"That’s how living in the AIDS crisis felt. Impossibly violent and cruel."
March 6, 2010 10:34 PM Subscribe
Eileen Myles on ACT UP-New York in Artforum Myles' review of an ACT UP NY art retrospective at Harvard's Carpenter Center is a thoughtful essay in its own right. A more straight(?)-forward review of that exhibition from Frieze Magazine. And, for good measure, "The ACT UP Oral History Project is a collection of interviews with surviving members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, New York." The Oral History Project is on special display at the Carpenter Center.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
impossibly violent and cruel? jesus!
posted by billybobtoo at 1:21 AM on March 7, 2010
posted by billybobtoo at 1:21 AM on March 7, 2010
The first demonstration i ever went to as a young wide-eyed ostensibly straight girl was an ACT UP Kiss-In in Chicago.
Could a wide-eyed girl open her eyes up wider? Because I did. I subsequently participated in ACT UP, Queer Nation, and the Women's Action Coalition--all radical arts-focused direct action groups.
posted by RedEmma at 7:16 AM on March 7, 2010
Could a wide-eyed girl open her eyes up wider? Because I did. I subsequently participated in ACT UP, Queer Nation, and the Women's Action Coalition--all radical arts-focused direct action groups.
posted by RedEmma at 7:16 AM on March 7, 2010
New York Public Library's ACT UP digital gallery
Wow, that link is amazing. The politics (that's the first time I've heard the name "John Sununu" in a while), the slogans, the distinctively late 80s-early 90s graphic design... fascinating bits of history.
posted by DecemberBoy at 7:21 AM on March 7, 2010
Wow, that link is amazing. The politics (that's the first time I've heard the name "John Sununu" in a while), the slogans, the distinctively late 80s-early 90s graphic design... fascinating bits of history.
posted by DecemberBoy at 7:21 AM on March 7, 2010
Wow, that oral history link is great stuff.
posted by heatherann at 7:55 AM on March 7, 2010
posted by heatherann at 7:55 AM on March 7, 2010
In the third interview on the Oral History link (with Gregg Bordowitz), he says that the Reagan administration actually considered internment camps for people infected with HIV/AIDS, and even tattooing gay men and IV drug users against their will. Now, I of course know that the Reagan administration was indifferent to the point of hostility to the plight of AIDS sufferers, but ideas being floated to actually put them in camps is new to me. I don't disbelieve him, but is there more documentation on this?
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:27 AM on March 7, 2010
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:27 AM on March 7, 2010
William F. Buckley also supported tattooing of gay men's buttocks.
The first decade of AIDS felt like a battle without weapons, but a lospided casualty count. I was in ACTUP NY from 1988-1993, and sometimes think of all who did the protests and sit-ins and kiss-ins as veterans. It may not have been a war, but it was certainly hell for those who were lost in it.
posted by ltracey at 11:03 AM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
The first decade of AIDS felt like a battle without weapons, but a lospided casualty count. I was in ACTUP NY from 1988-1993, and sometimes think of all who did the protests and sit-ins and kiss-ins as veterans. It may not have been a war, but it was certainly hell for those who were lost in it.
posted by ltracey at 11:03 AM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
There was also a ballot initiative in California (funded by LaRouche) to quarantine people living with HIV/AIDS. Quarantine or internment camps are still floated by some-- Gov. Huckabee during his presidential campaign most recently (to my knowledge).
I was also in ACT UP and sure felt like a war at the time.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:36 PM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
I was also in ACT UP and sure felt like a war at the time.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:36 PM on March 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Awesome. I was involved from 1991-1994ish. Unfortunately most of the people I knew are dead.
posted by desjardins at 5:12 AM on March 8, 2010
posted by desjardins at 5:12 AM on March 8, 2010
That old Kissing Doesn't Kill campaign still chokes me up.
posted by serazin at 1:19 PM on March 8, 2010
posted by serazin at 1:19 PM on March 8, 2010
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New York Public Library's ACT UP digital gallery, part of their great LGBT collection (slightly more info in an old post of mine).
posted by Kattullus at 11:53 PM on March 6, 2010