This is Rhizome Today for Thursday, August 14, 2014
Rhizome Today is an experiment in ephemeral blogging: a series of posts that are written hastily in response to current events, and disappeared within a day or so. At the end of each month, we'll republish highlights from the series in a more selective and polished form. The latest post can always be found at http://www.rhizome.org/today.
Dread Scott, Sign of the Times (2001)
Peter Watkins, Punishment Park (1971)
James Baldwin, via Huw Lemmey:
When a city goes under martial law, everybody in the city is under martial law. If I can't go out and buy a loaf of bread safely, then neither can the housewife. That’s why she's on the range, learning how to shoot a pistol, in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
They're confusing themselves with the Indians, you know, they're back on the wagon train. But we all know who's in the streets of America. We all know to whom we are referring when we talk about "crime in the streets". We know the son of the president of Pan Am is not in the streets. Only one person in the streets—that's me! And they’re plotting to shoot me, in the name of "freedom", dignified by "law". And I'm supposed to agree.
No, no, no sir. I won't be disorderly no more. Alas, the party is over. The question is "what shall we do?". Everybody knows it. The question is in everybody’s lap. From Washington to London, to Bonn. Everybody knows it. They're trying to figure out what to do. We should figure out what to do.
Martine Syms, Reading Trayvon Martin (2012-ongoing)
Tracy Clayton's Twitter list of people actually in Ferguson right now.
Isaac Julien, Territories (1984). Still frame from video.