Bread Bandits

Permit Application

[Action #3]

March 9, 2000

Richard Merryman
Chief, Division of Park Programs

Dear Mr. Merryman,

I received a telephone call today denying my request for a permit (dated February 29) to stage a special event of a political art performance that would result in a sculpture on the Mall near the Smithsonian Castle, on the date of March 18. I am writing to appeal that decision and to again request a permit for staging a small-scale political demonstration.

The Bread Bandits art action that I wish to perform does have a political purpose. In general, the worka sculpture made of white bread slicesis a protest against corporate capitalism. Specifically, the creation of a bread sculpture is a metaphor for separating materials, ideas, and people from the corporate marketplace. I had intended to circulate a flyer at the event that would include a poem and a polemic text outlining these purposes. This text (attached to this fax) includes the phrase we use a non-nutritive substance to make a nutritive work that demands nutrition: the substantive address of real social issues (the environment, food value, social justice) rather than camouflage issues. As a whole, the Bread Bandits work highlights the way corporations take resources and return products devoid of intellectual, aesthetic, or nutritional value. The work touches on issues of genetically engineered food, the licensing of television and radio stations to corporate interests, deforestation and other environmental degradation, and labor unionization. I was also planning to leave a business card with contact information for a website that would lead interested parties to further information about the political meaning of the artwork.

I did not stress the political purpose of the intended sculpture in my application because I was not aware that artworks themselves were not permitted as special events. I consider the Bread Bandits art action a form of happening; that is, the creation of the sculpture and the discussion of its purpose by the audience are of equal importance to the created object. The Bread Bandits business card reads Art/Object/Phenomenon because the work is conceived with the three parts as equal to the works completion. 

In presenting the political purpose of the Bread Bandits art action, I prefer a subtle approach, because most contemporary political discourse takes the form of advocacy. Advocacy tends to refuse the sharing of ideas, seeking instead to indoctrinate. I merely wish to open discussion on the nature of corporatization of our culture, and in this regard the bread sculpture is a conversation piece. 

I would like to stress that in contrast to other art works, the Bread Bandits art action is not intended for personal agrandization or financial gain. I am not selling anything and I am receiving no monetary compensation or funding for the work. In 1997, I constructed a bread sculpture under the Bread Bandits name at the Dupont Circle fountain. I notified the press of the action and received coverage in the Washington Posts Arts Beat columnbut I remained anonymous in the article. In fact, that same column included a notice of another art exhibition I had organized elsewhere, for which I did take credit. I mention this to emphasize that the purpose of the Bread Bandits is to present a political message rather than being a monument to ego or an attempt to make a mark in the art community. I sought publicity for the message rather than for myself. (I am sending this letter by fax modem so I am unable to include a copy of the article. I will gladly furnish a hard copy of the article by mail at your request.)

The Bread Bandits performance and sculpture is not permanent; since it is made of bread slices it will probably be eaten by birds within a few daysI doubt it will necessitate clean up. Nor is there an attempt to confront or harass passersby; on the contrary, the 1997 event was received with good humor and enthusiasm by bystanders as they willingly received handouts and asked questions. I was pleased by this agreeable response and it reinforced my use of the artwork format to convey a message rather than using a more polemical form; I wanted the audience to take a relaxed attitude toward the message-making and to take home a pleasant experience of using their intellectual and aesthetic impulses in a communal setting.

Each of the elements outlined above--the creation of a sculpture, its impermanence, the anonymity of the creators, and the avoidance of confrontation--is a key part of the political message I wish to convey. In contrast to the Bread Bandits art action, I find corporate capitalism ugly and non-nutritive both socially and intellectually; destructive; invasive; promoting anxiety; and seeking to make monuments of its corporate brands and identities. The Bread Bandits sculpture is an anti-monument intended to highlight problems with corporate capitalism and to serve as an example of an alternate social, economic and cultural construct.

Again, I appeal to you to allow me to convey this message through the form of the Bread Bandits art action and sculpture on the Mall grounds near the Smithsonian, on March 18.

Sincerely,

Panino Bandito