Venus is currently retrograde in Leo (July 22 - September 3, 2023) conjunct Black Moon Lilith, the lunar apogee. These astrological symbols indicate themes around "art with an edge," activist art, punk art, outsider art, and art that expresses something uncomfortable or even repugnant to the mainstream. Venus Rx in Leo conjunct Black Moon Lilith also indicates review or reflection on these themes. In light of the astrology, I thought I would look back to a darkly hilarious experience I had in 2019/2020: The scrappy little photo above documents dual forms of censorship. It also illustrates how regular people censor each other so that "uncomfortable and inconvenient" information never makes it to the broader public. I did a "5G Dangers Awareness" postering campaign on public bulletin boards in Castlegar, British Columbia in 2020 and 2021. Each time I put them up (in multiple locations), the posters would be ripped down within days. Each time, I would replace the posters. This little game went on for months. Under the anti-5G poster, you can see a poster for Castlegar's Open Mic Night. I was the main organizer of this open mic in 2019, spending many unpaid hours doing the legwork and promotion to get it up and running. This involved encouraging and promoting the other performers. I shared some writing from my zines at the first three open mics. The third reading involved a folk punk song I had written about fluoroquinolone antibiotic poisoning and the maker of the drug that harmed me, Bayer. I also talked about the recent Bayer-Monsanto merger and the upcoming worldwide march against Bayer-Monsanto. Afterward, some of the other performers went behind my back to try to have me censored because what I had read made them uncomfortable. At the open mic I organized. At my own open mic! "I Was Censored At My Own Open Mic...and Other Tales from the Plutonic Punk Underground!" I can laugh at this experience now as the absurdity that it is, but it was quite traumatic at the time. None of the other performers/founding members stood up for me or for my right to perform. I wrote an article about it on my blog at the time, and the jist of it was: Art doesn't have to make you feel comfortable! Art doesn't have to be all warm and fuzzy. That's entertainment, and there's a difference between art and entertainment. Punk art and activist art are just as worthy as teenagers singing rock-and-roll cover songs.
* mic drop! *
Related Articles:
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Venus Conjunct Uranus, Open Mic Censorship, and the Apolitical Arts Scene
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Stop Bayer-Monsanto's Crimes Against Humanity, Animals, and the Environment!
Pluto Stationing Retrograde in Capricorn: From Millions Against Monsanto to Billions Against Bayer
WWA articles on Ciprofloxacin, fluorquinolone antibiotic poisoning, and Big Pharma
