Monday, October 28, 2013

Linda

Union Square, May 2013

This is my studies. I’m interested in the connection between art and politics, so I was several years before researching on Act Up. When I saw Occupy starting, I wanted to research it. I didn’t get down the occupation in New York. I was paying attention to what was going on in Germany at the time. Occupy in Germany wasn’t that big. Problems aren’t that big in Germany as they are here. The difference between rich and poor isn’t that big, and we don’t have a problem with public space in Germany. Also, this politics and money problem is a problem in Germany, but it’s not as bad as it is in America. I think that’s why Occupy wasn’t that big in Germany. There were Occupy encampments in several cities. Frankfurt was the biggest one because it’s the financial center of Germany. The occupation was quite short because they cut it down really fast. 

It was really present everywhere, and the press wasn’t that negative about it like they were here. I’m coming from Düsseldorf, Germany. There the press was kind of negative about Occupy, but the main press in Germany was more positive about it. I was surprised that the press in the United States was so negative about it. They were also in line with the Indignados in Spain. It wasn’t as much about the financial thing. They were more about several problems in living space. You can’t compare it to the political system in America so much because we don’t have these two huge parties where it’s all about money. You can have a party on your own. There was a party forming in Germany around internet laws that sprung up in one year. I don’t think this would be possible in America.

Right after I flew into New York, I went to the May Day protest. I was surprised by the police presence. There were twice as many police than there were protesters. We have police presence in Germany as well, but not that bad. I went to different Occupy groups and talked to the people. The groups are so different from each other. Some of the structure is the same. These groups are kind of a mirror of society. They deal with the same problems that society has to deal with. They are trying to solve the problems in their little society, and maybe if these solutions can get out, it can help bring about change.

I think people were fed up with their situation, so they have to change it. I’m in quite a privileged situation even though I am not from a wealthy family. I have seen people who were raised in the same conditions I was raised in becoming homeless. It’s really strange what’s going on in America with the homeless people. I didn’t know that America’s public parks closed at a specific time. We don’t have that in Germany. You can go to the park whenever you want. So there are people who have nowhere to go here when they’re not allowed to be in the park. This is a really strange idea, and I can see why people are fed up with this. I think it is especially a problem in New York with how expensive it is. I think most people I talk to are seeing the government in America as not something that is helping them but something that’s working against them all the time. I see the government in Germany as something that is in place to help us. I couldn’t have studied without the government. I’m grateful for this. I’m not afraid of the future, but people are afraid of the future and the government here. That is something that you can’t live with.

I want to see people not being afraid of the future and not being afraid of what’s going on now, and having the feeling that they can deal with their problems. It’s about people changing their minds and the way they think. Occupy created steps to this. I’d like to see us more open about things, how things are working. With politics, you usually just see the outer layer, but I’d like to see the truth. What I hope for also is for people to not be so into material things, but more about how one can help themselves and others, and how one can share things with others. It's a problem with people always wanting more, and I think we have to stop this. 

It would be a nice thing to have more organization between countries, but I think the important thing is that you speak to your neighbor and have these small communities. Then, you can have bigger communities and a world community, but I think we need to care about speaking to the people we are seeing every day. I think the world I want to see will be more about people doing what they really want, similar to when people are close to death and thinking over their life again and what was really important. I think it will be like this, but people will be more into thinking what is really important at every moment. People would be thinking more like this, "You could die anytime. Don’t waste your time."

Interview by Stacy Lanyon
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