“What can we do to improve…?” Of course that I couldn't wait for this one! During one of my annoying video interviews with a major corporate giant, they actually gave me a chance to speak out.... Well, thank you guys... thank you for asking. (This is a copy of the answers I gave; I didn't take a screen shot, because my phone's window where I typed the answer was too small that it couldn't reveal the entire message.)

In 2020 I tried to not find out who became the new president. The context of my performance is that voting democratically is irrelevant for the wage slaves; and I was disobeying in the engagement of a canonized political culture that tries to slide as a normality in our daily lives. The brainwash works with others... but not with me. However, since I didn't document it properly, I have no recollection of how long it took until I heard the result. This time I tried to document it, and even though I was avoiding the media, on the following day one medical doctor thumbnail gave away the newly elected president's name, but I immediately looked away. Then, 5 days later, while still not knowing exactly who the winner is, another video thumbnail gave away the answer; and at that point I gave up, and I went to check the news.

What is the symbolic meaning of housekeeping, in comparison to the actual housekeeping? It's an act of “guardianship” and “preservation.”... Well, a job opening caught my eye immediately! It was a place where I had already had two different interviews decades ago for a “creative” worker. The new job opportunity was a “housekeeping” job for a pseudo-creative institution that mass-produces “creatives” – like the one that is writing this message right now. Why is the institution producing pseudo-creatives? Because its creativity is confined only within the marketability of whatever they are creating. In other words, the creative endeavor for “creative” products and services is limited only to whether the creation is profitable or not. If the creation is done for free for the social good of humanity, then it is not considered creative. If it's created pro bono, then you are not bringing revenue, you are not creating profits, and you are useless for business; hence, your creativity is not rewarded because you haven't sold anything, and you are just giving your creation for free for your humanity... just as people did in the Paleolithic ages before the profiting culture took off. Unfortunately we have an institution that mass-produces “creatives” while the poor things don't even know that when their creativity is for-profit instead of for social cause, they are closed in a boxed mentality.... So, what a great opportunity that this culture is offering me: if I am to get the job, I can simply continue to help the organization of guarding and preserving the commercially-driven “creativity.”... And by the way, when I was applying for the job, one of the questions for the potential housekeeper was: “Will you work overtime if required?” Oh, sure I will, how could I not... how dare do you question my loyalty to our lovely for-profit culture!? I will do anything to protect the institution that mass-produces brainwashed “creatives” and maintains the business going. And, of course, I had to pick the lowest possible salary that they offered me – in order for me to get the job.... (By the way, I never got an offer for the job.)

I tried to not find out who became the new president. The context of my performance is that voting democratically is irrelevant for the wage slaves; and I was disobeying in the engagement of a canonized political culture that tries to slide as a normality in our daily lives. The brainwash works with others... but not with me. However, since I didn't document it properly, I have no recollection of how long it took until I heard the result.... Please note that the displayed picture (which I did by blending together both candidates), has no connection to the performance art project.

When I was hired for a full time position in 5-2016, I decided to do a government shaming situational performance art where I will not take any sick days, and instead at the end of my employment I will donate all of my sick-hours back to the government. Coincidentally, I actually did get severely sick during my work, but grinding my teeth in sarcasm I coped through it.... In 4-2023, leaving my job I donated my accumulated 544 sick-day hours! (Since the disclosed action of this work is a situational performance art while the image presentation is conceptual art, I have copied this work to be shown in both, the situational performance and the conceptual art sections.)

When you find money, you obviously have to pick it up right away, so that nobody else picks it up. I did, but when I went back inside the car, I already knew of an upcoming performance in mind: without looking at the sum, I grabbed the phone, went back outside, placed the money back on the ground, took a picture of it, then grabbed it again and went back in the car. What was the new performance that I was brewing in my head? I was not going to look at the amount of money I found; I was going to resist the cultural indoctrination that when money is found it is supposed to be counted; no, I wasn't going to go through that assurance. Later, I opened my wallet and without looking grabbed whatever amount I had in there, and I shuffled it together with the newly found money. (I obviously knew that it was at least a $20, but the rest I never found out.... It gives me comfort that I betrayed the money God.)

To read about this performance art, go to the Authoritarian Corporatocratic Harasser series.

To read about this performance art, go to the Authoritarian Corporatocratic Harasser series.

To read about this performance art, go to the Authoritarian Corporatocratic Harasser series.

To read about this performance art, go to the Authoritarian Corporatocratic Harasser series.

In 2014 I found a tiny spider in my restroom right by the shower. I didn't want it to get injured or killed. So, I relocated it... only to find out later that it had actually murdered another spider prior to the relocation. (Look closely in the top picture and you'll spot the corpse.) Oh, how great! Save a spider from being killed, relocated it to a brand new safe home, and then find out that the spider had committed a crime in the previous location!? I decided to let it slide and not call the authorities.

In 2014, after I had purchased a bag of discounted green peas, I found out that inside the bag was quite a bit of a feasting party: a lot of little bugs were inside the bag, and they were enjoying every bit of their pigging out on their favorite protein-high meal. Should I cook them along with the peas? No way: It was going to weigh on my murderous consciousness! It was time to rescue them. So, I poured the peas in a container, and little by little began the rescue mission. At the end, I released the little bugs outside even though in retrospect I do realize that the outdoor environment was not their natural environment, and consequently they may have lost their lives.

In 2012 I decided to rescue an ant from a poverty-related trap. What was it? It was my scotch tape that was taped on the gap between the door of my attic. (My attic door was right above my bed, and I had deliberately taped off the gaps, because I didn't want bugs and roaches to slip through and fall on my face while I am sleeping.) The ant was stuck on the scotch tape, and I could see that it was struggling. Hmm! It was time for the rescue mission.... I carefully cut the piece where the ant was stuck; I then brought the ant outside and carefully removed it from the sticky situation; but unfortunately, during the process of unsticking it, one of its legs was lost. Well, it was still better than a life lost, right? So, the ant was able to walk away (with one lost leg though).... And I am glad that the cat was sleeping during the rescue, and didn't intervene in the rescue mission... because the ant might've not survived at all.

Just as other animals, all humans are migratory too, because their biology requires them to migrate in order to seek the obtaining of their living necessities. Politics, however, doesn't understand that, and its ego tries to establish jurisdiction over certain biological normalities that are very normal to us. In other words, migration, in culturally created political entities that create “borders,” “states,” “nations,” and “countries,” (and so forth), is not easy. I went through this non-easy ordeal too, and just as others, I too got quite exhausted from it.... So, on the day that I was supposed to obtain a “green card,” as if I hadn't had enough of a misery already, why not do a situational performance and take the opportunity to shove the freakin' card right into my heart! And as you can see, I also stitched up the wound quite well, didn't I?

This situational performance took part in 2004; it was performed only once for my surprised and displeased roommate who was expecting to collect the payment that day. He was not present in the apartment and I was going to leave as well, so I took the opportunity to leave my rent in the apartment... while also performing too. The $20 bills of rent money were carefully spaced apart: from the inside of the apartment door on the first floor, up the stairs to the second floor, then making a S-curve to the toilet... and the very last $20 bill will be placed right on the toilet seat. While closing the restroom door I had to be careful and make sure that when I shut the door, the generated draft will not tip the $20 bill into the toilet water! I want to clarify that I didn't intend to offend my roommate; I just wanted to take the opportunity and create the performance that had been brewing in my head I don't know for how long. But, as I mentioned, when I came back, the smile on my face was ruined when he indicated that he wasn't pleased to stumble upon what I had planned for him. (The performance scene was rearranged a decade later in order for me to take the photo, because in 2004 I had either already sold my film camera, or I still had it but didn't use it.)

As described in the Books' section, this is my second favorite situational performance art project that was started in 2004 and was interrupted in 2023. Through this performance, I will do work for businesses or clients without challenging them about the lousy pay they will give me. So, they will end up paying me little money or even no money at all in some instances. This situational performance is also not recorded, and its description is only in writing. The book that covers the performance, and the book title, are not disclosed yet. This performance is my behavioral interaction with “normal” profit-driven businesses. (The government is not exempt from that as well; it is profit-driven too. Being the leader and manager of our necessity-obtaining interactions, BIG brother has no idea that it doesn't have to be profit-driven.) This performance will be disclosed at the time of the publishing of the entire semi-autobiographical novel, and also as a separate situational performance art booklet; it consists of me wage slaving for the business for little money or no money at all just to see when the savvy profiteer will awaken and be willing to pay.... I want to clarify that through this performance I didn't target only large businesses, but also small one-person businesses; I also want to clarify that the mockery is for the culture of profit-seeking not for the name of the business nor the name of the business boss. Why is profit-seeking bad? Because the ultimate goal is to obtain the product or service by paying for it as little as possible or ultimately nothing at all. Every profit-seeker tries to profit as much as possible while having minimal amount of expenses.... In 2004, one of the first people that I targeted was a business owner who sought to have promo materials for his business; I had just finished my Bachelor's degree in 2003 and my graphic design degree(s) in 2001, and I offered my services. (Keep in mind that in addition, I was also working a FT and a PT jobs too!) His jaw dropped when I told him that he doesn't have to pay me until I finish his product. So, I began to create his promotional products and I wanted to observe how he reacts. He probably thought that I was the dumbest business-seeking person ever because I didn't charge money; what he didn't know however is that he was part of my investigative performance art project, and eventually I will end up writing and publishing the ordeal. This project took quite a bit of time to do, so the effort took quite a toll on me. But after months of work and lots of back-and-forth communication, we finally sat together at a local library and I handed him his work (on either CD or DVD format, I can't remember).... And now where is the payment? According to our agreement, he was supposed to hand me a payment, but he didn't. Hmm! Why? I can't recall his explanation, but he said that he didn't have the payment yet and it will be coming later. I handed him the media project anyway, and went home... and was expecting for the payment to come at some point, right? Of course, there was never a payment. But guess what happened several years later: Karma came back to freak him out. One day I walk into a very popular department store that I don't normally go to, and out of all people he is the store clerk who is working in one of the departments. When the man saw my face he went numb and froze; he immediately knew that he had to provide some kind of excuse because if I opened my mouth, his job would be in jeopardy. Again, just as we greeted each other, he immediately told me that the payment is coming James. I sarcastically laughed in his face. I can't recall if I said a word to him or not and left.... In the following years, I will go ahead and perform this same performance with other clients on several other occasions as well. And some of these clients will also dodge the final payment. (These incidents in a for-profit culture remind me when in 9th grade a kid asked me to borrow money for a new skateboard, but I never saw the payment back even though “borrow” in English as I had checked in the dictionary, meant that he was supposed to return the money to me.) But of course, the savvy profiteer is never to be trusted because profiting is not a collaborative process; profiting is selfish-grabbing and disregarding of the effects upon others.