WC Archive

Natalie Jeremijenko is an amazingly creative, brilliant designer. Her projects include the creation of "feral robotic dogs" for sniffing out toxic pollution, pollution-detecting Clear Skies Masks for bicycle riders, and novel, non-violent tools for protestors. Emily Gertz sat down with Jeremijenko for an excellent, wide-ranging interview in October of 2004, wherein the designer describes her work as an engineering teacher, leading the "DARPA of dissent," and the intersection of art, design and politics.

There are Italian and Spanish direct action groups, very well trained in direct action. They’re doing marvelous actions using blow up pool toys, big happy smiley faces on the strike zones [parts of the body would be likely to be hit by police] so they can protect themselves. Putting pockets into these bright clownish costumes they wear, both mediagenic and highly visual, but also with room for putting in an empty two-liter soda container, with their tops on. These make good protection in the strike zone.

Nonviolent defense is a long tradition. Profoundly misplaced, but necessary. I wish our energies could be better spent. Nonetheless, their threat has to be answered. And systematically, we have to answer every threat of this abuse power, of criminalizing political process, the political right to gather with a nonviolent method.