If cultural interference is anything, Macderry writes in foreword Cultural interference: activism and the art of cultural resistancewhich is “the dream of restoring our sense of self as citizens in a culture that insists on reducing us to consumers — wallets with mouths, to put it in the slogan.”
The term can be defined negatively, such as blocking commercial information, or it can be likened to a musical improv, a cultural form of experimentation, and becoming more creative and constructive, “subtly creating new horizons for the future” , according to Marilyn DeLaure and Moritz Fink in their introduction to the same book.
Pastor Billy and Stop Shopping are using them as inspirations to help people find their sense of self.
They have been doing this for over 20 years under the direction of Savitri D, through Billy Talen’s sermons and passionate performances by the choir.
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As part of their action against Bayer/Monsanto, they played gospel-style music at the EPA hearing, singing “Monsanto the devil, no glyphosate,” and they walked into a glyphosate chemical factory.
They “exorcised” a Starbucks and danced on the cross with Mickey Mouse on the streets of New York City. “A lot of our work is just making things visible. Running with a giant neon arrow and pointing at something, it’s a vanguard position. It’s here, the crisis is here,” Savitri D told Renaissance and Ecologists.
And the work of groups like BP is still not BP? With a heavy focus on news coverage and social media to disrupt the one-way flow of corporate information, Pastor Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir have different goals.
“Our mission is to bring wildness into public spaces and open them up to a different way of behaving,” says Savitri D. This can be seen in the way they interact, sing and dance with people on the street. Many bystanders turned to watch: some looked shocked or turned away, some laughed, and some even joined in.
“The street is a dynamic space because there are some players you can’t control and the pressure you can’t foresee,” Savitri D said. “For example, the police play them on the show. The street hides the unknown in a very powerful way.”
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This “wildness” has to come from within, Billy continued. “The wild has to come from the invitation to the wild, to dance with the wild, to be the wild. Let the attack on the wild, like Bayer/Monsanto, make them the outsider, meet them from the wild, and you have the power.”
At a time when you could easily find yourself swept up in Doomsday scrolling the latest global news, the injection of humor is very welcome.
Whether through “disruptive” ads on billboards and spreading the word on social media, or through street pop-ups and creative action, the distraction of this consumer message is a huge relief.
It gives us room to step out of our commodified reality and see it for what it is. The success of the movement against oil-sponsored art also shows that it works.
Savitri D and Billy Talen take this peaceful protest one step further by inviting us to look away from the ad and see each other.
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Marianne Brown is the editor Renaissance and Ecologists. This article was first published in Renaissance and Ecologists Magazine, come out now.
