by Crimethinc. Workers' Collective
Available in 284 free installments
Owner:
You may need to blockade the area you have selected (see Blockades and Lockdowns, pg. 162). It's generally better to reroute traffic than to stop it cold, both to maintain pleasant relations with other citizens and to make your event sustainable. Traffic signs and cones hunted and gathered from urban environments will give an official air to your barricade, while couches and easy chairs will emphasize the disjunction between work space and play space. You can buy old junker cars?paying in cash, leaving no record of how they were acquired?and disable them in the middle of key intersections. Ambitious, large-scale Reclaim the Streets actions have used tall tripods with people atop them to secure space before; this is dangerous, of course, and should only be hazarded by those with a lot of experience. If you want to reserve an area usually filled by parked cars, park your own cars in all the spaces in advance, then move them all at once, leaving the spaces occupied by the materials unloaded from the cars for the event. Alternatively, a truck filled with such materials can drive by at the critical moment and be unloaded by the crowd. Materials can also be concealed in an alley nearby?in a dumpster, if need be, assuming you've done your homework on trash collection times!
That's the difEcuh stuff. Now think about all the fun, exciting things you can do in your liberated zone! Roll out the red carpet, set up a sandbox, tie ribbons around everything, drop banners {see Banner Drops and Banner Hoists, pg. 75), throw flowers (see Dumpster Dwng, pg. 219), decorate every surface with sidewalk chalk?decor counts for a lot when it comes to reinventing a space and setting a new tone for what can happen in it. Stage theatrical weddings, puppet shows, poetry readings, games of limbo, satiri- w j m,^ ?
j^ or £-£- ' r / o ' o ' You can render PVC pipes almost
cal political speeches, drum circles, street theater. Set up tables with free food, fortune unbreakable by filling them with spray cookies, literature (see Distribution, Tabling, and Infoshops, pg. 210), massages, portraits c^" expanding insulation foam, (see Portrait Exchange, pg. 415), or palm reading. Lay down a mat for breakdancing. Bring stilt-walkers, DJs spinning danceable tracks, live musicians, guerrilla gardeners planting fruit trees and vigorous weeds, jugglers and clowns. Arrange performers throughout the space in such a way that they won't interfere with each other's acts. Broadcast pirate radio programs to inform and invite those nearby.
Electrical outlets are not hard to find in public areas?try lampposts or even stores. These will be useful for powering musical equipments, fans to blow up infiatables, projectors and lights, and other crazy machines.
To emphasize this once more: write walk-on roles into your street party! For example, you could paint a funny image on a wooden backdrop with holes cut into it, and give out free Polaroids to people who want to pose v;dth their faces in the holes, slapping a sticker on each bearing the punch line for the image, information about the event, or the address of a relevant website. Also, have handouts ready for the crowd of onlookers, explaining the meaning of the event from the various perspectives of those involved.
Figure out ways to invite and involve people from every walk of life. For example, if you are teaching a class of kids, bring the class, with something for them to perform or do for the occasion. The presence of students may help to defuse the dangers posed by ? , . , emotionally stunted law enforcement agents. 425
The police, once they arrive, will ask who is in charge. Make sure everyone involved knows to say they are just random passersby who happened to join in. The longer the authorities are confused and unsure of what to do, the longer your event can go on. At some point, once they've gotten oriented, they will close in to force people out of the area and perhaps make arrests. It's usually best to end things just before this happens, in order to come out ahead and ensure a positive experience for everyone?but remember, police will often try intimidation tactics before they do anything else, so it's good to develop an instinct for when they are bluffing. Make sure that everyone can disperse safely from the area, and that the police won't know which cars parked nearby belong to people attending the event. When it's time to go, precious materials can be secreted nearby and picked up later if need be.
Have a legal group ready to bail out anyone who is arrested, and if possible a lawyer to handle cases related to the event. At the beginning of the event, cards can be distributed with a number to call in case of arrest.
