Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2012, Blaðsíða 16

16
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2012
Art | Activism
Spanish artist Santiago Sierra pre-
miered a giant piece of rock called
‘The Black Cone, Monument To
Civil Disobedience’ in front Ice-
land's parliament this January. Si-
erra cracked the rock with a black
cone, which “alludes to black cone-
shaped hats that condemned per-
sons were forced to wear for humil-
iation during the Inquisition in the
12th century,” according to a press
release. The monument is marked
with a plaque bearing a quote from
the French Revolution's Declara-
tion Of The Rights Of Man And Of
The Citizen: “When the government
violates the rights of the people, in-
surrection is for the people and for
each portion of the people the most
sacred of rights and the most indis-
pensable of duties.”
Having gone through Santiago’s mas-
sive archive of provocative works, per-
formed and exhibited all around the
globe, it seems a bit strange to see him
buying into ‘the image of Iceland’—an
image usually centred on the pseudo-
link between Iceland's nature, art and
nightlife, but also on the country's
most recent history of protest, as if by
taking to the streets and later voting
against paying a tiny bit of
the debt imposed on society by Ice-
landic capitalists, the Icelandic public
somehow waged a war against
global capitalism. “The performance
commemorates this protest,” the press
release states, “and a wave of pro-
tests that have taken place around the
world in the last few years, from the
Arabic Spring to the Occupation of Wall
Street.”
Few have openly voiced their opin-
ion about the rock so far, but as San-
tiago Sierra has offered it to the City
of Reykjavík on the condition that the
rock stays permanently at Austurvöllur,
there are bigger questions to tackle,
such as what this monument means.
WHAT IS A MONUMENT?
While a monument honours its subject,
it is also its tombstone. One looks back
and remembers the subject, its great
impact on society and its historical
importance because it's not among us
anymore. In other words: because of its
death.
In the case of the 2008–9 protest,
the act of honouring it and thereby
acknowledging its death could be in-
terpreted as a declaration from those
who participated that they are happy
with what came out of it: the govern-
ment they toppled being replaced by a
centre-left pro-capitalism one that has
brought Icelandic finance back into the
game in a way acceptable to and hon-
oured by the International Monetary
Fund. And if that's the case—if the good
majority of those who revolted simply
wanted a new government—there's no
point in arguing against that.
It does, however, not change the
fact that a more radical, non-party-
political element was evident in this
revolt, manifested in individuals and
groups who revolted against the all-
encompassing hierarchical structures
of the commodity-society we live in—
for anarchy and individual autonomy.
This element's impact on society can
clearly be seen in a decreasing faith in
party-politics, less fear about speaking
up about and against corruption and
state repression, and a larger spectrum
of anarchist-oriented ideas.
Acknowledging this brings forth
another way of understanding monu-
ments: Not only as reminders of the
past, but also in an encouraging way,
as a reminder of potential and possibil-
ity.
WHAT ARE WE REMINDED OF?
Despite many people’s emphasis on
the alleged peacefulness of Iceland's
uprising, it’s clear that the often high
level of force—violence and property
damage at times—played a significant
role in threatening the authorities. As
is the nature of such revolts, it was
easy for those in power to ignore writ-
ten and spoken word whereas it was
much more difficult for them to close
their eyes to the bricks that broke par-
liament's windows.
Instead of dismissing these ele-
ments as apolitical and criminal in na-
ture, one should view them in their his-
torical context. There is a tendency to
glorify certain protests—often those far
removed in time or place—and to play
down their force, the blood, the broken
arms and wounded heads. Such ma-
nipulation of history—call it a notional
monument—enables the pacification
of dissent by claiming that only purely
non-violent methods can succeed in
victories. Take for instance the glorifi-
cation of
Martin Luther King rather than
Malcolm X, Mahatma Gandhi as op-
posed to the Indian independence
movement's more militant elements,
and the Arab Spring and Occupy move-
ments opposed to last August's London
riots.
Being a giant rock, Santiago’s
monument could however serve as a
historical pick-me-up, encouraging us
not to allow the ruling powers to dictate
how the game is played.
HOW DO WE WRITE HISTORY?
Some say that history is written by the
conquerors. But things are not so sim-
ple; one can also become a conqueror
by writing history.
So far, the history of Iceland’s
2008–9 revolt has most visibly been
written by the mainstream media, a
handful of conservative writers, and the
police force claiming that the protest
was remote-controlled by a number
of leftist parliamentarians. Obviously,
these historians will neither acknowl-
edge the victories felt by those who
protested nor the necessary methods
used to see them come true.
On its own, Santiago Sierra's Black
Cone is far from strong enough to radi-
cally affect this manufacturing of his-
tory. But it certainly get can get those of
us who protested with other aims than
simply moving a few asses to and fro in
the hall of parliament, to consider how
we are writing this history. Not only
with ink on paper but also as an event
in a history of events to be remem-
bered, understood, learned from and,
most importantly, continued.
THE BLACK CONE
What this monument means about the Pots and Pans Protest
Words
Snorri Páll Jónsson Úlfhildarson
Photography
Alísa Kalyanova
“Being a giant rock, Santiago’s monument
could however serve as a historical pick-me-up,
encouraging us not to allow the ruling powers to
dictate how the game is played.”
What's your take on this? Are we 'institutionalis-
ing revolution'? How did that whole 'revolution
gambit' go anyway?
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