Lebenskünstler

“It is the right of the accused to be tried by a legally constituted court, not by a kangaroo court.”
– William O. Douglas (Williams v. United States, 341 U.S. 97, 71 S. Ct. 576, 95 L. Ed. 774 [1951])

Secretary-General Wick has responded to this post:

I would like to begin my address with a condemnation of a reckless communiqué delivered to myself and the secretariat last night by Randall Szott, the official spokesman for social practice in the rogue state of Vermont. Szott declares that our meeting today will amount to nothing more than a “mere rehearsal of old saws and art theoretical platitudes,” dooming social practice to becoming “an art-historical corpse.”[1] As will become apparent as I continue throughout this address, and as you continue throughout your day, the words of the tyrant Szott could not be further from the truth.

I would point out that designation as a “rogue state” is not new for Vermont. It is a common tactic of distraction employed by the powerful to further marginalize dissent. I would also point out that the esteemed moderator of the event himself, went “rogue” at the Open Engagement conference in 2010.

Your title as “acting Secretary-General” is certainly appropriate, Mr. Wick. You are clearly engaged in political theater when you pronounce the kangaroo court you’ve assembled to be “wonderfully diverse,” but we both know this is a lie. Although your citation of Simmel and your overview of the role of the four councils are both welcome, I again remind you that your PR announcement established from the get go that art is still the imperial eyes through which the process is overseen. You see, my MFA was in doing nothing not naiveté.