Art Flotsam
Pillow aftermath by Gretchen Robinette
A recent article in the SF Chronicle indicated that the recent 2009 Valentines Day Pillow Fight incurred at least $19,000 in city cleanup costs. As a result, the city is looking into cracking down on this and other related messy events like the Zombie Mob which leaves a trail of fake blood and the Pie Fight with it’s splattering of shaving cream pies. Of course, fake blood and shaving cream is much easier to just hose away than feathers.
As many of you know, I’ve been involved in a number of these events, either as a UN CCH Observer at the Pillow Fight or one of the hoards of undead at Zombie Mob. I admittedly have had a bargeload of fun at these events and left my quota of blood behind upon the sidewalks; while I spilt no feathers myself as a UN Observer, we did little to stem the flow. I am also a firm believer in Leave No Trace at Burning Man, Balsa Man, and whenever I go camping; unlike most, I even pick up after myself at movie theaters. Why then do I participate in events that leaves such a wreck in it’s wake? This is a good question‚ one that I was already beginning to ask myself before reading the article in the Chronicle.
Rowdy analogues around the world
While contemplating the nature of these events it is important to realize that these large entertaining mob events have analogues in the rest of the world: the chaotic stampedes of Pamplona Spain’s Running of the Bulls, the actual bloodletting during the Shi’a celebration of Ashura, the rowdy Haxley Hood game in England, and the citric squashing of the Battle of the Oranges in Italy. The Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight may not have the history behind it that these events have, but it is arguably similar in both style and messy aftermath. Also, it seems fitting that as Americans our large mob events would have no connection with history.
Pie Fight Aftermath by Steve Rhodes
That said, Pillow Fight did leave quite a pricy sludge of feathers behind which is hard to just shrug off. As stated so eloquently by NinaVizz (aka Nina Alter), all this highlights “why the Leave No Trace ethos in anarchist art making is so fundamental.”
The Pillow Fight, Zombie Mob, et al. have no meaningful historical connection and thus are essentially anarchistic celebratory expressions of the community. While the Italian government may shake it’s head when cleaning up the smashed citrus covering it’s streets after the Battle of the Oranges, the celebration resonates with a historical toppling of the tyrant Raineri di Biandrate (and the subsequent tyrant Marquis Gugliemo of Monferrato). Because of this deep connection with the past, the Battle of the Oranges can be celebrated by all and the resultant cleanup can be shouldered by all. Whereas the Pillow Fight is essentially an event enjoyed by but a few and shouldered by everyone else in the city with a number of pissed off citizens.
The responsibility of participation
Whether you want to call them flash mobs, pranks, or celebrations, I think there is a need in society for these sorts of events. By their very nature these events guarantee that at least some artistic flotsam and jetsam is left behind. However, I believe those who participate should work to make the event fun for all ‚Äî including those responsible for cleaning up. In the very least, we should reduce the impact it has on our city’s workers and others.
In this regard, the Obama/Bush street sign change was a perfect execution as the signs were easy to remove and by many accounts the city workers got a laugh out of the whole thing. I doubt this was true for those cleaning up the sopping feathery sludge left behind after Valentine’s Day, and personally I don’t see any way for the chaos of Pillow Fight to be contained or diminished, so I will no longer be participating in it. As for other events, like much of life, I will consider my level and style of participation on a case by case basis.
Couldn’t non-feather pillows be used for the pillow fight? They’re not as fun (don’t pack as much of a whollop) but they’re still pillows and I suspect they’d leave a lot less of a trace…
Nicely said sir. I’ve always avoided the pillow fights because aspirating feathers is low on my scale of fun. But I hadn’t yet arrived at the next logical step. Thanks for that square on the hop scotch ladder.
Very nice summary.
This topic coming up again recently reminded me of some shots I got when I happened to be rolling through Justin Herman Plaza early on the morning on Feb 15th last year:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidnin/sets/72157603922245076/
That’s A LOT of feathers!!
-David
[...] – CatCubed [...]
I’ve witnessed the amount of MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) that occurred with the pillow fight event three years ago and was disheartened by the aftermath. I assumed that the those who had put the event together had worked out a clean up plan. I had assumed wrong. For what it’s worth, I used a pillow without feathers and made sure I disposed of it correctly. Yeah, the Leave No Trace ethos is pounded into my skull at this point.
Another factor (personal observation) is that many of the participants at these events now are not necessarily Burning Man attendees and may not know about or understand the Leave No Trace mantra. This may be filed under some-one-else-will-clean-up-after-me mentality. Is it right? Certainly not. If this particular event wants to succeed in a betterment of itself, the producers need to educate participants about the necessity of cleaning up after themselves and perhaps have a clean up plan as well.
@Flint I didn’t go to any of the earlier Pillow Fights, but others have echoed this same dismay at the lack of any cleanup plan. I personally didn’t see any attempt to promote cleanup at the 2009 Pillow Fight.
In the case of Pillow Fight, I doubt simple encouragement and promotion of Leave No Trace will work. I think an actual workable cleanup plan is required which is a tall order.
Doesn’t anyone realize that their hasn’t been an organizer for the pillow fight since the first one four years ago? Nobody wants to risk appearing to the authorities as the person ‘in charge’, and so nobody is organizing clean up.
@david Yes there may not be any official organizers, it is as I said essentially an “anarchistic celebratory expression of the community.” However, there are a number of people who promote the event, and many more who participate without any thought towards the resultant messy aftermath.
This is why I used the phrase “the responsibility of participation” if you are choosing to participate in an event and especially if you are promoting the event you should also take some level of responsibility for the cleanup — this is the essence of Leave No Trace.
…and yes I believe that being a UNCCH Observer counts as a participant who shares some responsibility even though the UNCCH did not bring any pillows to the event.
Sadly, part of the emotional appeal of the flash mob idea is that things end as magically abruptly as they’re started, leaving others to wonder and marvel in their wake. Having to stop, carefully clean up and then put away your toys kind of removes the irresponsible fun of doing something surreal, then RUNIN AWAY to a bar for drinx and jocularity afterwards. It’s for this reason that i prefer concepts that don’t leave an unhappy mess like pies or pillows. I think the best thing that anybody can hope to do is make their opinions and voices heard at the outset [="remember people, no dripping zombie blood next friday!"=] if it becomes a mantra, public pressure can help steer it into an eventual moopless outcome.
I think maybe there is a thing in groups of people that NEEDS (or needed?) to make a big mess in a playful way. Thank you for bringing cultural history into this conversation (oranges.) I recently saw video somewhere about the colored flour throwing festival in Galaxidi, Greece. (So visually similar to that thing in the desert!) And the ThaI Songkran festival. And the La Tomatina in Spain.
Maybe we need to make a mess together. Hmmm…I wonder if the city would be more amenable if it were a cioppino fight.
I wholeheartedly agree on both the value of such events and the need for a leave-no-traces policy.
Regarding Pillow Fight in particular, I think it would be pretty easy to institute a No Down Pillows policy (though enforcement would probably be either honor system or communal shaming/shunning). But when I went to the 2007 pillow fight there actually was a significant clean-up brigade – it didn’t seem to be organized by anyone in particular, just a few people handing out trash bags and a lot of people (myself included, he added smugly) filling them up.
Perhaps events like this could create some sort of incentive to clean up by offering some kind of after-party for cleaner-uppers. This would both get the job done and create a sense of camaraderie among the most dedicated participants.
One other aspect of the running of the bulls or the Iverean orange throwing Carnival is that they are well publicized in advance (being traditional and enshrined in the culture) and draw tourism and the dollars tourists bring to the city.
Not that it eliminates the need to take some responsibility for our actions and our messes, which is a good idea in general. But cities don’t mind cleaning up if they feel they’re coming out ahead on the deal.