Ms Briket

We have leaked

the personal data

that we collected

without your knowledge or consent

and which was

probably illegal

not saved

securely

Update your passwords

it will happen again

we regret

Tempted to actually put this on spotify so I can secretly stream it at work...

If someone is attempting to ask you questions about politics and you'd rather not engage, feign comprehensive ignorance of whatever they're trying to discuss. And I mean comprehensive; you are not playing the role of a potential convert who just hasn't heard of [issue] yet, but rather that of someone who does not know who the president is. If they name him, you've never heard of such a man in your life. You're not entirely sure what the Supreme Court is but you heard on a podcast or something that it got abolished by the mayor. Who's the mayor? Well, why would I know who the mayor is? Say things like "Who's to say" and "I thought that was from a movie."

If they're still incredulous as to the sincerity of your ignorance, become irate and defensive. Take umbrage with the very notion of common knowledge. Say things like "Look, dude, I don't gotta know every little thing, alright? You show me in the bible where it says it's illegal not to know things."

There is this artwork (by British artist Marcus Coates) at Utrecht Centraal train station that I adore. Every day it shows a new fact about what's happening in nature on that day. For example in this picture I took last month, the sign says:

14/03 Today in nature: Litte moorhens start constructing their nests.

An abandoned theater in Rochester, New York. Formerly a pornographic theater, then just a facade after the Walgreens next door gutted it to use as a warehouse. The Walgreens with it's shampoo and baby formula and half of the store locked in cages; the contradictions stare into you. You go because it is the nearest pharmacy, close in walking distance for you and your disabled loved ones.

The Walgreens shuts down and it too, is now just a vacant facade, next to a vacant facade. You stare into the large windows meant to advertise it's contents, now only showcasing absence. A wide open space with torn up floors. You think about how perfect the location could be for low income housing, for squatting, for anything other than standing as a constant reminder of the city's failures to her people. The parking lot is empty, save for the occasional cop car, to ensure no one uses the lot or the building for anything at all. The cop ensures the space will stay as useless as himself.

They add letters to the theater's marquee; a reminder and encouragement of surveillance. "If you see something, say something. In progress call 911, over and done call 311." They board up the doors, ensuring that the space will stay in it's intended form: empty, useless, an eyesore that reminds everyone of their place. The freshly boarded up door has been emblazoned with a message from those who lack.

Pictured above is Rain, an artwork by Thurlow Small Architecture, hung from the M Street NE underpass in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, DC. It’s one of three artworks in a series commissioned by the neighborhood to beautify the area.

And by beautify, I mean drive out the unsightly homeless.

Local law states that the homeless cannot encamp on, in, or under public art, so the NoMa Parks Foundation identified three underpasses uniquely situated out of the elements and targeted them for their installations. Now of course, it doesn’t completely deter souls seeking shelter, but it does empower law enforcement to harass them and drive them into more hidden, less comfortable crevices of the city. Out of sight and out of mind.