Does 68 minus 18 equal 50? Encounters, Interventions, Resistances

Abstract

This somewhat autobiographical photo and text account examines the continuing and often determining significance of the long global ’68 from the prismatic perspectives of a radically oriented art/activist journey throughout 2018 across the United States and six other countries. The visuals emphasize on the one hand, the graphics, cartoons, photos and especially the poster-quality first-pages of issues of a key document of the near-revolution in France of May/June ’68, the journal ACTION and on the other, images from Forced Mobility, a series of triptychs that re-frame the so-called border or migrant crisis in Europe. Often focusing on the political and historical resonances of unexpected encounters with folk, outsider, and politically engaged art, the text provides quirky readings that aim to sketch how historical moments of intervention and resistance intersect with and amplify radical culture and everyday life.

Key Words:

• May/June ’68
• Migrants
• Political Art
• ACTION
• Revolution