In the second volume of the CCA Singles series, Robert J. Kett revisits the Indigenous occupation of Alcatraz Island from 1969 to 1971 and uncovers other designs for the Rock from within the counterculture.

This book is the result of Kett’s participation in the CCA Emerging Curator program, which aims to  take the institution’s curatorial work into unexplored territories.

Kett, an anthropologist and curator based in California, pointed to the need to study the confluence of new media practices and the influence of Indigenous culture in the design work of the American counterculture: looking back at this moment, he suggested, would open new perspectives on contemporary debates concerning cultural appropriation and design methodology. By offering the CCA the chance to explore these questions, the project also identified important gaps in its collection and programming regarding the presence of Indigenous voices.

CCA Singles are short printed one-offs that present one voice, one object, or one event. Ranging from raw source material to edited topical reflections, they propose intimate contact with ideas generated or collected at the CCA.

Robert J. Kett
Design by NORM, Zurich
Printed by Druckerei zu Altenburg (DZA)
15.4 x 23.1 cm, 64 pages

CCA Singles are supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts

Listen to an introduction to the project by Robert J. Kett

Listen to a conversation between LaNada War Jack and Robert J. Kett

LaNada War Jack (Shoshone Bannock) was a leader of the Third World Liberation Front at the University of California, Berkeley and the Occupation of Alcatraz, an action that reclaimed the island for nineteen months from 1969 to 1971 to protest past and present colonial policies in the United States and propose a new future for the island as a center for Indigenous culture. In this conversation, War Jack speaks with Robert J. Kett about her activism and her recent book, Native Resistance: An Intergenerational Fight for Survival and Life.

Other volumes in this series: Documents from Gordon Matta-Clark's personal library