Uh, what the hell happened at Artists Space? According to a notice posted on their website last night, the gallery asked a collective of ten individuals “occupying” the space to leave after staff physical threats and theft of property. The primary reason cited however was an “agenda-less” occupation. The occupation lasted roughly 28 hours, an account of which exists at Galleristny.
As reported by Animal NY, the attempted squat was led by Greek-born performance artist Georgia Sagri, who had shown at Artists Space in 2009. Occupy38 wrote on their tumblr that unlike previous exhibits, this was “not an art project.”
The exact nature of group’s general assembly process seems in question, one occupier telling AFC last night that the group was not adhering to the forum. No mic checks were used, according to Animal NY, though with a collective of only 10 people, it probably wouldn’t be necessary. Individuals on the Occupy Wall Street Arts and Culture working group listserve have denounced the occupation, though no official statement has been made. One member has described the occupation as a clear “critique of Occupy Wall Street.”
This conclusion was drawn after reading a statement published this morning on the Artist’s Take Artist’s Space tumblr, which describes the staff as “minions, apparently ignorant of their own exploitation and unwilling to join in the occupation”. They write that they are in a “battle with saboteurs, camouflaged socialists, intellectual skepticism” and promise to occupy something else.
Beware.
