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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Whirl-Marts on Big business Day |
Current rating: 0 |
by a.whirler
Email: breathingplanet (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified!) |
02 Apr 2002
Modified: 07 Apr 2002 |
Whirl-Mart Consumption Awareness Teams gear up for Big Business weekend. On April 6th or 7th, 9 locations will activate Whirl-Mart. To date, they are:
Bay Area, CA Troy/Albany, NY
NYC, NY
Hudson, NY
Pittsburgh, PA
Scranton, PA
Austin, TX
Denton, TX
Indianola, IA
find local contact information on the website below. |
Whirl-Mart is about reclamation. It is culture-jamming. It is live shopping cart art. It is a phenomenon.
JOIN A WHIRL-MART OR CREATE YOUR OWN!
we push empty carts.
What started as a small-time situationist experiment in upstate NY in April 2001 has now, a year later, spread across the country and the world. A network of Whirl-Mart contacts and organizers from Australia to Oregon to Florida to Germany has been created and continues to develop.
On the first Sunday of every month, groups enter superstores and push empty carts in a line that weaves, wanders, and whirls throughout the aisles for about an hour. The ritual is intended to be a living symbol of resistance to consumerist attitudes and messages that dominate every aspect of society. Whirl-Marters ritualize their resistance by devoting an hour a month to not-shopping....taking a timeout to consciously resist the dominant ideology and express it collectively with a group of like-minded fools.
Actually, its pretty fun, and a very interesting way to experience commercial space. Feedback from participants over the past year has been overwhelmingly positive. (There are some interviews up on http://www.breathingplanet.net) People generally find it trancelike, exhilerating, thought provoking, etc.
Whats the point???
That has typically been the response from people like the NY post and Capitalism Magazine, but also from a few hardline direct action-oriented activists. Whirl-Mart is created by people who take part in direct actions and continue to stand by these methods of protest, but also see the need for new forms of creative resistance to be developed that can reach new audiences in new venues and explore new tactics.
We encourage a dialogue around creativity in tactics and ritual resistance....
got ideas?
comments?
critique? |
See also:
http://www.breathingplanet.net
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Background on WalMart's Record of Oppression |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
06 Apr 2002
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The link below will take you to the UFCW website's page of facts for the press. You won't be reading this stuff in the News-Gazette. There are a number of reports there on Wal-Mart's shoddy record regarding basic human rights.
http://www.ufcw.org/press/page.cfm?subsection_id=132
Shop smart until WalMart drops. |
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Whirl-Mart Reports |
by via ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
07 Apr 2002
|
APRIL WHIRL-MART REPORTS
by a.whirler 8:59pm Sat Apr 6 '02
breathingplanet (at) hotmail.com
viva Whirl-Mart Worldwide!
Today, April 6th, there was a Whirl-Mart Ritual at the Latham Farms Wal-Mart near Troy, NY. It was a relatively small turnout compared to some past gatherings, but the eight of us still had a blast whirling through the aisles. The way we were 'dealt with' by management today was new and interesting for us as veteran Whirl-Marters. They chose to ridicule us loudly!! It was very strange and out of character, from my experience.
"Don't you have anything better to do!?"
"If you're gonna spend so much time in here, pick up an application!!"
"Get a job!"
-"....you made the costumers buy more stuff." -"why, what do you mean?" -"cuz they like our store!"
"number one, man! on the fortune five hundred. thats for a reason!...people keep comin' back"
It was so obvious to me how brainwashed they had been. We explained calmly that our performance was more about overconsumption and how superstores construct a desire in people for more stuff than they really need....
There was a rumour that the cops had been called and we were hoping that some would show up to boost the spectacle, but that didnt happen.
participate in a Whirl-Mart? state which one, and add a comment...
REPORT FROM INDIANOLA, IOWA WHIRL
Whirls the world over,
Here's what we did today at our Wal-Mart. We can't wait to hear how things went in other parts of the country. Keep it up; we've all got each other's back. :)
The morning begin at about 11:00 am when Brian Johnson, our member who attempted to carry in the chicken, and I met to scout Wal-Mart one last time and pick up the chicken. We stopped briefly at Wal-Mart to plan what Brian's rote would be once inside the store. He would swing by the men's clothing and pick up one of the items made in Pakistan, Indonesia, India, El Salvador, or one of the plentiful other items likely made in deplorable conditions overseas. With item and chicken in hand he would approach a cash register to barter the chicken. While bartering he would explain some of the problems with large corporate greed, sweatshop labor, and Wal-Mart's business practices.
After a short stint scouting Wal-Mart we headed out o the farm to pick up the chicken. A pet, by the name of Scuttles, it was the calmest laying-hen I have ever met. We arrived back in the Wal-Mart parking lot about 11:30 and parked near the front entrance. Brian and I sat in the car and rehearsed what we were going to say to the clerk, the manager, and the media. At noon the Whirlers began to arrive. I talked to several of them before they entered to store. Everything seemed to be going well. The whirls had entered the store and we were simply waiting for the media to arrive so that we could enter the store as well.
It was at this point that the one lone cop car that had merely cruised through the parking lot earlier came back and parked. Quickly joined by several other police cars from the Indianola Police, the Warren County Sheriffs Department, and as many as five State Trooper cars, I saw a problem developing. Clearly they knew that we were coming.
With all the Whirlers already inside and us waiting for the media to arrive at 12:20 I knew we would definitely be playing some things by ear. Wal-Mart seemed to have a particularly large number of managers working, not coincidently all were males. Well equipped with their own walkie-talkies the managers roamed the parking lot along with several police men, one dressed in plane clothes. Brian and I sat calmly in the car as the plain clothes policeman walked past Brian's window and looked in my back window, potentially seeing the chicken. However he did not address us.
When the media arrived Brian and I got out of the car, Brian carrying the chicken, and walked first towards them. They took multiple pictures of Brian and the chicken with Wal-Mart as the back-drop. They had already been informed by management that they would not be allowed inside the store as it is against company policy to take pictures inside Wal-Mart.
With about 30 Whirls already inside it looked doubtful that we would be able to join them, and the media certainly wasn't going to be allowed in. Brian was stopped cold at the door by a line of various policemen and managers. I entered the store to tell the Whirlers to come joins us outside where the media was. Once inside the store a manager yelled and pointed at me, "There's one of them." I quickly told a number of the Whirlers that the media was outside and so was Brian. I thought it best if we all went outside to support Brian and make ourselves available to the media.
As Whirlers were approaching the front entrance the intercom chimed "they are coming towards the front entrance now." Kind managers asking if we were done with them took our carts away from us. So, unfortunately we were not able to leave the store with our empty carts.
Once outside, being lead by the Drake University students, we chanted some wonderful chant. A number of students talked with reporters, and the photographers were still present to take pictures. We attempted to give flyers to people, but one of the managers approached me and addressed me by name (not sure how that happened) telling me that it was also against company policy to leaflet on grounds. While we had been inside though members of the group outside had already leafleted a number of cars.
The media coverage was excellent with the Des Moines Register, Cityview, the Indianola Record Harold, and our college newspaper The Simpsonian all present. All papers had photographers and some had sent an additional writer as well.
Store management refused to even let us tell them why we had come, let alone offer any response. They also refused to talk to the media. We brought a strong message about Wal-Mart's union busting tactics, tendency to drive out small businesses, discrimination against female employees, and their large profits achieved through sweatshop labor in production of the goods.
On our way out of the parking lot Brian and I cranked the car stereo to the tune of the The Kabalas' Wal-Mart Polka, a beautiful anti-Wal-Mart song. We made two laps around the parking lot while still in the presence of many police officers, mangers, and some media to the lyrics of…. "oh don't ya don't ya shop at Wal-Mart…can't you see they're driving out the small mart… local business…. local profits that's what makes us all smart… who stole our business who stole our business.. someone bring it back…"
A number of us met up at the town square afterward to congratulate everyone on an action well done.
Thank you to everyone that came today. We wouldn't have been nearly as effective without as many people. Special thanks to Brian Johnson and Scuttles.
Brian Depew
Simpson College Progressive Action Coalition
depew (at) simpson.edu
http://www.breathingplanet.net
Whirl-Mart Video Trailer
by video 9:20pm Sat Apr 6 '02
Download attached file: whirlshortclean2kqwygt.mov (mimetype: video/quicktime )
http://www.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/metafiles/whirlshortclean2kqwygt.mov
excerpt from 5 minute Ritual Resistance Video.
From: http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=166484&group=webcast |
