Art Not Oil - previous site "archive" - to 06th Oct 2013

The great BP-sponsored sleep-in: REPORT

Sunday 17 April 2011, 2:15pm The Tate Modern, Southbank, LondonThis Sunday the Tate Modern became the site of a spontaneous BP-sponsored sleep in as around 100 people answered Rising Tide’s call for a flashmob at 2:15 pm within the iconic museum.With watches synchronised and BP-branded sleeping gear at the ready, the participants found themselves falling as one under a sponsorship-induced stupor, on the floor of the Tate Modern. The flashmob provided an excellent way to catch the attention of the browsers in the gallery, and as the sleepers lay all about the turbine hall and first 3 floors, and the public stared, our cameras were there to catch their reactions.
See on YouTube

THE GREAT BP-SPONSORED SLEEP-IN

Sunday 17 April 2011, 2pm at Tate Modern, Bankside, London (map)

To mark the one year anniversary of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, join us for ‘The Great BP-sponsored sleep-in’, a 4-minute flash mob art installation inside Tate Modern. Imagine the turbine hall of this former power station filled with BP-branded sleeping figures, who will soon wake from their BP-sponsored coma to sound the climate alarm.BP’s greenwash is sleepwalking us into the climate crisis. BP sponsors galleries like Tate to try and clean up its tarnished image, and distract us from its devastating activities around the world. Every pound of dirty oil money accepted by Tate helps legitimise a long legacy of environmental destruction and human rights abuses.  It’s time to take off the blindfold, rub the sponsorship sleep from our eyes, and give Tate and BP a wake-up call.

This family friendly event will highlight BP’s sponsorship to the public, and show that we are not prepared to stand by as the Tate helps BP greenwash its image… and allow us all a few minutes to dream of a future free from oil spills and oil sponsorship of the arts. 

SIX STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SPONSORED SLEEP-IN

1. Synchronise your watch using this website
2. Enter the building before 2PM
3. Choose your sleep-in spot – café, corridor, lift, gift shop, and of course exhibits are all fair game, but please pick somewhere on Levels 1 (turbine hall level), 2 or 3 (this is where our camera crews will be to film the fun).
4. At exactly 2.15PM, unpack your BP branded sheet, pillow, pyjamas, night cap, sleep mask, teddy bear, alarm clock, hot water bottle or any other sleep related props (see here for ideas and downloadable props) and start the sleep-in!
5. Exactly 4 minutes later, the flash mob will be over as alarm clocks sound the wake-up call throughout the gallery. Take off your sponsored blindfolds and bedding, leave them behind if you wish, and head outside to…
6. Post-slumber party on the South Bank. Listen to speakers from BP-affected communities from the Gulf of Mexico and the Canadian Tar Sands, help engage gallery-goers with leaflets and vox pop video messages, and enjoy live music and a pedal-powered sound system.

So join us on April 17th, and show the Tate that we won’t take oil sponsorship of the arts lying down!

Join the Facebook event (don't forget to invite all your friends!)

BP Week of Action

BP and culture:  time to break it off

A week of action to kick BP out of our cultural spaces

14 – 20 April 2011

In April last year, BP’s risky business in the Gulf of Mexico caused the deaths of 11 workers, triggered America’s largest ever environmental disaster, and sparked controversy about the role of one of the UK’s most iconic companies in our society. Plunged into a PR nightmare, BP has made a huge effort to reclaim its image, and reassure us all that it has learned its lessons and moved on. Nothing could be further from the truth. Last December, BP made the hugely controversial decision to start extracting high-polluting oil from the Canadian Tar Sands. It is pressing ahead with drilling in the fragile Arctic and deep-sea drilling in Russia. And, like every other year, BP is destroying the lives and livelihoods of frontline communities around the world.