Cream pies in the faces
of those in bed with biotechnology
"Never doubt that a small and dedicated group of people with pies can
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
(bbb communique http://www.ainfos.ca/00/apr/ainfos00188.html
)
anarchism
anti globalization
art movements
environmentalism
green anarchy
situation(ism)
culture jamming
direct action
detournement
subversion
poetic terrorism
Web homepage :http://www.asis.com/~agitprop/bbb/aboutbbb.html
Email: bbb@asis.com
Snail mail : c/o Whispered
Media, POB 40130, San Francisco,
CA 94140
Spokespersons : Agent Apple, Noel Godin (Brussels)
Main branch is located in
San Francisco, however they send out agents across
the country. Also, the tactic of ‘pie-throwing’ has been adopted
by numerous other groups and individuals—and was actually originated by
the Noel Godin of Brussels—but the Biotic Baking Brigade are the one group
who have a coherent ideology behind the tactics and actions.
If he were alive today,
Sun Tzu might have written in his treatise The Art of War that the twofold way
of the modern warrior is no longer that of the sword and pen, but rather the
pie and keyboard. We've found few things as effective to subvert an event (shareholders'
meetings, legislative hearings, press conferences, keynote speeches, etc.) as
a well-placed pie and
a captivating press release. On behalf of the corporations which own them, mainstream
media
outlets present a spectacle that bamboozles and distracts its viewers. To state
the obvious, it is extremely difficult to get a dissenting message through the
mass media filters and into the hearts and minds of the public. If we hold a
rally in demonstration-jaded San Francisco, the media usually won't cover it.
If we write letters to the editor, they don't get printed. However, the visual
of
a pie in the face makes a sizable chink in the media armour through which we
can then discuss the
reasons why a figure deserved to be pied. It allows us to communicate our message
to a greater extent than traditional means currently allow. (“ Treatise
on Global Pastry Uprising ” from Biotic Baking Brigade Website)
Non-violent, non-branded tactics aimed at disrupting cultural and civil order.
The Marx Brothers, Mahatma Gandhi, Subcommandante Marcos.
Pompous celebrities, billionaires,
corrupt and political figures, etc. Originally,
however, this group evolved out of various environmental and anti-poverty groups
in San Francisco.
Their actions are used to
incite mass media response, so their primary media is the mass media of television
and print journalism—which is problematic because it creates a dependency.
Non-violent, non-branded
tactics of disrupting social, civil and cultural order.
The ‘pieing’
of Bill Gates in Brussels (Feb 1998) is perhaps the most notorious action—though
the act was by Noel Godin a Belgian affiliate and inspiration for the Biotic
Baking Brigade. The Brigade’s actual targets have been several San Francisco
political figures, most notably mayor Willie Brown in 1998--an action in which
3 members were arrested for and served jail time. Recently, alberta' premier,
the arch-asshole Ralph Klein, took
a pie to the face during his annual pancake breakfast.
Noel Godin’s group
in Belgium is probably the most famous group outside of North
America; however, based on their targets alone (celebrities like Marguerite
Duras and Jean-Luc Godard, minor and random political figures) it appears that
their actions are more ‘pranks’ than actual direct actions. Then
again, the whole method of ‘pie-throwing’ makes it difficult to
separate the difference between prank and political action
Though the idea is quite interesting and disruptive, the dependency this group has on the mass media is obviously problematic.