{"id":7057045,"date":"2026-09-04T15:38:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/activist\/batman-at-city-council-the-center-for-artistic-activism\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:38:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:38:39","slug":"batman-at-city-council-the-center-for-artistic-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7057045","title":{"rendered":"Batman at City Council – the Center for Artistic Activism"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
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It was a typical Council meeting
until Batman showed up.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Have you seen this Batman City Council video<\/a>? It\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

Recently Batman stood up at a Santa Clara City Council meeting and demanded action. The Super Bowl was being held in Santa Clara and Batman was obviously concerned about the other masked vigilantes<\/em> in town: ICE.<\/p>\n

Millions watched the video because of the outfit, but stuck around because of his deeply impassioned, authentic speech. Watch it and you\u2019ll feel it too.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n
\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about this video since and I think the outfit served two purposes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It\u2019s a spectacle.<\/strong> It\u2019s a quality outfit! I learned in art school that attention to detail commands the audience\u2019s attention in return. It\u2019s why we\u2019re watching this city council comment and not thousands of others that you can find online.<\/li>\n
  2. Masks give us courage.<\/strong> Sometimes a costume or a persona can give us the courage to say and do things we wouldn\u2019t otherwise.*<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    *Note: that second point cuts both ways \u2013 it\u2019s part of why people are calling for ICE to show their faces.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    Batman captured our attention and held it. That mask and cape gave the person behind it the power to speak freely and perform boldly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    It\u2019s just one of many<\/em> examples of people using the venue of public comment in government proceedings to their advantage. I love this stuff and have been collecting it on our site for years.<\/a> If you know of other good examples, send them my way<\/a>!<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

    Steve Lambert, Co-Founder & Artistic Director<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Actions are Performances<\/h2>\n

    Excerpted from our Unleashing Creative Campaigns Toolkit:<\/p>\n

    \n

    \u201cNot just artistic activism, but all parts of campaigning involve performance. Whether you\u2019re registering people to vote in front of a supermarket, phone banking, or doing something absolutely innovative, you\u2019re doing it for an audience, so thinking about it as a performance will help. Assigning members of your team roles to ensure engagement, creativity, and fun means that people are accountable to keeping those creative and performative elements alive and thriving through the whole creative process.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Go further with our Unleashing Creative Campaigns Toolkit<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Clever, little changes get big, lasting results.<\/h3>\n
    \n
    \n

    It\u2019s true. Thinking holistically, like an artist \u2013 about audiences, story, staging, and what makes a performance work \u2013 is what\u2019s needed for impactful activism. We\u2019ve been teaching ideas like these for over fifteen years.<\/p>\n

    When you bring the power of art into these spaces, you can see that meetings are more than bureaucratic rituals. They are stages, and everyone is eager for a good show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    And make no mistake \u2013 we\u2019re not talking about hollow theatrics or media stunts. The power of the arts, creativity and innovative thinking are what create moments that can shift conversations, inspire communities, move decision-makers, and make real change.<\/p>\n

    These aren\u2019t random stunts. They\u2019re strategic interventions that understand the power of using spectacle, humor, sincerity and creative thinking to win.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    This is what we do.<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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