US Department of Art & Technology
PO Box 32265 Washington, DC
http://www.usdept-arttech.net
press@usdept-arttech.net

Press Secretary
For Immediate Release: June 19, 2002

Secretary Packer to Address
World Mediation Summit
Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, DC - On June 19, 7:00 PM (EST), the Secretary of the US
Department of Art & Technology, Randall M. Packer, will deliver the
following speech at the World Mediation Summit in Washington, DC,
minutes before the signing of the Covenant of the Articles of
Artistic Mediation. Department staff, members of the Washington arts
community, and cultural officials from six nations will be
participating in the event. The Covenant, collectively co-authored by
artists, curators, and cultural critics from around the world, is
being presented to the US Department of State.

The following is the transcript of the speech:

Speech by Randall M. Packer
Secretary, US Department of Art & Technology
To the World Mediation Summit
Upon Signing of the Covenant of the Articles of Artistic Mediation

June 19, 2002
Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes
Washington, DC

***********

It's an honor to thank those artists who have heeded a great call:
those who collectively co-authored the Covenant of the Articles of
Artistic Mediation, which we are presenting tonight to the US
Department of State. It's a universal call, and it's a call that has
been applicable throughout history. It's really needed right now.

The reason we're here tonight is to unleash the talents of the artist
as a mediator on the world stage. I appreciate the cooperation of the
Goethe-Institut to stage this event right here in the nation's
capital. Because this is a critical gesture that I hope will
encourage cultural dialogue and understanding throughout the nation.
It's an urgent time for the artist to act. And I think it's going to
help America, along with the rest of the world, cope in these times
of crisis and national insecurity.

This really isn't about any political party, I want to assure you.
It's a way to make sure citizens of the world are as hopeful as they
possibly can be.

The events of September the 11th were an incredibly dark moment. But
the thing I'm most proud about is, through the darkness, is the
emergence of a new era of socially engaged art. This is really an
unbelievable country we live in. A place where heroes risked their
lives, and where artists responded with incredible insight. It was a
remarkable moment, it really was. It was a test of our character.
While many were busy waving the flag, artists and cultural critics in
America and throughout the world have probed deep into the issues of
cultural divisiveness in order to help guide us through these
perilous times. They have rallied together, via the Internet, through
their art, their writing, and their vision, to point out that
everything is at stake, and that we have everything to lose, in these
apocalyptic times. In the words of our Deputy Undersecretary Robert
Atkins, "Being the most complex form of knowledge, art IS the best
hope for subtle, nuanced communication."

This power of cultural action can go well beyond military aggression,
and can help us rise above the hopeless notion of "overcoming evil"
or "rooting out terror." Yes, we will take action, I want to assure
you, but we don't seek death and destruction, we seek a victory of
the human spirit. And I believe that if we're patient and resolved
and united, that out of these acts of artistic mediation could come
lasting peace - peace in regions of the world that might appear now
they cannot be peaceful.

I believe we can achieve peace by listening to the artist. Peace is
the cornerstone of the artistic sensibility, it's what we aim for. As
the Iowan artist Ava Su GanWei said so well, "Our society has it
backwards, art should be freed from the museums and galleries... it
should be on the streets. But violence and war - they belong in a
place where they can be studied." There are going to be some tough
moments achieving this peace. But you need to know that we're going
to be plenty tough when we need to be tough. And we're going to stay
focused on fighting homeland insecurity, caused by those who would
foolishly believe they can root out every trace of evil from human
existence. That's our call. History has called us into action, and we
must and we will respond.

But we need to do more than just make the country less insecure. We
need to make our country and the world a better place. We must be
more than just a military might. We must show our resolve through
cultural understanding: for according to John Young, our Under
Secretary of the Bureau for the Blurring of the Real & the Virtual,
"As we inhabit the 21st century, do we choose to take up the
challenge of crafting a new vision of global compassion, or fall back
upon antiquated notions of diplomacy at gunpoint?"

We have got to recognize that because we're a rich and powerful
nation, we inspire despair and hopelessness in countries that suffer
from extreme poverty and political instability. There are too many
people throughout the world who wonder whether or not America is a
destructive force. And so part of our struggle in making the country
and the world less insecure is to mediate these differences in the
universal language of artistic expression. As David Baime, our
Assistant Secretary for Legislation & Congressional Affairs so
eloquently said, "art alone provides the reflection of reality. Art
is as perennial as the grass, and may our good government sow its
seed, so as to reap its splendor." And the place to start is
understanding that the world can be changed one word, one note, one
frame, one pixel at a time.

The artist can't do everything. But the artist can do something to
help. And their job as social provocateurs, appropriators,
liberators, and citizens deeply committed to virtualization and the
suspension of disbelief, is to gather that great compassion for
critical insight, the spectacle, and distaste for the status quo, to
change our ineffective paradigms, to change the world. And for those
who have contributed to the efforts of the US Department of Art &
Technology, including tonight's World Mediation Summit, they are
doing a great job of that, and I want to thank them.

My job is to continue to address the spirit of the artist, their role
in society, to call upon the best, and I will do so. Let this be a
reminder to those who want to confront the human reality of terror,
they should turn to the arts and its many forms of expression.
"Violence is an expression of speechlessness, of lack of
communication," according to the German media artist Agricola de
Cologne. The artist recognizes problems when they exist and works to
solve those problems, to eliminate the hurdles and barriers that lead
to violence and aggression.

Government must not turn a blind eye to the artist. There must be a
level playing field available and a role for the artist as a mediator
and a player on the world stage. We need to remember that in our
society, artists can move people in ways that government never can.

In order to understand the eternal, existential struggle between good
and evil, that now paralyzes our government, we must invent, we must
create, we must virtualize, and we must use our imaginations! As
Andre Breton said, "perhaps the imagination is on the verge of
recovering its rights."

In the gathering momentum of these acts of artistic mediation, which
reveal what the artist is truly made of, we stand on the first
promontory of the new centuries. Why should we look back, when what
we want is to break down the mysterious doors of the Impossible!

And so, I now have the great honor of joining my colleagues in
signing the Covenant of the Articles of Artistic Mediation and
delivering it to the US Department of State.

Thank you.

URLs:
US Department of Art & Technology: http://www.usdept-arttech.net

Contact: Press Secretary of the US Department of Art & Technology
press@usdept-arttech.net

# 01-102

US Department of Art & Technology
PO Box 32265 Washington, DC 20007
http://www.usdept-arttech.net
press@usdept-arttech.net

Press Secretary
For Immediate Release: June 14, 2002

Appointment of New Post
Confronts National Insecurity

Abe Golam, Director of the
Office of Political and Economic Insecurity

WASHINGTON, DC - Responding to criticism of the Bush Administration's
handling of national security in its recent proposal to create the
Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Randall M. Packer has
called for the creation of the Office of Political and Economic
Insecurity within the Department of Art & Technology, to confront
rising insecurity in the nation and around the world as a result of
the administration's plan to restructure the US government. The
Secretary has appointed Abe Golam, legendary info-shaman, cracker of
the sorcerer-code and creator of Nanoscript, as its Director.

Mr. Packer's proposal would place into a single office the
Department's Office of Artist & Homeland Insecurity, Bureau of
Cultural Transformation and Paradigmatic Shifts, the Bureau for the
Protection & Immunization Against Mediation & Alienation, the Bureau
for Rhizomatics, Community & Generative Data, and the Office of
Freedom of Speech.

"Since September 11, all levels of government have been pointing
fingers like never before while our airports become Keystone cop
scenarios and our border security remains a farce," Mr. Golam stated
in a recent memorandum to the Secretary. "Even as they pretend to be
taking steps toward improving information sharing among our
intelligence agencies, and suggest in their media-manipulated spin
doctoring that we are beginning to deploy more resources and
personnel to protect our critical infrastructure, our federal
investigators are still working with computer technology manufactured
in the dark ages. Our children have access to better technology than
our federal intelligence agents."

Mr. Golam expressed his anger at the administration for not seeking
support from the nation's artists in its response to recent
international crises, "The changing nature of the threats facing
America requires a new government, a new administration, a new way of
looking at the world that protects the environment, that celebrates
diversity, takes care of the poor, and prioritizes the development of
new forms of art using advanced digital technologies that will help
us find a cure to the 'death-denial' of our present leaders." In a
stinging acknowledgment of failures that took place during the
administration's watch, Mr. Golam directly attacked Bush's new
homeland policies and its impact on civil liberties, "Our domestic
agenda has been hijacked by far right wing ideologues and
military-religious zealots who are trying to whittle away at the
basic rights of all US citizens as guaranteed by our Constitution."

Under Mr. Packer's proposal, the new office would put at least 22
separate bureaus, programs and media research centers under one
umbrella group. But the conceptual framework of the new office is
clear: each division is supposed to handle a different element of the
country's ability to confront the administration's emerging
death-wish before it happens, or respond to it should prevention
fail. Mr. Golam's memorandum notes that "The one thing Americans,
perhaps more than any other nation on the planet, fear - is death
itself. Under the protective guise of 'Homeland Security', we find
ourselves primarily a nation of insecure workers scared to death of
our future, of our ability to consume corporate food at any cost, of
our right to buy gas guzzling vehicles that double as tanks."

Mr. Golam's memorandum concludes with an existential portrayal of the
administration's position as he warns, "For those of our fellow
citizens who fear death, we should ask them to remember that death is
an advisor. Death is always there, always with you, watching your
every move. Death has only one thing to say to you and says it over
and over again: live this life to its fullest and find security in
your own heart, the way you act toward others, the things you create."

For the full transcript of Abe Golam's Memorandum to the Secretary:
http://www.usdept-arttech.net/golam.html

##

The US Department of Art and Technology is the principal conduit for
facilitating the artist's need to extend aesthetic inquiry into the
broader culture where ideas become real action. It also serves the
psychological and spiritual well-being of all Americans by supporting
cultural efforts that provide immunity from the extension of new
media technologies into the social sphere.

URLs:

US Department of Art & Technology: http://www.usdept-arttech.net

Contact: Press Secretary of the US Department of Art & Technology
press@usdept-arttech.net

# 01-101

MEMORANDUM

To: Randall M. Packer, Secretary

From: Abe Golam, Director of the Office of Political and Economic Insecurity

Re: Knock Knock Knockin' On Heaven's Door: Why Are We Scared To/Of Death?

------

As we know, the President's most important job is to protect himself
while appearing to defend the American people. Since September 11,
all levels of government have been pointing fingers like never before
while our airports become Keystone cop scenarios and our border
security remains a farce. We are in the process of producing and
stockpiling more medicines to treat the disillusioned masses whose
retirement plans have been plundered by the reigning oil-garchy now
in power, those stupid white men and women who are still trying to
regain their balance after having been knocked over by a ten-ton
intelligence failure like none ever experienced in postmodern times.
Even as they pretend to be taking steps toward improving information
sharing among our intelligence agencies, and suggest in their
media-manipulated spin doctoring that we are beginning to deploy more
resources and personnel to protect our critical infrastructure, our
federal investigators are still working with computer technology
manufactured in the dark ages. Our children have access to better
technology than our federal intelligence agents.

The changing nature of the threats facing America requires a new
government, a new administration, a new way of looking at the world
that protects the environment, that celebrates diversity, takes care
of the poor, and prioritizes the development of new forms of art
using advanced digital technologies that will help us find a cure to
the "death-denial" of our present leaders.

Our current administration continuously churns out the propaganda
butter while greasing up our virtual asses so that they can mind-fuck
us better than Brando does Maria Schneider in Last Tango In Paris.
We are asked to keep our eyes out for "invisible enemies" as if we
were all Supermen and Superwomen with x-ray vision able to leap
collapsing buildings in a single, helpless bound. We are told that
these "invisible enemies" can strike with a wide variety of weapons
and that America needs a single, unified homeland security structure
that will improve protection against today's threats and be flexible
enough to help meet the unknown threats of the future.

Whereas it's true that a great tragedy has struck America, and
innocent people of all walks of life have unnecessarily lost their
lives, our domestic agenda has been hijacked by far right wing
ideologues and military-religious zealots who are trying to whittle
away at the basic rights of all US citizens as guaranteed by our
Constitution. As a result of these ruthless, unpatriotic acts
against freedom of speech and the right to dissent, we have no choice
but to become politically active ourselves and to demand change in
the current administration's personnel make-up.

As part of our next major political action, we should form an
exploratory committee to see if it is feasible to declare a candidacy
for the Presidency of the United States of America. Under the banner
of the Experimental Party whose motto is "Representation Through
Virtualization" - we will recruit a candidate whose virtual identity
is guaranteed to stir up controversy in the global computer networks,
that "non-place" place where the true battle for democracy in America
will be fought and won. As part of this exploration, we will attempt
to locate The Real Moral Majority, those whose ethics and aesthetics
will, without compromise, tell the truth so help them God or whatever
other word they use to describe The Supreme Fiction.

We will not appease soccer moms or corporate dads, we will not
pretend we have endless amounts of taxpayer money to give back to
everyone so that we can essentially buy their votes while making sure
their rights as a U.S. citizen die on the vine, and we will not let
the super-rich steal continue to steal their hard earned retirement
money so that they can buy another Lear jet to fly them out to Monaco
where they can secretly buy old paintings previously stolen and
hidden by the Nazis and their moneyed co-conspirators.

We WILL ask for sacrifice. We will ask for sacrifice from SUV
trust-fund babies and get-rich-quick wannabes whose vaporware dreams
of dot.com glory have turned to dust. We will demand the immediate
impeachment of Vice-President Richard "Tricky Dick" Cheney. We are
naming names, and the first to go has got to be the ex-CEO of
Halliburton whose shady business dealings allowed him to pocket tens
of millions of dollars while corrupting an already corrupt energy
company that is leaving its ex-workers in the dust the same way the
oil-garchy fund-raisers at Enron did during the hey-day of cooking
books and stealing national elections. Remember, "Tricky Dick" is
just one artificial heartbeat away from the Presidency. Once he goes,
the rest are sure to follow.

As we know, the one thing Americans, perhaps more than any other
nation on the planet, fear - is death itself. Under the protective
guise of "Homeland Security", we find ourselves primarily a nation of
insecure workers scared to death of our future, of our ability to
consume corporate food at any cost, of our right to buy gas guzzling
vehicles that double as tanks in case we encounter the next fucked-up
mass murderer at the upcoming stop light. What's worse is that that
fucked-up mass murderer may be your high school son, your pedophilic
priest, your favorite football star, or your local Congressman.

As a nation of laws, we must always remember that our ability to
prosecute the real criminals is crucial to our survival. Those who
steal elections, rob Peter to pay Paul, deprive citizens of their
basic constitutional rights to vocally oppose the egregious war
policies of the present administration, are criminally unpatriotic,
and need to be dealt with immediately.

For those of our fellow citizens who fear death, we should ask them
to remember that death is an advisor. Death is always there, always
with you, watching your every move. Death has only one thing to say
to you and says it over and over again: live this life to its fullest
and find security in your own heart, the way you act toward others,
the things you create.