On April 1, 2001, breathingplanet.net successfully activated its first action-performance, Whirl-Mart. It was a silent march winding through the aisles of Wal-Mart in Troy, NY, that was symbolic of the group's opposition to violent capitalist values. It was not necessarily a protest against Wal-Mart. Now breathingplanet.net is calling for simultaneous Whirl-Mart action-performances across the country and/or globe on Sunday June 3 and the first Sunday of every month following.
What is Whirl-mart?
Whirl-Mart is an anti-shopping spectacle during which a local breathingplanet troupe gathers and silently pushes empty shopping carts through the aisles of a local superstore.
Why Whirl-Mart?
Whirl-Mart was conceived as a way to poetically and peacefully state our collective disrespect for the capitalist world order and to display our opposition to the values of competition, domination, and exploitation imposed upon us by consumer culture.
Why Wal-Mart?
This art/action is not meant to be an attack specifically on the Wal-Mart Corporation. Rather, breathingplanet.net has chosen the superstore because it is symbolic both of the religious faith modern humans invest in material consumption, and of the seemingly inescapable corporate superstucture in which we live.
Religion?
Unlike most protests, Whirl-Mart is silent and ritualistic. It may not even be perceived as a protest at all. In the religion of consumerism, the superstore is the cathedral, the shoppers are the congregation, and the products are icons of desire. Our anti-shopping ceremony is intended to emphasize this reality.
If you are interested in organizing and activating Whirl-Mart in your local area follow these instructions and download some things from the website provided.
don't hesitate to contact breathingplanet.net with inquiries.
STEP 1 CHOOSE A VENUE
designate your local super-store. wal-marts work well, but any place symbolic of corporate consumer culture, which has shopping carts is perfect.
STEP 2 DOWNLOAD MATERIALS
you can use the prewritten .pdf material available for download immediately
-or-
use the ms word versions as templates/ideas for creating more unique documents, announcements, and/or props
STEP 3 PRINT AND POSTER
print out many copies of the announcement poster and other materials (on a printer where it is free) and publicize your whil-mart event like crazy. use your local indymedia center as an organizational tool. (the 'handout' document is intended to be doublesided, so a photocopier would come in handy.)
STEP 4 PRESS RELEASE
send email or hard copies of either the provided press release or your own to all of your local papers and tv stations.
STEP 5 ACTIVATION
meet up with the rest of your breathingplanet troupe at the designated super-store and proceed to silently push empty shopping carts through the aisles in a single-file line.
distribute as many of the small 'fortunes' throughout the store as possible.
STEP 6 EJECTION
it is highly probable that the management will eventually find a reason to throw you out of the store. continue navigation until this happens.
STEP 7 FEEDBACK
document and report the event back to your local indymedia center and to breathingplanet@hotmail.com.
www.breathingplanet.net/future.html
Original: call to : WHIRL-MART ANTISHOPPING !ART/ACTION?....JUNE 3!