I'm so Angry I Made a Sign

33 Pages·2012·1.81 MB·English

by  Michael Taussig

I’m so Angry I Made a Sign
Michael Taussig
ANoteonForm:
IhaveinsertedthesignsinZuccottiParkasiftheyareset-apartquota-
tionsinthecenterofthepage.
AndsometimesIhavealsoinsertedquotationsfromtextsbyphiloso-
phers,poets,andotherpeopleworthlisteningto.
Idon’tthinkyouwillconfusethem,butit’sbetterthatyoudo.
ANoteonStrategy:
FriedrichNietzschesayssomewherethatahistorianhastocreateatext
equaltowhatheorsheiswritingabout.InTheGaySciencehehasaline,
“onlyascreatorscanwedestroy,”whichItaketomeannotademandfor
“positivecritique”butanawarenessofhowdescriptionandanalysisofan
eventisaculture-creatingactivity.1
WallSt.iseverywhere
thereforewehavetooccupyeverywhere.
11:00PM13October2011:OnmywaydowntowntoOWS,ZuccottiPark,
NYC.Flusteredandexcited.EmailscominginfromYesenia,andfromMi-
chelleandAlexinmysorceryandmagicclassatColumbia.Theyshouldbe
writingtheirweeklyassignmentsforschool.Theyaresofarbehind.Butthisis
ThankstoDannyAlonso,AlexAffifi,SalomeyaSobko,andMichelleRosales.
ThankstoNancyGoldringformanyofthephotographs.
ThankstoDavidGoldsteinandPLW.
1. FriedrichNietzsche,TheGayScience:WithaPreludeinGermanRhymesandanAppendix
ofSongs,trans.JosefineNauckoff,ed.BernardWilliams(Cambridge,2003),p.70;hereafter
abbreviatedG.
CriticalInquiry39(Autumn2012)
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CriticalInquiry / Autumn2012 57
the night the mayor will attack. I stop by the bagel store to tell this to my
Mexicanfriendwhoservesbehindthecounter.Heiscountingmoneyand
preoccupied. He has never heard of OWS and tries to look interested. My
canvasbagisstuffedwithsleepingbagsforSAAandmyself.Longwaitforthe
number1train.Unbearable.Alexsaysrumorsofpoliceclosinginatmidnight.
Danny Alonso, also in my sorcery class, once compared visiting Zuccotti
Park—whichhedidallthetimefromDayOne—totheexcitementofgoingto
themoviesandgettingintothetranceofthatotherreality.Yougethooked:“I
wouldbehypnotizedandturnedintosomeoneelse.”Infactmanyselves:a
drummingself,afacilitatorself,ahunting-and-gatheringselfroamingMan-
hattanfortarpaulinsandfoodfromdumpsterstobringtothetribe,listening
tostories“andhearingfrompeoplewhohadcomefromallovertosharein
thismoment.”Manyofthesepeoplehadlosttheirjobs.
Lost my job but found an occupation
YoubreakthroughthescreenlikeAliceinWonderland.Andnowyoucan’t
leaveordowithoutit.Everythingelseseemsfakeandboring.Sohowdoyouwrite
aboutit?Insuchcircumstanceofdissolvingnorms,effervescentatmosphere,in-
ventionandreinvention,whathappenstotheethnographer’smagic—asBronis-
lawMalinowskicalledit—andthatoldstandbyof“participantobservation”?
Isthatmagicstrongenough?
AmIclearhere?Idon’tthinkso,andIthinkthisistheproblemofwriting
surprise and writing strangeness, surely the dilemma and sine qua non of
ethnography.Assoonasyouwritesurprise—or,rather,attempttowriteit—itis
asifthesurprisehasbeenmadedigestible,soitisnolongersurprising,nolonger
strange.To“occupyethnography”istogetaroundthatsomehow,toseizeonthe
means and manner of representation as estranged. An exuberant style is not
enough.ThatiswhyIsomuchlikethezombie-stylebodiesandfacesofthesign
holdersthatpopulateZuccottiPark,gravenimagesoutsideoftime(figs.1–4).
MICHAEL TAUSSIG teachesanthropologyatColumbiaUniversity.Heisthe
authorofTheDevilandCommodityFetishism(1980);Shamanism,Colonialism,
andtheWildMan(1987);TheNervousSystem(1992);MimesisandAlterity
(1993);LawinaLawlessLand(1993);andMyCocaineMuseum(2004).
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FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 2.
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FIGURE 3.
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FIGURE 4.
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CriticalInquiry / Autumn2012 61
Welcome to Hakim Bey’s Temporary Autonomous Zone. Out of no-
whereacommunity,asacredcommunity,forms,fueledbytheunforeseen
chancetofightback.Decadesdriftaway.Decadesofguttingwhatwasleft
ofthesocialcontract.Decadesinwhichkidscametothinkbeingabanker
wassexy.Whenthathappensyouknowit’sallover—orabouttoexplode
asonceagainhistorythrowsacurveball.Onceinalifetimetheunpredict-
ableoccursandrealitygetsredefined.ThemoststrikingsignIhaveseenat
ZuccottiParkoverthreemonthswasalife-sizepaintingofaman’sstriped
tieknottedtoformanoose(fig.5).
FIGURE 5.
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62 MichaelTaussig / I’msoAngryIMadeaSign
Nexttoit:
They piss
on us and
call it
trickle down
AmericawakesupfromtheAmericanDream.“I’vebeenwaitingfor
this all my life,” said Craig, who stayed with me overnight from Cali-
forniawithnaughtbutabackpackonhiswaytoZuccottiPark.
I awoke in a sweat
from the American Dream
“At night we lie all together on the concrete,” writes Alex, “a few
sleeping, the rest talking in low voices, or reading next to the street
lights, or cursing the constant sirens that we are certain the NYPD
sendsaroundtheparkatnightjusttokeepuspoorlyrestedandeasily
dominated, or looking through the thin canopy of leaves between the
darktowersandthesky.Thefirstmorningweallagreedthatwefeltas
ifthosebuildingswouldfallinonus.”
“DearWB,”shegoeson,“maybeOWSissomethinglikethatawakening
thatisbetweensleepandconsciousness.Weareemergingfromslumber
butwearedisoriented,stupored,caughtbetweenthedreamlogicofcap-
italismandthenewlyformingworld.”
“Dear WB.” How blessed is that? She is writing code, of course,
direct from the state of emergency. She is searching the zone of the
dialecticalimagethatWalterBenjaminenvisagedasemergingfromthe
dream sleep of capitalism that reactivated mythic powers. Just as one
swimsinthesurrealzoneofhalfsleep,halfwaking,sodoestheepoch.
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CriticalInquiry / Autumn2012 63
you must be asleep
to experience
the American Dream
Salomeyaputitalittledifferently.Shehasatheory,asusual.Working
outofthesenseofthebodyandmagicshefindsinMalinowski’sdiscus-
sions of clan and subclan solidarity and sorcery, she discerns a form of
human bonding relevant to OWS she calls “erotic materialism.” It is a
brilliantandmuchrequiredfeministrereadingofclassicalanthropology
appliedasmuchtoZuccottiParkastoaforesaiddream-sleepmythology.
Butthelinesgetblurred.Solidaritygetstested.Astimegoesby,itissaid
undercoverpoliceroamtheparkdisguisedasprotesters.(Question:What
does a protester look like?) It is said that homeless people are being di-
rectedbypoliceandhomelessshelterstogotoZuccottiParkinthehope
that they will dilute and factionalize the occupation. The ideals of the
radical hipsters from Brooklyn with their web-savvy culture are being
testedlikeneverbeforebythesehomelessmenwhoseemuninterestedin
whatthehipstersstandfor,yetthewholepointofOWSishomelessness.As
timegoesby—horrorofhorrors!—somethinglikepropertyandrealestate
interestssurface.SomeonequipsthatthereisanUpperEastSidesectionof
tentsinthepark,andonehearsmutteringofgentrificationasifthisutopic
spaceisreproducingwhatitisagainst.
We just bought real estate
in your mind
Itissaidtherearerapesandstealing,andtherecertainlywasstealing.
Craiggotallofhisstuffswipedwhileheleftforhalfanhourtowashupin
thebathroomofTrinityChurch.
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64 MichaelTaussig / I’msoAngryIMadeaSign
I can hire one half of the
working class
to kill the other
Jay Gould
IwalkoutofthesubwayatFultonStreetintothecanyonsofWallStreet,
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) of soaring towers holding up a black sky
heavywithrainclouds,workersincageslikemoles,nospeech,onlycryptic
subtitles and gesticulating figures with pasty-white expressionist faces
caughtinafrozengrimace.Policecarsandvansareeverywhere(fig.6).
FIGURE 6.
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CriticalInquiry / Autumn2012 65
Downonthegrounditisawarzonecracklingwithexpectancy,butover-
head,glisteningwithbluelight,stands“FreedomTower”sheathedinmirrors.
What did Benjamin say in “This Space for Rent” in One-Way Street? That
otherOWSasthefusegotlitinEurope,1928,oneyearafterMetropolis:2
What,intheend,makesadvertisements
sosuperiortocriticism?Notwhatthe
movingredneonsays—butthefiery
poolreflectingitintheasphalt.
Youtakeadeepbreathwhenyougetthereandcan’tbreatheagaintillyouenter
themagicalzoneofOWSitself.Landscapeofthecrushedsoul,WallStreetisthe
architecturalrepresentationofwhatKarlMarxcalled“M-M,”3meaningmoney
makingmoney,meaningfinancecapitalofwhichcreditdefaultswapsarethe
ultimateexpressionofthemoneylendersthatChristdrovefromthetemple.
Butmandoesnotlivebybreadalone.Theysoneedart,theonepercent.Butso
doesOWS.Thisisnotonlyastruggleaboutincomedisparityandcorporatecon-
trolofdemocracy.Itisaboutthecorporatecontrolofart,too,includingtheartof
living.
As Stocks Fall
Art Surges At a $315 Million Sale
Despite(orperhapsbecauseof)thestockmarket’snearly400-point
plunge,onWednesdaynightcollectorsracedtoputtheiravailable
cash—andlotsofit—intoart.4
But try to be a young artist impassioned by art—something you
coulddiefor—ifyoudon’thaveatrustfundoryourparentsaren’trich
2. WalterBenjamin,One-WayStreet,trans.EdmundJephcott,inSelectedWritings,ed.
MarcusBullockandMichaelW.Jennings,4vols.(Cambridge,Mass.,1996),1:476.
3. KarlMarx,Capital:ACritiqueofPoliticalEconomy,trans.BenFowler,3vols.(NewYork,
1990),1:248.
4. CarolVogel,“AsStocksFall,ArtSurgesata$315.8MillionSale,”NewYorkTimes,9Nov.
2011,www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/arts/sothebys-contemporary-art-sale-totals-316-million.html
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