OURSELVES We are living inside the system of capitalism. "We don't run the system, we bomb the system," writes Skeme from Style Wars (taken totally out context). We are ruled by a class. We are not just working for ourselves but also for the ruling class. We are forced to do this because there are no other choices given by the system of capitalism. We are owned by the state, by our bosses, by our landlords, by our creditors or banks; we work as much for them (if not more for them) as for ourselves. You can not escape it. Capitalism is throughout the world. And here in USA, it easier to say it's not all that bad and ignore all the death, rape and destruction that it creates and to keep the ruling class in power and the bottom of society satisfied enough not to revolt. We are slaves to our wage. They work us so hard that it seems impossible to have time to breathe and just chill the fuk out. But the ruling class has to keep us busy. If we had time to chill out, we might start talking to each other and we would find out we are all totally fed up with this system of shit. I break up the world pretty simply because I'm a simple man. I view the world as two classes: One class is owners of large amounts of land, owners of factories and technology: The minority, the ruling class, the bosses, the landlords, the politicians, the bourgeoisie. The second class are the exploited the ones who pay for land that they will never own, the ones who pay for the services and goods which are sold for profit, the ones who are forced to sell their ability to work for a wage just to survive: The majority, the righteous, the working class, the proletariat. A few of the righteous recognize it and are looking for a way out. As you read this, messages are being written on the streets of our cities in an act of resistance against this system of shit. What do a spray can, bucket of wheat paste, and sticky backs (stickers) have in common? They are the tools of the Disciples of the Spray Can, D.O.T.S. Posters, stencils, stickers, tags, throw ups to burners that are forced onto the public to question the status quo. D.O.T.S. look at ourselves in struggle with the ruling class that forces us to be a slave to our wage. We all should be fed up with this shit today. No, ten - no, thirty - no, fuck that shit, fifty years ago. This message, this act of resistance and other acts of resistance are done to create a large culture of resistance against capitalism. There is no question that images promoted by major scream media skew our own self worth. From kids wanting the new toy, from teenagers wanting the new shoes, to adults wanting the new car, drug or president or whatever else they are trying to sell us. Stereotypes are created and reinforced by movies, TV and ads. The sitcom or movie shows the nuclear family as the norm and anything outside of the norm is evil. Reality shows are far from being real. Ads try to drug us up to forget our problems. TV shows tells us men are strong and women are here only to support their man. And the list goes on. Who is it up to to say that all this is bullshit? It is up us, D.O.T.S., Writers and Artists to the People who are just sick of this shit. The time to act is now. Being anonymous in our actions needs to be questioned. (If you are asking people to put their necks on the line, our neck needs to be next to them). But being totally reckless is suicide (like putting your phone # next to a piece of graffiti saying " fuck the police"). The creation of the propaganda against the system of capitalism needs to come from the majority, the exploited. And the messages at first need to be clear and easy to understand. For artists to start, they need be willing to act on their belief that something is wrong and they need to point it out to people. A spray can is easy to get; to write on a wall and not get caught is almost as easy. You need to ask yourself: is it worth being caught for? If not, then try to write something that is worth being arrested for. If you can't think of anything, you can always grab images or slogans from a books or the Internet. If the whole idea of being arrested is something you can't deal with, then this action is not for you. There many other ways to create a culture of resistance: writing , talking to other folks (organizing), street theater, protesting, etc.. But it seems like all this might run you the risk of being arrested also. D.O.T.S. is not against other acts of resistance. It is all for them. But D.O.T.S.’ focus is on street art. D.O.T.S. is here for people to take hold of and make their own. It is here to empower people like you and me and others to force your own views onto the general public. The goals of D.O.T.S. is to make political street art dominate the cities’ landscapes. The politics of our art is anti-capitalist, pro-labor; we stand with and work for minorities, women, homosexuals, the homeless and all oppressed peoples of the world. Our point of unity is LIFE OVER PROPERTY. This means we believe human beings are more important than property and that one’s actions can never be considered violent if the only "damage" is to property. GETTING ORGANIZED A crew of folks partaking in this activity of street art could be easier for some to keep on doing it. To get folks involved, simply ask friends of yours if they would be interested in the action of street art. You can build an art collective around the action. Begin to produce your own propaganda. You can gain experience in organizing and graphic design skills. I feel it’s important create a point of unity that the group writes collectively. The point of unity can be either broad or narrow but it's important to keep discussing what the point of unity means and what it doesn't mean. The following is an example of a point of unity. Feel free to use it, adapt it or ignore it. The statement: "Our point of unity is Anti-imperialism. We include people with Communist or Anarchist leanings or the undecided, meaning that you don't identify with a "system of thought" as yet. We are working together to expose the inequalities of the imperialist state, building a working model of collectively rebellious art work. Our goals are to put forward images and slogans that deliberately question the status quo and the Imperialist system currently in place. We will create a stage for the feelings of bitterness that many people from many backgrounds and social classes feel toward imperialism/capitalism because of it's lawlessness towards humanity. We question the use of "public property" or public space. And to reflect all this in action and in content (anti-imperialism pro-internationalism). To use public space as a starting ground for resistance threw the propaganda we create or promote. The work presented here is not an attempt to answer all questions or solve the contradictions that Capitalism/Imperialism creates. It is a starting point for public discussion and to expose the injustices Capitalism creates. These actions are done to encourage other acts of resistance against the state and to be a constant reminder to the public that another world is possible." It's important for all in the group to develop other skills whether it is organizing, art or something else. Maybe someone just wants to make art, another one just wants to put it up; that works just fine. It is a problem if everybody just wants to make art and never wants to put it up or vice versa. Both need to happen art making and art action (putting it up). You can't have one without the other. Ego may come into play; it may be that a person in the group just wants his shit up and doesn't really care if other people's art is up or not. Maybe a person likes to tell everybody what to do, but never lifts a finger to help, but really loves controlling everything. Struggle needs to happen here and these persons need to understand that it is not just what they want but what others want also. Specially, you are all working together. I've worked with groups primarily with a discussion process of consensus. Consensus is when everyone agrees with the discussion (what slogan, image, where to put it. etc...). The good thing about consensus is that discussion accrues the struggle may push things forward creating a deeper understanding of where people are coming from and how they view this system of shit. The problem with consensus is if you have a person who will never agree on anything, this will hold up the group. D.O.T.S. is all about action. The way to avoid this and keep the good part of consensus is to have consensus by the majority. This means if someone has a strong disagreement, first struggle and try to unite; if it seems consensus can't happen, then a vote can be taken to resolve the matter. My experience with pure consensus is that too often the lowest common denominator is what all people can agree upon. The discussion becomes so watered down that it becomes almost pointless to act. Consensus by majority will counter this from happening and keep the group pushing forward. But it also may alienate people in the group and create a split. We must avoid this from happening. Alternative slogans and images can be made for the person or people who don't agree with the majority. Another way a split can happen is if there is almost always two groups fighting each other. Everybody may get tired of the shit, split into two, or just quite all together. Well, I do not have an easy answer for this one. But there was a reason for the all of you to come together in the first place. So I suspect the group needs to reexamine the original idea of unity and try to start over. In no way is this the only way a group can be organized. Do whatever works for you. Because the means of production is in the hands of the capitalists, it is hard to mass produce propaganda. There are ways around this fact. 1. Have one or more members work at a print shop and DIY screen printing. 2. Pool your money together to get it done. 3. Spray paint is wonderful - you can free hand your work or use stencils. go