazardous chemicals were dumped into the lake by major industrial companies. Among those companies were the Solvay Process Company and the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation. “In 1884, the Solvay Process Company began production of soda ash on the Lakefront and nearby properties. Approximately 6 million pounds of salty wastes, made up of chloride, sodium, and calcium were discharged daily to Onondaga Lake,” (Onondaga Lake Partnership). “Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation discharged an estimated 165,000 pounds of mercury into Onondaga Lake between 1946 and 1970,” (Onondaga Lake Partnership). This is a massive amount of pollutants stemming from the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation. Yet the 165,000 pounds of mercury is being cleaned up thanks to the taxation of the general public not by the company responsible.
Onondaga Lake is a shining example of the difficulties that come with the “polluter pays” philosophy. The “polluter pays” philosophy is based upon the train of thought that, “Any party that ever touched the waste, no matter how remote the involvement, can be held liable for the full cost of remediation,” (Knickerbocker 2). This does seem fair, but when the clean-up site is one like Onondaga Lake, a site that has had many polluters throughout the years, pin pointing a specific polluter to pay the cleansing fee is quite difficult and controversial considering it is the public that generally suffers.

Some advocate this “polluter pays” philosophy but others see it as a legal nightmare. “Much of the cost of Superfund goes to lawyers, consultants, private investigators, and administrative overhead rather than the actual cleanup” (Knickerbocker).

As another source of money for projects, Superfund used to impose an excise tax on the oil and chemical industry. In 1995, it rightfully expired in 1995 as Congress did not renew the law. Although the law existed for the first fifteen years of Superfund, it seems unfair to oppose an excise tax on only certain industries. Oil and chemical waste are not the only source of environmental pollution (Knickerbocker).

With the excise tax gone, Superfund turns to the individual tax payer for funds. It is very difficult to pin point who is exactly at fault for all the pollution. The money from taxpayers is put towards sites where no company or party is held responsible. In 2003, taxpayers contribute about 53% of Superfund’s revenue as compared to only 18% in 1996 (O'Connell).

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation envisions that Onondaga Lake will take a total of seven years for design and construction with an estimated cost of $451 million (Landers 66). And Onondaga Lake is just one of the 1203 remaining sites on Superfund’s high-priority list.


Knickerbocker, Brad. “Superfund Program: A Smaller Cleanup Rag.” The Christian Science Monitor. 14 Nov 2003. 2 Oct 2007. < http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1114/p02s01-usgn.html?related>.

Landers, J. “New Life for Onondaga Lake.” Civil Engineering (American Society of Civil Engineers) 76.5 (May 2006): 64-71, 86. Wilson OmniFile Full Text, Mega Edition. H.W. Wilson, Syracuse University Library, Syracuse NY. 6 October 2007. .

O'Connell, K. A. “House and Senate Rouse Dormant Superfund Trust.” Waste Age 34.4 (April 2003) 26, 28. Wilson OmniFile Full Text, Mega Edition. H.W. Wilson, Syracuse University Library, Syracuse NY. 6 October 2007. .

"Onondaga Lake Pollution History." Onondaga Lake Partnership. 30 Sept. 2007 .

Williamson, Karen. “Return to Glory: the resurgence of Onondaga Lake.”10 Aug. 2006. Wilson Web. 7 Oct. 2007. .

Essay 3 - The Yes Men

When a man or woman in an expensive business suit from a big company voices their opinion, many listen and believe their words. This seems to be a growing global problem with the people of today. Too many people sit back and do not raise questions or challenge authority just because the representatives are wearing an Armani suit. The Yes Men are known for pointing out issues in our society, and in one of their identity correction projects in August of 2001, they demonstrated firsthand the extent of society’s problem with challenging authority.

The Yes Men consist of two anti-globalization protesters, Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlaum (Lawrenson). They both have a long history of creative activism, and their main goal is to expose the problems that lie within various areas of our society (Kingsnorth). Mike Bonanno’s first experiment involved switching the voice-boxes of Barbie dolls and GI Joes and secretly putting them on store shelves. It made news headlines and got many Americans thinking about what Barbie dolls and GI Joes convey to our children. Andy Bichlaum has impersonated a World Trade Organization spokesman on numerous occasions. One occasion was a live interview on CNBC, which made the World Trade Organization look like fools by agreeing with their anti-globalization opponent (Lawrenson). With this idea of impersonation and identity correction Mike and Andy say they “steal [the biggest criminal’s] identity to make them more honest” (Schwarzbaum). They target big corporations and leaders who put profit before anything else.

These projects have turned into a kind of new genre of media art; they get a very large amount of coverage in newspapers, television, and the internet. Most, if not all, of their endeavors have been centralized around the media coverage to spread their message. With help from the media and identity correction, they hope to draw attention to problems in America’s society and societies across the globe.
One of the Yes Men’s most famous project is the mockery website for the WTO, gatt.org. It was first created as satire site in the hopes that people would accidentally end up at gatt.org instead of the real WTO site. Close attention to the content of the site will reveal that it is a mere mocker. However, the website was able to fool many people. They even received email invitations from many professionals to speak at conferences and meetings across the world, which were meant for actual WTO members. They ignored the first few but then decided make something of these emails and actually attend the events. One of the emails was an invitation to a textiles conference at Tampere University of Technology in Finland in August 2001 (Kingsnorth).

At the conference, Andy Bichlaum posed as Hank Hardy Unruh and Mike Bonanno was his assistant. They spent months planning and preparing for the conference. The key component to this project was their take on the WTO’s solution “to the problems of maintaining rapport with distant workers and maintaining one’s own mental health as a manager with the proper amount of leisure” (Beyond the Golden Parachute). It was called the Management Leisure Suit which was a gold leotard that had the Employee Visualization Appendage. The EVA was a hands free appendage mounted on the hip that would instantly deploy to allow the manager to receive data and have visual with his employees. Workers would be fitted with a small chip that could transmit data, like physical labor, to the manager through electronic channels implanted directly into him or her (Beyond the Golden Parachute).

With this opportunity to speak out against globalization, Mike and Andy decided to turn this WTO project into a documentary film. The documentary’s “value [was] not as a record of history, but simply as a means of communication, a means by which meaning is generated” (Critical Art Ensemble 40-41). It was there to help viewers see that we as a society have a hard time stepping up to authority and questioning their ideas. Through the film the audience was also able to see each step of creating an effective protest: preproduction, production, and post production. There were months of preplanning for everything from the basic idea to the speech to the making of the leisure suit. Viewers of the documentary got to see the conferences as Andy was giving his speech and the reactions of the professionals attending the conference. What is most important about the documentary was the post production: there was none. There was no reaction to their outrageous proposal. The professionals who attended the conference gave a polite applause, some nervous smiles, and it ended. They were not kicked out or arrested. There was no reaction.

Even the highly educated participants, some with PhDs and some with law degrees, sat back and took what Andy had to say even though it was an absurd idea. They did not question him because he was in a fancy suit and from an important organization (Kingsnorth). They assumed that just because this idea is coming from the WTO that it is an acceptable one. This is where society makes a turn for the worst. We need to challenge authorities even if they are bigger and more powerful than an individual person.

Although they uncovered a deeper problem with society as a whole, The Yes Men’s original goal was to point out how problematic liberal economics can be. With this leisure suit project and previous projects, what they say “is merely market logic taken to its most extreme… The whole premise is that [they] exaggerat[e] and [mirror] what the people [they are] talking to are already saying” (Kingsnorth). In Andy’s speech at the textile conference in Finland, he presents all of these extreme ideas that can be seen as true according to the WTO. For example, Gandhi’s efforts and homespun village economy would absolutely be illegal according to the WTO’s current rules, which prevent countries from protecting, subsidizing, or promoting their own industries when faced with foreign competition. He also points out if the North didn’t try to take away the South’s freedom to trade with who they wanted, then there would have never been a Civil War. He completely mystifies and knowingly disregards the fact about all the slaves in the South with no freedom (Beyond the Golden Parachute). In far-fetched ways, these points can be seen as true, but the fact is Gandhi was right in his actions to help his people from Britain, and the North completely had the right to go to war with the South to help free slaves. Andy brought up these ideas in ridiculous ways to show the dangers and mindset that globalization advocates could have.

Even though the Yes Men stole the identities of WTO members and presented them in a negative light by coming up with outrageous ideas, they did not suffer one serious penalty. They were never arrested, fined, or persecuted in any way. They continued to launch numerous other identity correction projects on behalf of the WTO with little to no penalty. Gatt.org is still up and running, and they are still receiving emails meant for the real WTO (Kingsnorth). Obviously they did not want to be arrested, but the Yes Men were hoping for some sort of reaction from their participants. It would have shown that their mockery actually had an effect on those whom the mocking was directed towards. Through the documentary film, the audience understood their point but the mockery demonstration was originally meant for the convention attendees.

From their reactions on the documentary, The Yes Men were not happy with the results of their WTO project, but, nevertheless, the project can be seen as an effective piece of art. Art should be one that shocks viewers while containing disruption and ambiguity (Kester 18). After watching The Yes Men, viewers most likely would have been shocked just by the leisure suit let alone the abstract ideas that were said in the actual presentation. The golden leotard with an appendage attached to the pelvic region was meant to disrupt. The project also had hopes to evoke ambiguity in the WTO. The Yes Men wanted the viewers to question their actual intentions and motivations.

As a piece of media art, the Yes Men were successful because they got their viewers of the documentary to see the societal flaw of not being willing to challenge authority. Although their message of globalization being potentially dangerous was not apparent to the participants at the conference, the audience was able to see this along with the flaw of society. The participants did not yell or remove them from the conference, but hopefully in the future viewers of the film will challenge globalization and other authorities. At the time of the conference, the Yes Men were not successful but through the film they were.

From the beginning, viewers of the documentary are fully aware of the absurd ideas the Yes Men would be presenting at the conference, but the participants at the conference did not even question the outrageous ideas all. This was because the information was coming from people in fancy suits from a big corporation who hold some type of authority in the field. The Yes Men were able to demonstrate society’s tendency to sit back and let big corporations take control. Globalization and the WTO are just one example of an area which people should raise issues of their uncertainties. The idea of questioning authority can be applied in almost every area of our society.

Essay 2 Outline - Yes Men

Thesis: Society sits back and doesn’t question what goes on around them. People need to get involved and challenge what they see and experience.

Intro

The Yes Man consists of two anti-globalization protesters, Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum.
-Who are the yes men? What is their goal?
-Brief background on mike and andy
-Identity correction

One of the Yes Men’s most known projects is the mockery website for the WTO, gatt.org.
-How did the WTO project get started
-Their gatt.org website
-Email invitation to various then decided to go to one of them Yes men were born in Salzburg Oct 2000(kingsnorth) not real important only one sentence
-Got an email invitation to attend a textile conference at Tampere University of Tech in Finland Aug 2001

With this opportunity to expand their message, Mike and Andy turned this WTO project into documentary film.
-What form did the work take?
-Documentary film
-Through the film the audience was able to see each step: preproduction (months of planning) and production (the conference, reaction of people or lack thereof)
Presentation powerpoint with a surprise prototype of their idea (beyond the golden parachute)

The participants, being highly educated listening to their presentation, did not even question this outrageous idea.
-What did the participants not do anything?
-Suit (kingsnorth)
-Important org wto (kingsnorth)
-They are educated ppl phd

The Yes Men wanted to point out how problematic liberal economics can be.
Yes mens intention for this project?
-Everything they say is “merely logic taken to its most extreme” and this is the point of the WTO project. Exaggerate and mirror what the people you are talking to are already saying. It is to point out the how problematic liberal economics can be (kingsnorth)
-Ex of logic to the extreme: Arguments at wto was valid CW, India, ect (beyond golden)
-Ex of problematic liberal econ: Gandhi, third world sweatshops (kingsnorth)
With the artistic eye catcher of shock (kester) they hoped to get people to understand their views about organizations like the wto and their potential negatives

Along with not getting a response from the participants at the conference, they did not get introuble or fined for the project OR Although they did not much of a response from the participants at the conference, they did have to deal with some legal issues.
-Consequences and results?
-Nothing really happened
-Gatt.org is still up and running
-They have done wto projects since then so they keep getting invitations
-Did they get fined for impersonation? Look up

The WTO project can be seen as a new genre of art.
-Kwon – is it new genre? What criteria of success and failure are posed?
-It starts out with a radical idea that will mock and test society.
-Then the viewers of the documentary can see what is the flaws of people as a whole, as a society.
-With a new genre of art comes a type or trial and error.
The Yes Men did not get the exact result they wanted but there were successful aspects.
-Success – movie viewers can see how society doesn’t question authority enough, just because they have nice suits on and are from the big bad “WTO” doesn’t mean that they can’t have bad ideas
-Failure – people at the conference gave them no reaction. They didn’t get yelled at, kicked out or even questioned; they just politely applauded.


Conclusion
-Thesis: From the beginning the viewers of the documentary are fully aware of the upsurd idea the Yes Men present at the conference but the participants at the conference don’t even question the outrageous idea all because it is coming from people in fancy suits from a big corporation. Society does not question authority nearly as much as it should.

essay 3 topic

Topic:
The Yes Men: Correcting Idenities for the WTO

Questions:
How does “identity correction” help to get their point across?
Why did none of the experts say anything about their ourtageous idea?

Sources:
1)Kester
2)Critical Art Ensemble
3)"Free trade is just too tempting a target for these pranksters" Entertainment Weekly
4) "The Yes Men" Sights & Sounds
5)"Just say yes" The Ecologist
6)"Beyond the golden parachute" Harper's

Culture in Action

“The difference was especially pronounced when one recognized that much of the work in “Culture in Action” was defined not in terms of material objects but the ephemeral processes of interaction between the local participants and the artists” (Kwon 104). What Kwon is saying her is that what was important about the projects of “Culture in Action” in Chicago was not the products produced but the interaction and conversation between the artist and people of Chicago that were affected by the projects. The Haha and Flood project followed this template just like all the other projects of “Culture in Action”. Flood grew plants in a hydroponic garden. The point to the project was not to grow food for those affected by AIDS or HIV. This is obvious because the garden could only few a small group of people, about 75 people every six weeks. The hydroponic system requires a lot to time and constant attention. Flood is “about that commitment, and the body of people gathered to tend the garden” (Palmer 55). The local participants were those who cared for the garden, those who stepped into the store off the streets, and those who received the greens. The artist made a metaphor out of the garden relating to the HIV/AIDS epidemic: “The body with a compromised immune system can be compared to a plant growing in a highly controlled sustem, without dirt as a buffer or resource, in which every substance that enters the body is subject to scrutiny, distrust, [and] excessive consideration” (Palmer 55).

Kwon, Miwon. One Place After Another.
Palmer, Laurie. “Dirt/Flood/Leaks”. High Perfomance. Spring 1994: 55-57.