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THE EVENT OF THE SCREW – July 12, 1962
As a counter-culture activist, Aldo Tambellini wrote, edited
and published a newsletter called “The Screw” with its
slogan “Artists in an Anonymous Generation Arise.” Written
mostly in poetry form, it was first published it in 1961 and consisted
of a mimeographed legal sized yellow sheet of paper sometimes folded
in half. Each issue, of which there were six, had a different
variation of an image of a hardware screw and was sold around the neighborhood
for 10 cents. The newsletter was created to raise the social
consciousness of the artists. Aldo Tambellini voiced his objection
to the manipulation he saw in the art establishment which used the
artists as a commodity and financial investments rather than cultural
entities.
The “Event of the Screw,” a
protest in the form of a performance, took place on July 12, 1962,
in front of the Museum of Modern Art. Aldo dressed in a black
suit and tie with a gold screw tie-clip, read the “Manifesto
of the Screw.” The Belltones, a Puerto Rican Trio from
the LES neighborhood, also dressed in suits and ties, accompanied Aldo
by singing a cappella the “Song of the Screw.” Elsa
Tambellini danced in leotards inside a five-foot Papier-Mache screw.
Mira Fine symbolically presented one museum official “The Golden
Screw Award” which was a hardware screw dipped in gold paint
and placed on a black cushion. Similar awards were given that day to
the Whitney and Guggenheim Museums. A large photograph of the “Event” was
published on the front page of the “EL Diario,” the New
York Daily Spanish Newspaper.
BLACK MASS FOR LINCOLN CENTER – September
12, 1966
The Gate Theatre, Elsa and Aldo Tambellini’s venue for
underground film, was opened in protest to the Fourth American Film
Festival held at Lincoln Center. The BLACK MASS was held to protest
the festival’s indifference to the independent film-makers of
America. The “Black Mass” demonstration was organized
by Aldo Tambellini with artists from Group Center, the Living Theatre
and movie-makers such as Jack Smith and Jose’ Rodriguez-Soltero
whose films were banned from being shown at the Lincoln Center Festival. The
group was called “CONTINUUM.” The protest in the
form of a performance continued with the beliefs
A CONTINUUM:
THE ACT OF LIVING AND THE ACT OF CREATION ARE INSEPARABLE ORGANIZED
RELIGION IS DEAD AND CREATION IS THE SPIRITUAL RITUAL OF OUR ERA
So we are invading the streets.
We are invading the parks.
We are invading the buildings and corners of our city.
WE WANT OUR CITY TO BE THE TEMPLE OF CREATION
Out in the open we will present the new media.
We believe in the law of CONTINUUM.
“At 7:30 pm the Fountain of Lincoln Center will
be transformed into a sanctuary for the rite of immolation. The Devil
of Commercialism will be exorcized.” A.T |
