Operation street theatre

Two examples which don’t have any relation except the way they show how trespassers are confrontated by shocking situations (Not for the Faint of Heart).

The first video shows a dramatic illustration of how sharks are caught on longlines to be killed for their fins, former Lush employee and performance artist Alice Newstead had her skin pierced with shark hooks and be suspended from the ceiling in the window of Lush’s busy Regent Street shop in London UK.

The second video: members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) staged simulation military operations throughout the New York City area to give fellow Americans a glimpse of the day-to-day realities of the Iraq War.

Anti-Shark-Finning Campaign: As the world’s shark populations teeter on the brink of extinction due to the global demand for shark fin soup and other shark prodcuts, Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, in conjunction with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, launched a hard-hitting global campaign on 3 September to protect these crucially important marine animals.
As a crowd gathered to watch in horror, performance artist Alice Newstead said, “I am doing this because the demand for shark fin soup and other shark products is wiping out the shark population.” Unlike the 100 million sharks who are brutally slaughtered each year for their fins, Newstead commented, “I will be left with scars, but the wounds will heal.”
“Sea Shepherd is deeply impressed by LUSH’s commitment to shark conservation and its willingness to use its 500+ storefronts as a global platform for educating the public on such a critically important issue,” said Kim McCoy, International Executive Director of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “We applaud Alice for her courageousness in using her body as a tool to help educate consumers about the urgent need to protect sharks. She is an inspiration to us all.”

Lush has created a new product especially for the campaign, Shark Fin Soap, which is a blue soap made with seaweed and sea salt with a cardboard shark fin sticking out the top. Lush will be making 11,416 bars of the soap (the number of sharks killed each hour), with all proceeds going to Sea Shepherd. Throughout the UK, in each of Lush’s 88 stores, there will be a video display in the store windows showing footage of sharks being pulled from the water and having their fins sliced off only to be thrown back into the ocean still alive.

Thanks Denver Egotist for sending.

(Photo Lovella Calica)

Operation First Casualty street theatre in New York City: members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) staged simulation military operations throughout the New York City area (May 27, 2007) to give fellow Americans a glimpse of the day-to-day realities of the Iraq War.
“By reenacting what we’ve been through in Iraq we hope to inspire more of our fellow Americans to act to end the war now,” said IVAW member Adam Kokesh. Actual veterans of the conflict in Iraq played their part of American service members, dramatically interacting with non-veteran supporters playing civilians.
In full uniform IVAW members performed searches, detentions, squad patrol, and crowd control operations in locations that included Central Park, Times Square, Union Square and Grand Army Plaza. They also stopped at Ground Zero for a solemn ceremony.
“This Administration should expect to see more of us – soldiers and veterans tired of the lies. We’re going to make the truth of this war visible,” said IVAW member and Operation First Casualty participant Paul Abernathy.

Video coverage: Meerkat media arts collective.
Thanks Groundswell/James David for sending.

(Photo Lovella Calica)

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Thanks for posting. The Iraq Veterans Against the War video was fantastic. Brilliant way of showing Americans the reality of what happens on the ground to our soldiers and innocent civilians. Hope they keep up the great work they’re doing.

From the Osocio archive

See this campaign from the Osocio archive