Investigative Journalism

no.philosophy: "All I Want Is To Be Inspired"

By: Alexandra Piotrowski

  At one point or another, we all believed we could change the world. Granted, most of us also wore capes and raced around the playground of our elementary schools at the time, but now poised and ready and of age to be tomorrow’s authorities, many of us college students have lost our inspiration. Is it merely childhood innocence that sustained the desire to put our imprint on the world? Is this idealism even inside us a decade later? One group of anonymous and enigmatic Anteaters suggests that we are just too stifled by the shuffle of four hour chemistry lectures and the bureaucratic fine print of our large university to embrace this forgotten part of ourselves.
     
  UC Irvine has reason to be proud of this group, no.philosophy, whose “original intent was to inspire groups of individuals to follow [their] example and pursue expression through… creative means,” as stated by their website. These “creative means” range from cleverly disguised slogans on signs in Aldrich Park to visible banners with the groups’ ubiquitous virus logo, all of which rely upon thought-provoking phrases that are well placed in locations to which we as students have become oblivious. I talked to one of the brains behind no.philosophy, let’s call him ViraL, about the origins and the future of no.philosophy. He tells me that the group started as an idea between friends; an idea created by actively involved students that were “frustrated with [their] efforts to cause some change around this campus.” The first visible works were stenciled spray-on virus logos, almost sardonically implying the students to “infect change.” From this one template grew numerous works: the signs in Aldrich Park, the banners hanging on Cornerstone Café, no.philosophy’s reinterpretation of Roommate-Wanted fliers, and my personal favorite, the often inspirational phrases written in chalk lining the sidewalks of Ring Road.
     
There is a bit of debate about the nature of no.philosophy’s outreach and methods of self expression, though. More than one administrator has scowled at the artwork and more than one maintenance crew has spent time removing it. But ViraL defends the methods of no.philosophy, saying that while this may be considered a type of graffiti by some, there is “a specific purpose behind[it]… And we try our best to use our environment to create pieces that are interesting and visible, without being destructive.” In essence, the debate over no.philosophy’s methods comes down to questions of control. When UC Irvine opened its doors in 1965, it was a time when campuses like Berkeley were hotspots of activism. Conspiracy theorists and Foucault enthusiasts alike contend that the reason our campus is stationed on a ring is not for aesthetics or convenience, but for security. In case of student protest, the ring supposedly ensures students will march in a circle, unable to go anywhere but within its radius, as strategic tunnels (like the one connecting the new Student Center with Humanities Instructional Building) become portals by which the authorities can enter.
     
Between 1965 and now, UC Irvine has avoided massive demonstrations and student coups, maintaining a calm and almost apathetic air. The sometimes not-so-obvious exception to this being the last ten minutes of every weekday hour between 9am and 3pm, when students shove their way from class to home and back to class again. But that isn’t activity so much as mindless motion. But even on this sedated suburban campus there are little spurts of real world activity. Among the thousands of bodies that push through campus every day are those involved in alternative press, readers of news and writers of philosophy, protestors for equality of University workers, student government figureheads and creators of publicized forums. It is this kind of involvement that no.philosophy wants to motivate, even as these creative outlets become overshadowed by the red tape of large, bureaucratic universities.

       Ultimately, no.philosophy is not trying to launch a flurry of dissent on Irvine’s students; rather, it is striving to change the accepted routines of our youth culture into something that resembles purpose -- not just satisfaction with the mandatory and the average. They want students to think thoughts that distinguish them from others, not just accept their percentages on a bell curve; to not be oblivious to the mundane everyday life and not to take the opportunities we have for granted. To question. To learn not just for the grades, but for their own good. And, whether you agree with them or not, to be inspired.

introductus.livejournal.com for more information