Our Story

Yelling Clinic is an arts and disability collective that was conceived in the Spring of 2008 by a group of four artists who each had an interest in the intersections between war and disability. Our goal is to raise awareness about the human costs of war and war pollution around the globe, while at the same time facilitating empowered discourses through which war disabilities can be viewed. Yelling Clinic was born out of a desire to mix artistic practice with community outreach, art instruction, and activism. We are determined to look beyond the prevailing methods of researching disability, which often involve a predilection to cure, diagnose, and treat with charity. We are currently seeking financial support for our upcoming trip to Vietnam in December, 2011 and for an exhibit that will be hosted at the Berkeley Art Center in the Spring of 2012. The Berkeley Art Center will run three public programs as part of Yelling Clinic�s exhibit. One will be centered around war veterans, another around Vietnam, and a third will focus on the goals and mission of Yelling Clinic.

            Yelling Clinic is traveling to Vietnam to research the lingering effects of the chemical Agent Orange and to work with disabled Vietnamese activists and artists. We have made contact with numerous individuals and organizations across Vietnam, including activist organizations that are run by disabled individuals. During the two-week stay, six of us will be traveling to Danang, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City. Yelling Clinic will leave for Vietnam on Dec 20^th, 2011 and will return to the Bay Area January 3^rd, 2012. The exhibition at the Berkeley Art Center will run from April 14^th-June 3^rd 2012. Through the exhibition at the Berkeley Art Center and outreach, Yelling Clinic hopes to raise awareness about disability art locally within the Bay Area and to help facilitate an international dialogue and exchange around issues of war, disability and art.

            Yelling Clinic is made up of individuals who have direct experience with disability and war; thus as a collective we embody the disability rights slogan "nothing about us without us." Those who are disabled by war are often used as symbols of tragedy and patriotism. Yelling Clinic asks how a critique of war, combat and pollution can take place while simultaneously allowing disabled individuals to have pride in their bodies.

             Yelling Clinic's approach will take from such movements as relational aesthetics and social practice, while also honoring each artist�s studio based practice. Through a myriad of mediums and strategies, including interviews, project-based community practice, urban interventions, and much more, Yelling Clinic artists will create work that is about mutual exchange, interaction, and participation.

            The name Yelling Clinic plays off of the idea that anything to do with disability should automatically be put into a medical framework. Yelling Clinic sees art making as a way to mutually engage people who are often spoken about but rarely to. Being able to yell is being able to have a voice, and what's more, a voice that is not passive. Through art making and exchanging Yelling Clinic wants to reframe what it means to be both disabled and a victim of war.

The Impact

One might wonder why Yelling Clinic wants our first project to be centered around a war that ended decades ago. Why focus on Agent Orange when such dangerous toxins as perchlorate and depleted uranium are currently being used in wars all over the world? Although there is a large body of research already available on Agent Orange, our research will be the first that we know of to examine the issues through a disability studies lens. Agent Orange is one of the only war chemicals to have entered into the American public's imagination -it has become a notorious symbol of the horrors of war. Along with entering into the American lexicon, the term Agent Orange has become a cultural signifier. Yelling Clinic wants to work in Vietnam because the problem of Agent Orange goes beyond its symbolic meaning. Yelling Clinic hopes that through exposing and exploring history, new ways of perceiving our world�s current wars and use of chemical weapons may be achieved. 

What We Need & What You Get

Although we have already secured airline tickets for this trip, there are countless details, from vaccinations to interpreters to art supplies, that are quickly adding up. Two of Yelling Clinic�s members use wheelchairs, and we are aware that access is extremely difficult in Vietnam �this reality adds to our overhead. The majority of the funding we seek will go towards the cost of translators and accessible transportation while in Vietnam, along with equipment such as a camera and tri-pod. We are also looking to cover the costs of art materials while in Vietnam and the cost of bringing artwork by disabled Vietnamese artists to the Bay Area to be exhibited alongside Yelling Clinic�s work at the Berkeley Art Center this Spring. Below is a breakdown of our costs and needs. We hope you can help us out!  

$400.00 Interpreters while in Vietnam

$500 driver & rental of accessible van (2 wheelchairs in the group)

$1500 supplies and materials including sound and video equipment

$800 shipping of art work of Vietnamese artists

$400 community outreach panels and publicity at Berkeley Art Center

$400 miscellaneous expenses including travel guides, medicines, vaccinations, and so forth

Other Ways You Can Help

Please share this as widely as you can! We know that 21 days is not long for a funding campaign! Anything helps!