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“All art is quite useless,” – Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) We bring you good news: the dark clouds are clearing and a new day is dawning. Great times are upon us. Captains of Industry have a plan. A five year plan. A plan to change the world, or if not the world, then our worlds. So cast aside your 21st century cynicism and get in touch with your idealist side – because we are selling nothing other than an ideal here.
Captains of Industry is a loosely connected organisation of like-minded writers, musicians, artists, poets, publishers, record labels, producers, fanzines and other deviants of the artistic / altruistic process. Through a simple shared philosophy the collective aims to share resources and provide cross-cultural reference points in order to aid creative output and spread a message of opposition to those who misuse their positions of power – be they artistic, economic or political. As the global multinational takeover of mainstream media intensifies and government regulations erode, the channels for a plural and diverse media essential for a meaningful democracy have been asphyxiated. It’s that simple.
“The majors aren’t signing bands at the moment….” Bullshit! You’re fucked unless you get over yourself. Not you specifically, dear reader, but those artists who succumb to this same droning broken-record pessimism. Don’t wanna hear it. What use is a complaint with a counter-movement to justify it? What use is protest without an ear? The creation of all art is a struggle – embrace it! All the greats lived in poverty. So what? Let hunger by your muse. This was going to be a point-by-point manifesto, but, in an effort to avoid the usual leftist dogma, empty rhetoric and self-serving piety, we’re going freeform on yo ass. So just know that these words – like our actions – are from the heart. Just watching them appear on the screen is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen today…can you feel it too? Do you feel beauty (or disgust - they’re both valid emotions) in the inordinately simple aspect of living too? Is sleeping in late not the greatest thing you can do for yourself this week?
How so very 20th century of you to ask. Maybe nothing. Or maybe camaraderie. Kinship. The satisfaction of being a part of something that matters, like an art movement whose power will resonate throughout the next century. Paradoxically, in the midst of the selfish consumerist ‘me-culture’, ultimately “What’s in it for me?” is a question which we shall attempt to eradicate. And the plan? To save lives, light fires and get down. Everything else will take care of itself. So we’re open to allcomer’s suggestions – from releasing a CD to putting on a show to getting together and toppling corrupt leaders. Seriously. Someone has to.
Tell us your story, your movements, your secrets. The plan is, there is no plan. Fluid. False names, Improvised alibi’s. A brown envelope in a locker in Victoria station… The Captains Of Industry love you. All words by the Minster Of Cultural Awakenings copyright 2005. |
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