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Our Better Angels (OBA) is a multi-tiered community based / process oriented project organized by the artist Monte Laster over the course of one year in France (La Courneuve) and the United States (New York and Washington).
OBA consists of a series of think tanks and labs bringing together a group of teenage rappers from “La Cité des 4000” in discussion with eminent thinkers and creators, in preparation for their trip to New York and Washington. The outcome of this exposure is the realization of works that will be featured in an exhibition.
Monte Laster's artistic vision is based on the long-term engagement with the community of La Cité des 4000 (La Courneuve) - perhaps the most socially stigmatized housing project in France - where he has been living and working for over a decade. This committed approach to bring change through the implementation of creative models is reflected in the artist’s ongoing social participatory practice. Monte organizes interventions that take on multiple forms (urban walks, concerts, poetry readings and think-tanks) and which systematically engage the local population at different levels. "Our Better Angels" is Monte Laster’s latest initiative.
OBA kicked off with a series of 30 thematic think-tanks spread out between September 2009 and February 2010. The think tanks are conceived as periods of reflection and verbal exchange aimed at raising collective consciousness. The purpose of these encounters is to prepare the kids for their 10 day long trip. Throughout the entire process the kids are encouraged to translate their individual and collective experience into creative work. From a practical standpoint, the kids will learn the basic techniques on how to realize a film, and acquire new skills.
The teenagers will travel to New York and Washington, to meet a wide range of local individuals and organizations. This is their first opportunity to travel outside of France through the project OBA. Confronted by new conditions of exchange and dialogue, the kids will share their experiences and explore new means of expression. In New York, Harlem is the main site of interaction. In Washington D.C. the climax of the project is a visit to the White House.
Throughout this entire process, everything is being filmed and documented by the kids, Monte and other artists. Scheduled for October 2010, an exhibition with Harlem Biennale will be the outcome of OBA. There will be a video installation First Personal, a documentary film Third Personal, and a series of photographs.
Built in the 60’s, « La cité des 4000 », ‘La Courneuve’ is a French public housing project which remains to this day one of the most extreme urban «hot-spots» known for it's endemic physical and social decay. In the 80’s the government launched various attempts to renew the site but they have consistently failed. This was followed in the 90's with a ‘renewal plan’ to “implode” large blocks of housing in parts of La Cité des 4000 to “purge” and "purify" the territory, thereby causing the dislocation of hundreds of locals.
Presently, the next building scheduled for destruction is « Balzac ». Scheduled for December 2010, this decision has been pending for 5 years ever since the tragic killing of an eleven year old boy in the parking lot of Balzac as he was washing his father’s car. The victim was shot inadvertently during a crossfire between 2 gangs, and this tragic event served as pretext for the government to launch a "plan to “clean up” the suburbs. The "political" misuse of this tragedy spurred huge controversy and anger at a local and national level.
Interested in exploring the potential of young people who live in these extreme conditions, Laster’s relationship with the kids who are participating in the OBA project goes back to 2005 when he began working with teenagers who lived in the Balzac housing project. The artist sought the authorization to work with classmates of the young victim through various links he developed with a few local elementary schools and a non-profit organizations.
Monte’s practice is influenced by the writings of the French sociologist Gabriel De Tarde emphasizing the value of mundane psychological interaction based on innovation and imitation. Monte used this concept when he introduced the project "Future Stories" . Each kid was given a set of identical materials and instructed to build a "sculptural scene" reflecting their vision of what their life would be when they reached their parents age. The entire process was filmed and Monte intentionally placed the focus of the camera on the dynamics of the hands as the kids were building their "scenes". Placed in groups of 3, they were encouraged to articulate and exchange ideas on the topic. The later series of participatory actions and think tanks “the Laws of Imitation” are based on the same idea.
These earlier relationships continue to this day. These youths are now 17-20 years of age, and for OBA, Monte is working with a group of 9 rappers. Two of them lived in Balzac and were recently relocated from the building where they were born to an upgraded housing unit in the neighborhood. A few kids of the group live in neighboring buildings to Balzac such as « Les Mails de Fontenay “ which is the only building in La Cité that will remain intact as a testamont commemorating the architectural style of the 60's architecture and it's social implications.
The workshop which raised the debate around the question « blow'em or not » has brought about a much heated discussion both inside the community and on a national level.
There are several layers of content to Our Better Angels :
30 workshops organized between September 2009 and February 2010 at Monte Laster’s studio in La Courneuve with the objective of fostering dialogue between the 9 teenage rappers and eminent thinkers and creators in preparationfor their trip to the USA, from February 20 to March 4, 2010 , they will travel for 12 days to New York (main focus in Harlem) and Washington, DC in the company of Monte Laster and 2 accompanying adults and 2 Bondy Blog journalists.
An exhibition of the creative outcome of (i) and (ii) featured at the Harlem Biennial Overture in October 2010. Films, photographs and texts realized by the teenagers in conjunction with Monte Laster will be exhibited in a Harlem venue (to be determined).
First Personal is an insider's point-of-view where the process is revealed as it is lived through the eyes of this group of rappers. This film will be realized by the rappers during the lab-workshops leading up to the trip, and during the trip itself, in collaboration with the artists Mike Sajnoski, David Lepolard, Monte Laster and Vanessa Berganzoli. It will include video clips of music conceived by the rappers for the trip to the United States.
Third Personal , 2010Third Personal tells the story from an exterior viewpoint in a « cinematographic » style with the majority of the images in still-camera. These images will give a close-up, posed encounter that will serve as a contrast to the more erratic viewpoint given in First Personal.
Our Better Angels, context and process is a narrative film documenting the entire process of OBA. A collage made up of footage from First Personal and Third Personal and images of the documentary. The entire process willbe photographed by the teenagers and the photographer Joanna Maclennan. The means of representation and production format for the exhibit will be determined by the process itself.
Designed by the architect Olivier Boucheron (nelobo), the installation is conceived as a space in which the work will continue to evolve through the think-tanks and interventions.
Whilst in NY the rappers will be visiting the city and doing on-stage performing. They will also be filming for a video that will give their view of the city. Several “current subjects” were given to them as guidelines for interviews which will structure their film.
This will be the occasion for them to express today’s world through their eyes from the experiences and encounters they have during this voyage. While in New York they will also be interacting with different structures whether they be public/ private schools, non-profit associations or cultural venues.
The rappers will then spend 3 days in Washington with the ultimate idea of visiting the White House and perhaps even Barack Obama which is the reason behind this entire project.
While in the nation’s capital they will also be interacting with different structures whether they be museums such as the Smithsonian Institute, non-profit associations or the White House.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY M. LASTER AND J. MACLENNAN
GRAPHIC AND WEB DESIGN BY ANTONIN FAUREL