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Artists decry 'Life as it should be' slogan
| Thursday, Jun 15 2006 10:45 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jun 16 2006 7:59 AM
The new slogan is out there to be seen and internalized -- "Bakersfield: Life as it should be" -- plastered on signs and city buses.
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But one group of local artists is essentially saying, "C'mon, people! You've got to be kidding! Life as it should be?"
About a dozen local artists, musicians and supporters satirized the city's slogan at a demonstration Thursday afternoon in front of the Superior Court building in downtown Bakersfield.
They wore costumes and pushed brooms and vacuum cleaners as they pointed out the obvious irony of the slogan, that it flies in the face of some pretty powerful evidence, including Bakerfield's "worst air in the nation" status, sludge imports from Los Angeles and a huge poverty problem.
But the costumed artists were careful not to come off as humorless activists.
"Yes, we are having fun, and poking fun at the slogan," organizer A.S. Ashley said in an e-mail interview. "Let it be known that we here in Bakersfield are not stupid, or Pollyannas! Our civil servants are supposed to doing something about the issues we all are grappling with ... things are getting worse, not better."
Ashley was also up-front about the dual purpose of the protest. They were also out there, he said, to call attention to a dynamic arts community that exists under the radar for most area residents, and to promote a "Bakersfield: Life as it should be" open house being held this Saturday afternoon and again June 24 at The Empty Space.
"We don't paint pretty flowers and houses," said artist Russ Felix, who will act as emcee at the two group art shows. "It's the responsibility of artists to show reality."
As Adam Cosper walked in a circle with the others, he carried a sign that read, "Protect 'Life as it Should Be.' More cows! Fewer artists."
Ashley grinned as he called the creator of the slogan "a bona fide genius."
"I just hope they didn't spend a lot of money on that thing."