Dated 2:59 am, Mar. 18, a mystery missive sped into our mailboxes. It declared:
“On the night of Tuesday March 17th, Tyler School of Art waged war on 4 fellow Philadelphia art schools.”
Along with this declaration of war, the email contained some megabytes of photos documenting the stealth “attack.” We at artblog are in love with this project and can’t wait to see what further actions ensue. One question Tyler guys. Have you not heard of Penn? —Or perhaps that crackerjack Penn security foiled you? Either way, it seems to us PennDesign deserves to be invaded, too.
Art Institute Trojan Horse.
Here’s the war declaration:
Tyler trojan horse breaches UArts fortifications
Tyler trojan horse breaches PAFA!
Bastions of Moore invaded by Tyler trojan horse
Will there be a counterpunch? Or is it more like an invasion than a war? We don’t know the outcome, but we loved the concept of a nose-to-nose without the nose bleed.
20 Comments
I asked a question or two about the war declaration, and this is the answer I got:
Libby,
On the eve of February 13, 2009, a group of 12 young bloods hailing from Tyler School of Art banned together thirsty for battle. Their opponents clear in mind, a plan was devised and 14 days later, the soldiers met again to carry out the first few steps of War.
The process was long and arduous but after many hours of work, the gifts were complete. From that point on, it was only a matter of time before it was the perfect opportunity in which to strike. Scouts were deployed and secretly infiltrated the institutions. Weak spots were discovered and key points were devised.
On the night of March 17th, the warriors called to arms with gifts at hand. Within 2 hours The Art Institute of Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Moore College of Art and Design, and The University of the Arts had all been successfully breached, each offering residing in the universities’ central forums.
At first glance the gifts appear as merely offerings, though upon investigation they become a symbol of power, pride and unwavering loyalty to Tyler School of Art once the documents stating the declaration of war are to be found inside.
The mission having been a success, the warriors headed back to the north. The final stage of the plan was to be carried out: informing the civilians and potential fellow battalions of Tyler School of Art that war has been waged.
Tyler is ready and waiting for retaliation. the time is nigh.
As a Tyler Alum, I think this is a great stunt. It would have been better if the warriors actually knew the names of the four schools they attacked- for example, there really isn’t a “Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts.” Also, a better more poetic manifesto could have been scribed.
Libby I agree, if you challenge all the other notable art programs, and include the Art Institute as one of them, how could you possibly leave out Penn??
This sounds like a fun project between the schools, albeit a little late in the academic year. I know things over at PAFA are focused on their Annual Student Exhibition in May, which as you reported last year sold a record $500,000+ in student art work.
It’s about time!
its about time there is some fun.
fun
fun fun.
I am willing to fight alongside tyler currents. FTAST.
this in, this morning from the Tyler students about the “Trojan War.”
“The excitement and criticism surrounding our declaration of war has been noted. The students of Tyler School of Art would like to clarify that we have started a war and have called all schools to respond visually.
The Trojan Horses were constructed out of an appropriate and available material from our move into Philadelphia. Their creation occurred during a marathon work session. We worked for 30 straight hours beginning on a Friday, after class, at 6 pm. We proceeded to leave these gifts at our fellow art schools and, when doing so, none of our fellow school’s security questioned our motives or asked us to leave. It is Tyler’s first semester in the city of Philadelphia and, after six weeks of continued silence and no housewarming, we felt that it was imperative to attack.
As we stated before, we are as steady and strong as we have ever been. We are standing our ground and waiting for battle to begin.”
i am so proud of our little warriors.
So, somehow moving into the city makes students think of war and violence.
I bet the rest of the schools can rally. One of the important things to learn in life is it’s always busy and it’s never a good time, so if you want to do something, you just better buckle down and squeeze it in and make it happen!
penn has a design program?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtmFpXVSwG8
haha tyler, yes. Penn is a design-y beast!
What is wrong with the world!? Even the art fags want to go to war now!
Oh, well, in typical Penn fashion, they got caught up in their branding. The facts are the program includes things like architecture, landscape architecture, fine art. I don’t think “design” as we know it is really hitting the nail on the head. I’m sure the school will argue the point until they’re blue in the face.
Poli-art-educational instability just 90 miles from New York is a threat to the foundations of Contemporary Art as an institution, and to artists everywhere. We are considering a long-range preemptive strike on Temple/Tyler School of Art in order to stabilize the region. If a ceasefire is not reached immediately we will be forced to respond, with extreme prejudice, and great controversy.
-The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
While I am sympathetic to the feelings of SAIC, that was the lamest and — in true SAIC fashion — most convoluted declaration of counterthreat I have ever stumbled through. And besides, there was nothing IN the horses anyway. Empty, like the Tyler program…
Touche, Barb. I suppose we are a bit rusty on the war declarations…
No argument on the SAIC tendency toward superfluous, overly complex, labyrinthine, difficult to follow, and intricately folded missives, artist statements, and manifestos. It’s our niche.
And regarding the empty horses: You might want to ask Marshall McLuhan.
I love this Western front that’s developing here. Generals Dayton and Santini, we await your action as you sort out your references and tactics.
Oh DIY… and delusions of Grandeur. So, you move to the City and want to make war. Better get the names of your Enemies correct. PAFA stands for PENNSYLVANIA Academy of the Fine Arts… you know, that organization founded in 1805 mother of all arts schools in this young Nation, where they still strive (against all mod odds) to create something more than “concepts”
Didn’t someone already comment on that?
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