We Declare War on War

"Weapons that change consciousness can call the war game into question." ñ William Burroughs

As artists, WE can act in a time of great consequence. WE have a duty to protect millions from a terrible and deep anxiety resulting from self-created and deadly dangers that are growing beyond our control.

The only valid experimental approach is one based on the uncompromising critique of existing conditions and their conscious intervention.

Today, the gravest danger we face, the gravest danger facing America and the world, is the existential darkness that has possessed our government, that grips its soul.

We must introduce everywhere a revolutionary alternative to the ruling culture; we must orchestrate ñ through art, criticism and propaganda, illusion as a revolutionary weapon.

We must advance experimental behavior, hyper-political propaganda, and the construction of new environments.

In a whirlwind of madness and horror, terror and peril, hail and fire, our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our artistic union is strong.

Sending artists into battle is the most profound decision a Secretary can make. The technologies of art have changed; the risks and suffering of art have not.

Today I have a message for the men and women who will fight for peace, members of the nation's and world's artists: Many of you are assembling in your studios and lofts, and crucial hours lay ahead. In those hours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your aesthetics will guide you. You believe in a model of society where free and experimental modes of conduct will prevail, and yes, we will prevail.

For according to AndrÈ BrÈton, ìperhaps the imagination is on the verge of recovering its rights."

Randall Packer
Secretary, US Department of Art & Technology