“‘No’ is not a slogan,” says University of Chicago MFA candidate Jenny Roberts. “‘No’ just means no.” Last month her friend and fellow student Vesna Grbovic painted the word “No” three feet high on a wall at the U. of C.’s Midway Studios, then trained a video camera on it for 30 minutes. “‘No’ arose from discussions about the unbearable, irresponsible, and surreal political actions of the U.S. government–especially in regard to Iraq–and the difficulty of knowing how to act in response to it,” says Roberts. She and Grbovic plan to hang banners bearing the word from the flagpole outside the studio (6016 S. Ingleside) on Friday, March 7, and at the center of campus (58th between Ellis and University) on Monday, March 10, as well as distribute flyers stamped with the same sentiment “in as many places in the city as we can” over the next few months. This week they’ll also broadcast five-minute segments of the “No” videotape on CAN-TV Channel 19. The footage airs Tuesday, March 11, at 8:15 PM; Wednesday, March 12, at 3:15 PM; Thursday, March 20, at 7:35 PM; and Friday, March 21, at 2:35 PM. Call 312-944-5112 for information.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Laura Litensky.