In this first installment of a series of "conspiracy portals" we explore the origins, manipulations and manufacturings of cultural and political phenomena in America through Gwendolyn Brooks's seminal poem "We Real Cool". Although written in 1960, Gwendolyn's words and voice stand stronger than ever as a lyrical testament to the continued oppression and injustices inflicted upon marginalized communities, especially Black, Brown, Indigenous, Immigrant and LGBTQI+ folks in this country--in other words, the true originators of "cool" culture which has continued to be co-opted and exploited by the colonialist machine that runs this avaricious age of late capitalism, white supremacy and the linked prison and military industrial complexes leading to our monopoly of technological advancement.

Portal #001 (installed at the Los Angeles Punk Museum's final show in its downtown location) is our dissenting, swirling immersion into this continuous cycle of creation and destruction.