AAA!

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Short description

AAA! actionists (2018), picture by Susanne Luschin

AAA! works with border areas in women’s lives in public space - like the 'glass ceiling' or invisibility of age - and occasionally steps on the border of illegal means of action.

About AAA!

Instructions and manuals, make-up tips, cooking classes – heaps of instructional videos can be found online. Yet, what if a woman of 40+ is looking for a tutorial video on how to recapture the ever-narrowing private and public space? This is when AAA! springs into action…

A video by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist shows her smashing a car window with a flower. A policewoman walks by, saluting her in a friendly manner. This is the kind of ‘actionism’ that pops to the minds of AAA! when planning their interventions: effective on a small scale, doable on their own, witty in detail, and effective in the outcome. With the production of short instructional and explanatory videos, the group AAA! brings momentum to the debate on how women aged 40+ can act politically – single-handedly.

After all, there are endless clichés about women over 40: unattractive figures of fun who are less able to act but agitated instead, yet harmless by and large. With their work, AAA! seeks to break up this image. Their instructional videos are intended to help overcome the individual’s powerlessness with artistic means and to thus recapture both private and public space in a feminist tradition. Even alone, one can leave subtle messages or accomplish an esthetically valuable act of sabotage – be it in a parking lot, the beauty salon, or on the well-monitored Internet!

(Text: Lisa Bolyos)

Wienwoche Event September 2018

AAA! interventions

Radar Sculpture (2018), picture by Katrin Liesenfeld-Jordan

- Radar sculpture (link to Facebook Album)

- [Action #1 on Youtube - upcoming 9/18]

- [Action #2 on Youtube - upcoming 9/18]

- [Action #3 on Youtube - upcoming 9/18]

- [Action #4 on Youtube - upcoming 9/18]

- [Action #5 on Youtube - upcoming 9/18]

- [Action #6 on Youtube - upcoming 9/18]

- [Action #7 on Youtube - upcoming 9/18]

Idea collection, Work In Progress – feel free to contribute!

Building and investment, urban development

Raiffeisen Death Investing
Grass Graffiti, pictures by Aurelia Staub


- add information to the investor's logo and claim (on a building or building site fence) with an edding or other devices – e.g. "renovated / invested to death" – remember to always carry an edding with you, or a lipstick of course (see also "Recycling")!

- refer to the polystyrene mafia by drilling small holes into insulated facades and placing seed bombs into them (don't forget to water regularly!). Or stick little flags with messages into the facades.

- you can use existing holes in facades to fill them with seeds or place other baits also to attract pigeons or rats to houses just renovated, especially those turned into luxury or phantom bnb apartments.

- in order to work without disturbance, get and use a dressing tent to write messages on walls or the ground ("halten verboten") or draw individually designed pictograms.

- An add-on to renovation site fences and advertisement texts: 'Here will be built luxury apartments affordable only to a few of us so we can get even richer and continue to abuse/fuck everyone else'. Or simply: 'luxury apartments, courtesy of my mother-in-law'.

Consumerism and lookism

- slide notes into (rich looking) people's (shopping) bags with messages on anti-capitalism, anti-consumerism, on how aging women get poorer and poorer and have few economical rights. Or on worker's rights, sweatshops, etc. – Use short texts you can also find on the internet. (reverse pick pocket)

- hang back your old clothes in the store with notes (reverse shoplifting). They could address topics like how the sizes have changed due to profit hunting and lookism – something that was a size 38 in 2002 is now a size 42 or even bigger. Or also consumerism and worker's rights ("Made in hell"). And sexism. Or a fun pun, since h&m stuff always starts smelling pretty quickly and you can't get rid of it: "this stinks of oppression", "your jeans made of ecological cotton still stink like pollution".

- stuff your bra with ridiculous or practical things (gloves to keep them warm) to point out the absurdity that a bra in our society is there to make/force your boobs to look as sexy as possible, when it's actually supposed to be there as a help for your tits not to hurt when you run or jump.

Household

- next time a man (or other person) doesn't fulfill his 50/50 duty, use their strategy and make a mess (e.g. be very clumsy in their presence and break something, or clean their things by using wrong stuff that's damaging their computer screens) so that they are forced to propose "darling, let ME do that!"

Internet and communication

- sign emails with an impressive title (Office of DDr. A. A. A. Something) and an according signature line (Institute of Whatever) for more respect.

- get a "office" mail alias and write mails as an imaginary assistant.

Noise and neighbourhood

- invite neighbours to form a little anti-noise yelling choir. Next time some idiots make noise on the street, invite the others to yell down as chorus or in dialogue form ("quiet!" "yes!" "shut up!" "thank you!"). And get a megaphone.

- when people talk very loud (on their phones) on public transport, join in the conversation: "Yes, I'm on the bus, too! That's interesting! I also had this experience the other day!"

- ask people who sit in their cars with the hands-free set extremely turned up very friendly to turn it up a little more so you can follow the conversation from the third floor.

One person protest

Protest Umbrella, picture by Amina Handke

- write your message on an umbrella using spray can colours.

- if your windows are visible from the street, use curtains for your message.

Recycling and environment

- use expired lipstick for graffitti of all kinds.

- make a bag or suitcase bomb with damaged handbags: stuff them with plastic or other waste, write "plastic bomb" or "recycling fail" on them and deposit them in big department/discount stores, shop windows (preferably during shopping madness before Christmas) or in front of your environmental ministry (or even at train stations or airports). Then wait for police action.

- whenever someone drops waste in the environment, inform them politely that they have lost something.

Strategies

- if you get caught or attacked, be very surprised, nice and harmless and say something like "Oh!! Is that your car? I'm SO sorry! I'm a little confused... It was really nice meeting you!" Or pretend you're deaf, very short sighted, ...

- in case of heavy traffic, stand in the middle of the road and look a little lost and helpless.

Traffic and public space

- use your expired lipstick (see "Recycling" above) to write love messages on cars that attract your attention by being extremely big, loud or environmentally damaging. Alternatively, you can also attach sharp items to your cane or rollator to create interesting graffitti designs.

- redesign traffic signs by adding signs saying "quiet!" or "0-5" (tempo limit).

- create bumper stickers that refer to hazards caused by traffic, like shock pictures on cigarette packs (dead children or animals, a lot of blood). You can also attach old fur pieces or the like to or beneath the tires.

- create little cards you can easily carry with you and clip them on windshields. Messages could be designed analogously to parking tickets or carry informations like "Your car is too loud / too big / should not be here / you're not alone (as information and menace)". Further sticker inspiration here.

- if being harassed while trying to park your car, hand little drawing books (e.g. with traffic lights), relaxing rubber balls or plastiline kits to the harassers to keep them busy and calm and remind them of their hidden creative potentials.

- whenever you notice someone driving like mad or a very phony vehicle, try to make a picture with your phone or just point it at them – even if it doesn't work or you don't capture the license plate. If the driver notices you, you'd be surprised how excited she/he'll get about your attention!

- to get rid of bad energies and calm yourself after negative encounters with super ugly vehicles use some plastiline and knead it into voodoo SUVs.

- reuse plastic flower pots and weeds (or other plants that have become too big) to place them in parking lots.

- take back space by using the whole street for your cycling tour


Links and inspirations (in alphabetical order)

Activisms

Beach Cleanup Challenge

Burschenschaft Hysteria

Chaos Computer Club

female:pressure

Guerrilla Girls

Omas gegen Rechts

Peng! Kollektiv

Pussy Riot

Volkstanz

Zentrum für politische Schönheit

Artists and other individuals

Celeste Barber


Die Damen


Carola Dertnig: A Car


Feminist Art: those who made it possible for us to be here and do this today


Leslie Hill: Suffragettes invented Performance Art, a micro lecture


Barbara Kruger: I shop therefore I am


Neozoon: Hairy Women

Fur Coat Recycling


Barbara Ungepflegt: Philipphof Parkside

Ministerin für Heimatschmutz


Julia Starsky a.k.a. Starsky a.k.a. Niemand: Zu den Waffeln


Marlene Streeruwitz: Frag Marlene


Iiu Susiraja

Videos and other trending sources

Lady with hair dryer as radar

Plogging

Downloads

.... in Progress ....

Picture templates

Contact

AAA! Facebook site

Mail