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The Institute of Peoples Art and Action aims to explore the connections between political/cultural revolution and the associated artistic movements. We aim to equip citizens with the knowledge and collective conscious necessary to think critically about the established hegemonic and oppressive systems which they live under - and gather together in critical mass against them.

The Institute of Peoples Art and Action           
A Laboratory of the Seventh International
Roosevelt Roads, Ceiba, Puerto Rico
18°12'40.7"N 65°38'30.0"W
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STATEMENT OF INTENT

We are on the edge of an age, and in the same way that Ulrich is lost in the transition into what we now understand as Modernity, perhaps we are about to fall into a deep confusion about purpose and meaning in our own lives and world. Zizek seems to share the same position in Like a thief in broad daylight when referring to the prospect of automatization of production – as if the silent presuppositions of our everyday reality are losing their symbolic efficiency and slowly evaporating before our very eyes.

Capitalism, a system which as Lacan posits is intimately self-destructive (that is, divided against itself) and founded upon the extraction of surplus value from wage labor, is then also facing an identity crisis. When the alienated are ousted out of the system completely, what does that leave left over? In an essay Fabio Vighi reflects that if we consider the ongoing debate between neo-keynesian and neo-liberal economic approaches it is clear that both sides share the same presupposition that capital is somehow an inexhaustible divine resource, which we are not permitted to question the potency or limits of regardless of how much evidence to the contrary we collect. We believe that the act of commitment to change or rebellion in and of itself, regardless of the outcome, is vital insofar as it demonstrates the undeniable value of ideas. To paraphrase Zizek again, ‘Our struggle… is against those in power in general… against the global order and the ideological mystification which sustains it.’

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The programs consist of rigorous study, avid debate, collective observation, ateliers of anti-propaganda, demonstration grounds, guerrilla activism training, and strike organization. We are of the mindset that a holistic training in these areas will foster a commitment to change and revolution that will be our only way through the coming zero hour. Our current way of life is coming to an end, and we must be prepared to be the agents that will escort society into a more just, equitable, and regenerative future.

The school is run by the Seventh International, a collective which aims to create a neo-proletarian union which is of utmost urgency in our current global situation. Tapping in to the legacy of the previous five, we skip the sixth and look forward to a new and dynamic future, distancing but not disconnecting us from the past.

A VIEW OF OUR CAMPUS

Our campus is located on the pristine ex-military land of Roosevelt Roads, Ceiba, Puerto Rico. Our institute occupies 68,000 square feet of reclaimed and decolonized land. Consisting of sculpted landscape, semi-permeable plazas and paths, small groves, and emancipatory platforms - there is space for anyone and everyone to congregate and create.

SCHOOL FACILITIES AND CURRICULAR AREAS

Our main building is equipped with a comprehensive set of educational spaces and provocational areas. Pictured below from left to right:

• Hall of Consciousness
• Atelier of Anti Propaganda
• Exterior of the Institute
• Area for Occupation, Chambers of Reflection (left)
• Laboratory for Political Reconfiguration
• Theater of Provocation
• Workshop for Demonstration Materials, Monolith of the Seventh International (right)
• Classist Elevator
• End of the Passage of Capital and Labor Equalization
• Area for Occupation, Chambers of Reflection (right)
  
• Guerilla Training Center
• Dissatisfaction Management Terrace

                

HARDCORIST HYPERBUILDING STUDIES

A hyperbuilding, as defined by OMA, is a self-contained city for 120,000. It combines the ambition of a hyperscalewith a de-escalation of its technicality. It is structured as a metaphor of the city, towers constitute streets, horizontal elements are parks, volumes are districts, and diagonals are boulevards. The Hyperbuilding can be read as the integration of several buildings into a larger whole. The different elements support each other in every sense: architecturally, they form an integrated complex; technically, issues of stability, access, circulation and servicing are organized collectively; urbanistically, the entire building becomes an urban quarter of a new kind.

  Christoph Eckrich

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Academy for the Emancipation of the American Dream

Context
James Truslow Adam coined the “American Dream” in his book, Epic of America.  It reads, “Each man and woman shall attain what they are inherently able to regardless of circumstance and position. In short, anyone can achieve their wildest imaginations, if they put in the hard work. This dream used to represent hope and opportunity in the Land of Opportunity. Now the dream became a parasitic nightmare. 

The underprivileged class are brainwashed by the American propaganda to working hard and hoping one day they will be successful. However, the reality is much different than that. The elite and higher class takes advantage of the lower class’s work ethic and they reap the benefits while the poor just work harder. Capitalism enables only the 1% to enjoy a life of leisure and the rest will be trapped by their American Dream. 

Mission
In the Academy, the American Dream gets unmasked and exposed for the nightmare it is, the parasitic nightmare. Here students will discover how the dream exploits the masses to benefit the elites, how to reach their true potential as a group, and ultimately, how to subvert the powers of Capitalism.

Here we teach everyone that the answer lies in Non-Work instead of Hard work. This curriculum is based critiques and subversions so  students also explore works of art that deal with the same concepts and discover ways to critique it.
Ultimately, the goal is to wake up from this American Dream. 

Campus Facilities and Areas

Library of Simulated Phantasm
Residences of Creative Endeavors
Club for the Disillusioned Type
Sculpture Gardens of the Cautionary Tales
Contemplation Pond
Casino of Dreams Deferred

The Library of Simulated Phantasm allows students to experience utopias, distopias, heterotopias, and just different realities, in order to understand the state of the Dream. They will also be able to explore other works of subversions about capitalism and the American Dream.

The Club for the Disillusioned Type is a flexible space that supports different types of performances to push and subvert the American Dream. Students will be able debate and partake in other forms of discussion in the forum. The Club also houses the Non-Doing Elevator.

The Residence for Creative Endeavors houses visiting artist and invites them to create installations that subvert captialism or other activities that support this Academy’s mission.

Hardcore

Disurban Grids and Leonidov

City of the Captive Globe - Leonidov Edition
Rem Koolhaas and Madelon Vriesendorp

The Lenin Institute by Librarianship
Ivan Leonidov

Magnitogorsk
Ivan Leonidov

Club for the New Social Type || Variant A
Ivan Leonidov

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Laboratory for Virtuous Textile Production

Laboratorio para la Producción Textil Virtuosa

VISION

The Laboratory for Virtuous Textile Production aims to create a transformative and alternative educational experience regarding fashion and textile production. The Laboratory will provide a deep disciplinary knowledge of the history of textiles; understand the societal or political impacts of the industry; explore environmental problem solving; provide critical ways of communication; and regard art as a form of criticism and speculation. The program serves as a forum for brands, designers, eco-conscious consumers, and raw material makers to contemplate and discuss virtuous textiles. The campus programs and spaces provide opportunities to experience physical textiles in all cycles of its life - from raw material - to repurposed. Any and all forms of material are available for study here, and are integrated into every part of the buildings. 


View campus guide here.

CAMPUS PROGRAMS

Studio-Factory of Decolonial Cotton
Studio-Factory of Liberated Silk
Studio-Factory of a Dye-ing World

Forum of Fleeting Fancies
School of Textile Disruption

Plaza of Potential

Gallery for Art
Gallery for History

Runway of Reclaimation

EDUCATION

At the Laboratory, students will study academics and participate in discussions about topics that place the fashion industry in its current position:

- History of colonized textiles
- Literature about labor in production
- Psychology of Materials and Consumerism
- Branding & Marketing Strategies
- "Fast" Fashion

The intention of the education is to inform, and to provide a foundation for further criticism and exploration in the Studio-Factories.

STUDIO-FACTORIES

Students will explore the importance of more virtuous methods of production and fabrication in the Studio-Factories. Education through a small-scale system of production allows one to devise solutions and/or criticisms through art or practice. Studio-Factories concentrations are available in three types of impactful textile production. Students are permitted and encouraged to explore multiple factory concentrations.

1. COTTON
2. SILK
3. DYE

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References - Ivan Leonidov, City of the Sun; Bruno Taut, Alpine Architecture

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Archetype Research

Peaks / Speleothems

Pyramids

Leonidov, City of the Sun

Hualien Hills, BIG

Crystal Mountain, Alpine Architecture, Bruno Taut

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Center for Land Use Reparations

As of 2018, Puerto Rico imported 85% of its goods, only producing 15% on the island. After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico suffered from a lack of access to fresh produce. The Department of Agriculture in Puerto Rico has been working to support local production to reduce the number of imported foods to 65% As we have learned from Indigenous populations, localizing production is one of the most sustainable and resilient ways of life. 

The Center for Land Use Reparations situates itself in Puerto Rico to teach the future land-use activists and agriculturalists how to relocalize their production and build upon Idigenous practices that are a part of the rich culture of Puerto Rico. The curriculum is divided into three parts. The first year teaches the history of land use and economic systems. The second year focuses on research for sustainable food production practices. The third year is focused on community through an active participation of the local community and the students in learning and practicing local food production. 

Inspired by agrarian icons of siloesque forms, the Hypersilo rises up out of ground to bring the community together in the fight for local production and equity.

During the 17th century, we see a sudden wave of colonization and slavery throughout North and South America. Two major land-use problems come from this. The first being the loss of Indigenous populations, but also their practices, such as horticulture. The second is the increase in land intensive agriculture on the various plantations. But, the land intensive practices were also increasing in other countries, such as China which was not able to colonize other parts of the world for resource production.

This separation between Britain and China, who were both reaching the “Ecological Cul-de-sac” of resource scarcity is coined as the “Great Divergence,” by Kenneth Pomeranz. When Britain was able to colonize the West, we see the rapid advancement of Capitalism for the British and other European countries that did not happen in other parts of the world. There is a very deep relationship here of land-use patterns, the economy, and the environment.

The architecton form allows for a great pattern of diversity throughout the site for each year of the curriculum. The main building is used as the social hub for the site, bringing together discourse from all three parts of the curricula.

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Institute of
Decentralized
Influence

Roosevelt Roads, Ceiba,
Puerto Rico

A Participatory Planning Laboratory

IDI is an experimental study the vitality of an institution that’s founded on the socialist ideologies in the contemporary area of the mid-21st century. During this time, there’s an advancement of technology and societal consensus that will be able to take advantage of the raw materials need to support the running of the social machine [in this case, the campus]. Inspired by W. Paul Cockshott and Allin Cottrell’s book “Towards a New Socialism”, the planning tectonic takes off from the new form of socialism - a decentralized, deconcentrated social economic mechanism.

In this campus, resources and power are dynamically distributed through a decentralized distributing network. Buildings are not assigned with dedicated subjects, functions, and adjacencies. With the ubiquitous outdoor and indoor workspace, students and faculties will have extensive discussions about all variants of planning configurations. Through the experiment of model-scale bakeoffs, real-scale structures will also update to its most desired location and orientation.

In the IDI, students and faculties have the equal ownership of their space and activities. Administrative decisions are rotated through different departments with everyone’s input. Individuals learn to take the responsibilities of behavioral conduct through this process. Debate and critical oppositions are encouraged, and the process will be documented through the calculation of the decentralized network for final participatory decisions.

From Monuments to Crumbles

A Story of Celebrated Derails