film by Velcrow Ripper

Saturday September 17, 2011 a peaceful movement inspired by Tahrir Square in Egypt, Puerta del Sol in Madrid, and the worldwide rage against an out-of-control financial system blossomed in New York City just as the Summer of Change turns to Fall. Protesters who had hoped to occupy Wall Street were not suprised to find the pedestrian mall completely shut down by the NYPD. However, The protest went on anyway in other locations of the Financial District and it continues as of this writing. The Summer of Change project is taking part in what we hope will be a beautiful new mass-performance of freedom and economic empowerment. (FDR is interviewed in the video at 1:35).Check out this photo of FDR smoking his kazoo in the Gothamist:

Midnight on Wall Street. Alexander Hamilton appears on a red carpet, saunters past the Stock Exchange, and approaches the Federal Building steps.  In the center of the square is a cardboard box inhabited by The Common Man. "Who is here that distrurbs my slumber?" "It is I who have some to see/if there is anything I can do for thee..."And thus ensues a performance in rhyme, a modern day Faust which, like Goethe's great story, tells the tale of ambition, wealth, and ultimately, folly, and chilling horror. This is the fifth disribution of money to Wall Street and as in the other performances, the visage of the coin embodied, Thomas  Jefferson, appears in his silver numismatic mask, shining in the streetlights of midnight Wall Street, to ring in the shower of 2000 nickels. 

At high noon September 13, a man rolls onto Wall Street in a wheelchair, dismounts, and painfully makes his way up the steps of the Federal Building to speak to the American people:  "It is high time we speak frankly/ Of the current crisis threatening our Democracy/ The very state of the world today is a summons for us to stand together/ And to Act against injustice/ For this very spot, my friends/Is the site of a heinous crime..." What heinous crime was committed on Wall Street?  Come to the performance to find out!  You'll meet the Common Man and hear of his anger, hopes, and dreams for the future.  And, of course,  this will be followed by the usual showering of coins on Wall Street that you have come to know as the Summer of Change. Please join us for the fourth performance of the Summer of Change: the Distribution of 1000 Dimes.  ..."progressive government by its very terms, must be a living and growing thing, that the battle for it is never ending and that if we let up for one single moment or one single year, not merely do we stand still but we fall back in the march of civilization." --FDR   

George Washington, father of the nation, marched onto Wall Street at high noon on August 25th, 2011 to distribute the coins that bear his visage, and to dialog with the Common Man; a soldier in his revolutionary army.  This man, dressed in rags, relates how he was fleeced by Wall Street Investers who cashed in on war bonds.  Standing on the plaza with the people, the Common Man yells for economic fairness.  The father of the nation responds:Every American by their bootstraps pull/ Along this lively meritocracy/ What you ask for/ Is too much democracy!

We are happy to announce that the Summer of Change has gone international!  It came out last week online on WNET (see image) and in print in India! In the Daily Mirror of Kerala.  The following is a translation from the Malayalam: It  was  a  novelty   for   New Yorkers  when Mr.  Noah Fischer,  a  famous  artist,  as  well  as the  Aaron Burr Society,  one  of the city’s  social  service  organizations  working  for  the  prosperity  of  the  society,  joined  their hands  together. The   large  crowd  witnessed their performance which commemorated former US president John  F.  Kennedy.   The  event  was  part of a seven summer series of seven performances. Along  with  the  glorious  talks  about  the  former president,  Mr Noah Fischer  & the Aaron Burr Society distributed fifty-cent coins bearing the face of Mr Kennedy .The people  paid their  homage to  the  former president in colleting these  coins amid  high spirits.  Mr  Fischer  has paid  his visit to  India, participating in  a national convention  held in RLV college  of Tripunithura  Ernakulam  Kerala,  one  of  the beautiful states of India. His presence at the convention gave new insights  to the participants  as  he shared  his  immense  knowledge of  art & sculpture.

On July 15th, just as the bell ends the trading day, a satellite lands on Wall Street to distribute US coins. Please join us for an offering of JFK half dollars re-imagined as silver moons.  These rare coins are adorned by the visage of the man who launched the US mission to the moon. 

4:00-4:30: Satellite Distribution of 200 Kennedy Half Dollars (map)

4:30-5:00: March to the Irish Hunger Memorial (see map above for marching route)

5:00-7:00: 8mm films on the JKF presidency screened in the Yellow Trailer Gallery at the Memorial (map)

This performance is dedicated to the memory of Maria Soledad Loya 1940-2011 

On Tuesday June 21st, the Summer Solstice, the Aaron Burr Society and Noah Fischer & Co staged the first event of the Summer of Change, a distribution of 100 liberty coins and greenback dollars. A crowds of several hundred watched as the joint partnership solemly marched to the front of the steps of the Federal building and proceeded to speak poetry and ceremoinally offer money to the stones of Wall Street.  The performance lasted about 40 minutes, starting at 12:00 PM.

We are announcing The Summer of Change, numismatic rituals for Wall Street.