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Artists Call: Detroit Poets Protest Gustafson Assault at DIA Opening |
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Friday, 10 February 2006 09:52 |
Artists Call
Detroit Poets Protest Gustafson Assault at DIA Opening
By John Sinclair
An ad-hoc group of Detroit poets, editors, painters, community arts activists and supporters of the arts gathered on the steps of the Rackham Building across from the Farnsworth entrance of the Detroit Institute of Arts on March 24, 1990 to voice their outrage at the bloody eviction of poet Jim Gustafson following his performance at the Alternative Press exhibit opening March 3rd.
The protest was the result of a series of community meetings called to investigate the assault on Gustafson by three or more DIA guards who forcibly ejected the poet after he had burst into song while walking from the reception area at the north end of the building to the exit doors opening onto Farnsworth--now known among local artists as the "Gustafson Exit."
While museum authorities claimed that Gustafson purposely smashed the glass in one of the exit doors as the guards were routinely escorting him out of the museum, eyewitnesses attest that Gustafson was forcibly thrust through the glass door by the guards, resulting in severe cuts and bruises to the poet's hands, face, arms and torso.
The highly agitated guards then confronted the remaining guests, who were leaving the Alternative Press/OMAP opening in an orderly fashion, and belligerently ordered them out of the building.
No effort was made by museum personnel to assist Gustafson nor to secure medical attention for his wounds. He was driven to Detroit Receiving Hospital by Detroit Council of the Arts Deputy Director James Hart and subsequently underwent treatment there before being released the following day.
Offering their verse and comments at the Artists Call reading March 24th in support of Gustafson and against the brutality visited upon him by the museum guards were (in order of appearance): Sherry Hendrick, Ralph & Allen Franklin with Stephen Goodfellow, Trinidad Sanchez Jr., Glen Mannisto, Dennis Teichman, Mark Grafe, Chris Monhollen, Robert Thibodeau, Sam Mills, Shahaarazeta Natalenge, Rob Tyner, Derek Miller, Roberto Warren, Bob "Righteous" Rudnick, Mick Vranich, Melba Joyce Boyd, and John Sinclair with saxophonist Johnny Evans.
A leaflet announcing the event under the title Artists Call was supplemented by printed statements from several members of Detroit's artistic community, including Frank Bach, David Clements, Perri Giovannucci, Jim Hart, Glen Mannisto, Michael Mikolowski, Derek Miller, Chris Monhollen, Trinidad Sanchez, Paul Schwarz, Dennis Teichman, Deborah King, Mick Vranich and Sherri Hendrick.
The following poems and statements are excerpted from the Artists Call document and the March 24th reading opposite the Gustafson Exit:
Our celebration of art and poetry in and beyond this community was shattered March 3 with more than a few dreams accompanying Jim Gustafson through a plate glass door. Outside that door a pile of glass and a trail of blood. The blood trail began at the feet of one or more frustrated museum guards enjoying an ability and license to cause fear and injury. Well, guys, I'm sure you'd enjoy horsing around in Angola or the Middle East, much better pay too, although a little more risk involved than that in pushing a harmless drunk around.
Aah, a toast to Samuel Sachs who, from his lofty position, could offer no consolation whatsoever to the hurt suffered. Sammy baby, I'm afraid you've soiled yourself and this isn't the type of stain you'll readily wash out The trail of blood ended with Jim who, doctors say, will eventually recover but what of the vague dreams that become art?
--Michael Mikolowski
Guards are employed on behalf of the DIA to protect the art and property of the museum. During the incident on March 3rd, Mr. Gustafson was in no way threatening the property of the DIA, therefore, the security guards' action was premature and unnecessary.
The general lack of respect for an artist who was invited to perform at the DIA is most disturbing. I had assumed that all guests were treated equally should they become inebriated during a museum function. In the past, I had attended such functions as Under the Stars and had witnessed a totally different approach to the guests who had too much to drink and were loud and disruptive. It is totally unacceptable to this community that the security procedures change dependent on the social/economic status of the DIA guests.
In addition, I was appalled at the total disregard for the injured poet after the incident and by the guards' lack of remorse/concern or attempts to administer first aid. Their reaction can be likened to a bouncer throwing a person out of their establishment. In the past, the DIA's environment demanded more respect and, for lack of a better word, class. It is unfortunate that these employees do not utilize various crisis intervention techniques to de-escalate such situations instead of using the primitive, barbaric responses which are to "throw the person out."
In order to ensure similar inhuman situations are not repeated, I am petitioning that the DIA conduct a full investigation into the matter. The focus of this investigation should not be to place blame but to clarify policy/procedure in the future.
All guards should be informed as to who the museum performers are for each function. The guards are a visible part of the museum team and I would think sharing information with them would go a long way to improve employee morale and help provide the security staff with a level of respect.
Although the guards are employees of the City of Detroit, I would hope the DIA would have some influence regarding proper training, to include:
* crisis intervention techniques
* de-escalation techniques
* general history of the museum
* function of the museum
* cultural sensitivity training
* regular review of emergency procedures
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that if the security guards have a situation that could be volatile, that they immediately inform the sponsors of that particular function. There were many guests present who could have helped de-escalate the situation and avoided the serious injuries that occurred.
--Christine Monhollen
The museum must show that it is aware that an incident such as this should never have occurred and will under no circumstances be repeated. Either the museum must be willing to admit that it is not able to insure the safety of its guests, so that all visitors may in the future prepare for any injury that may befall them there; or, the museum must show a willingness to bear responsibility for the incident, to admlt that a mistake was made, to bear the consequences of that mistake, be those financial or perhaps to suspend the individual guards, and, most importantly, to profess a willingness to change.
--Derek Miller
DIA 3.3.90
i said to sadiq
when you leave
the soul of this city
the raggedy concrete paths
crack apart behind you
but you never leave the soul
you carry it with you
where ever you go.
he said the tidal wave
of all the evil we've done
is roaring across paradise.
you sit so quietly
but the raging under the surface
of your flesh is there
so you flick on the radio
to block it out
the voice is talking
about all the torture
everywhere the starvation
the war games the captives
in their own homes
while the machine is mowing down
the life around you.
we walk out onto the street
covered with broken glass
we move to the side
lean against the marble wall
and watch the children
dance in the blood
still wet in puddles
on the sidewalk
when their feet are wet
they march off
making bold footprints.
hay don't act up
you with that poem
in your heart
cut it out
goes like this
move in on the strays
before a word is said
don't look that way
keep the camera off
the ones whose address
is a cardboard box
get those people out of here now
take them out of the picture
we don't want to see their sores.
but the voices live
below the surface of the headlines
all the ink can't silence them
you can feel them rise
wash away the divide signs
posted in our path
by the ones
who generate the hate
keep the greed wheels
turning.
all the evil
we've done
is roaring across paradise
the children just thought
the blood was part
of the celebration.
--mick vranich
The DIA's conduct regarding the incident with poet Jim Gustafson is disgraceful. That museum security officers should commit a violent act upon any person is inexcusable. It is particularly grevious that Gustafson was subjected to such hostility during an opening reception at which he was a featured guest.
Furthermore, many of us feel that this incident is indicative of the contempt the DIA holds for the local arts community. DIA security officers involved in this incident should be reprimanded, an official apology to Gustafson should be issued, and at the very least, the DIA staff should reexamine its attitudes and actions towards the community of artists that thrives in Detroit in spite of the little support it receives from the art institute.
--Perri Giovannucci
"Bird Gets The Worm"
after Charlie Parker
The forcible ejection by museum guards
of the poet Jim Gustafson
through the glass doors of the Detroit Institute of Arts
on March 3, 1990,
& the violent manner
in which it was accomplished
are totally repugnant acts
which cannot be accepted or condoned--
& the subsequent denial
by DIA Director Samuel "Sad" Sachs
of responsibility for this dreadful assault on Gustafson
is an even more bitter pill to swallow.
Not only was Gustafson
an invited guest of the DIA
&, in effect, an exhibiting art
ist at the Alternative Press show opening that day,
but the crime against propriety
for which he was punished
by this vicious physical assault
in no way threatened or disrupted
the actual good order
of the occasion, and in no way called for
the inhumane & brutal treatment
he was forced to suffer
at the hands of an arrogant gang
of assaultive museum guards.
They were wrong,
Sachs is wrong,
the whole ugly Incident
is rotten to the core. If we sing,
we must not be beaten. If we must leave,
we must not be given the bum's rush.
If we are to take our rightful part
in the life of the museum,
which exists to house our art work,
we must be treated with dignity
& offered at least the courtesy
of an apology, & the promise
that so long as the museum shall stand,
we will never again be treated like dogs
or suffer even the threat
of physical assault. The offensive guards
must be reprimanded, & the policies which govern them
must be brought into line with the respect we deserve.
Further, affiant
sayeth not.
--John Sinclair
Harmonie Park
March 12, 1990
I did not see what happened at the "Gustafson Exit." But there was an awful lot of blood in my City car after he got out at the hospital.
Newspaper stories to the contrary, it does not make sense to me that a single flabby human could have propelled himself with such force through "unbreakable" museum security glass--even a poet, who, as we all know, are notorious for the amount of explosive air they bottle up.
Sometimes, as we know, the explosive air comes out in song. Drunk or sober this is the long standing tradition of the troubadour. Sometimes, while the song is appropriate, the place, sadly, is not. It will not do for a living poet of the tradition of song to vent air, to sing amongst the precious dead objects of a museum. This was an inappropriate act--inappropriate live art. It attracted the bums-rush from the authorities.
Would that he had flashed a Founders Society membership card; would that he had been a big ticket holder at a gala overfilled with scotch; would that he did not appear a hairy bum, a venter of songs. Then the authorities would, I think, have quietly called him a cab.
--Jim Hart
(c) 1990, 2006 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.
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