Tools for Action

The project began back in 2010 with inspiration drawn from the quote, “Art is not a mirror to society, but a hammer with which to shape it.” With this the Electric Electric Collective alongside other artists crafted gigantic inflatable tools to parade around in public spaces. The original project consisted in the creation of a twelve-meter hammer sent for use at the 2010 United Nations Climate Conference in Cancún, Mexico. Once inflated, protesters used the inflatable to literally hammer down on police barriers. Media reporting on the protest immediately captured images of the reflective, silver hammer as an all-encapsulating symbol of the event.

In 2012, another inflatable was created for May Day protests in Berlin: inflatable cobblestones. Historically, cobblestones have often been torn from the streets and hurled at police and authority during uprisings and protests. Giant inflatable cobblestones provide a rather contradictory situation – a powerful symbol of resistance absent of any actual violent propensities. The following account best captures the impact of this inflatable:

Bouncing the inflatable against a phalanx of heavily armed riot cops was a humorous activity, as the police could not help but to bounce them back and were thus unwillingly participating in a game of catch. Videos show the cops struggling with the slippery surface of the material, trying to restore order but in fact engaging in slapstick comedy. The action caused loud laughter and effectively flipped the standard media portrayal of the protest from “stone-throwing troublemakers” to “mean old riot cops destroying a balloon.”