ACT UP Oral History Project Interview of Patrick Moore - Comprehensive Notes

Personal Information and Early Awareness of AIDS

• Patrick Moore was interviewed on January 14, 2003, in West Hollywood, California.
• At the time of the interview, he was 40 years old.
• Moore doesn't recall the first time he heard the word "AIDS" but estimates it was during his freshman year at Carnegie Mellon.
• He had pre-existing anxieties about STDs, which were heightened with the emergence of AIDS.
• AIDS became a personal concern upon moving to New York in 1984 or 1985, where he witnessed its impact firsthand.

Relationship Dynamics and Confronting HIV

• Moore and his lover, Dino, initially felt detached from the AIDS crisis, but this changed as they saw friends becoming sick.
• Both engaged in unsafe sexual practices despite being in a supposedly monogamous relationship.
• Fear and shame prevented them from discussing the possibility of being HIV positive.
• Dino exhibited symptoms like weight loss, but they avoided confronting the issue.
• The truth emerged during a trip to Fire Island when Dino discovered a spot on his body that resembled Kaposi's sarcoma (KS).
• They sought testing from Dr. Linda Laubenstein, a renowned AIDS doctor.
• Dino tested positive, while Moore's results were initially lost, leading him to assume he was also positive and inform his employer.

Involvement with ACT UP

• Moore's involvement with AIDS-related activism predated his personal diagnosis, including work with amfAR and ACT UP.
• Maria Maggenti introduced him to ACT UP, initially drawn by her energy and the people involved.
• His first ACT UP experience was a City Hall action, which he found incredibly compelling.
• He admired the intelligence, articulation, and aggressiveness of ACT UP members.
• He describes feeling a romantic connection to the activism of lesbians involved with ACT UP.
• Moore's initial attraction to ACT UP was more about the people than the AIDS crisis itself.

Early Activism and the Kitchen

• Moore had never participated in a demonstration before ACT UP.
• At the City Hall action, he primarily observed and took photographs.
• As PR director at The Kitchen, he commissioned Gran Fury to create a poster that connected art, gay identity, and direct action against AIDS.
• The poster's message was: “With 42,000 dead, art is no longer enough. Take direct collective action to end the AIDS crisis.”
• The Kitchen's board and artists reacted negatively to the poster, feeling co-opted and that it devalued art's role in the crisis.
• This conflict led to Moore's resignation from The Kitchen.

Shift in Priorities and Personal Connection

• ACT UP heightened the importance of AIDS in Moore's life, diminishing the significance of his work at The Kitchen.
• His commitment to ACT UP stemmed from a newfound connection to the gay community, which he had previously lacked.
• He admired both gay men and lesbians in ACT UP, finding aspirational models for himself.

Experiences Within ACT UP

• Initially, Moore found ACT UP to be an intimidating and unfriendly environment.
• He felt out of place due to the presence of experienced political activists and attractive individuals.
• His first arrest at the FDA action led to the formation of friendships within ACT UP.
• He was part of an affinity group that wore lab coats with bloody hands, symbolizing doctors and responsibility.
• The decision to get arrested was driven by a desire to meaningfully participate and a feeling of being an outsider.
• The affinity group meticulously planned their action, including creating the lab coats at The Kitchen.

Fundraising and the Million-Dollar Auction

• Moore joined the fundraising committee, leveraging his experience from Art Against AIDS at amfAR.
• He criticized amfAR's high operating costs and Mathilde Krim's benefit dinner in Chicago following the governor of Illinois's support for mandatory testing.
• The fundraising committee included Jeffrey Aronoff, Ken Silver, Charles Hovland, and later, individuals from the art world like Bob Gober.
• Robert Gober's involvement was crucial to the success of the auction, as he mobilized the art world's participation, and Mira Rubell donated the Guggenheim/SoHo space for the auction.
• The auction preparation took at least six months and involved intense dedication.

Auction Details and Impact

• A significant piece at the auction was Robert Gober's sculpture of a man’s leg coming out of a wall, which sold for 100,000.
• Thomas Mann, a Swiss collector, purchased the sculpture through a representative, and Moore bid for the house to drive up the price to the reserve.
• Other notable artists who donated included Eric Fischl, Warhol, and Liechtenstein.
• The auction did not have a catalog due to cost constraints.
• Approximately one hundred artists participated, including Meg Webster, Jeff Koons, Lorna Simpson, Barbara Kruger, and Jenny Holzer.
• The auction addressed the issue of lesser-known artists participating by including them in a silent auction.
• The event was attended by well over a thousand people, filling a large floor of a building.
• The auction raised about 1,000,000 for ACT UP (later revised to 600,000).
• Before the auction, ACT UP operated on a budget of under 100,000 a year, relying on informal donations with little oversight.

Consequences of Sudden Wealth

• The influx of funds from the auction led to internal conflicts and disarray within ACT UP.
• Moore felt a sense of ownership after dedicating six months to fundraising, which conflicted with ACT UP’s amorphous nature.
• Disagreements arose over spending priorities, such as a full-page ad in the New York Times.
• Funds were allocated to needle exchange programs and Housing Works, organizations closely tied to ACT UP.
• ACT UP paid rent for their hall at Cooper Union but had no salaries.
• A member of needle exchange stole approximately 20,000 which led to a divisive argument over whether to involve the police due to racial sensitivities.
• The theft strained Moore's relationship with ACT UP, as fundraising efforts were hampered by the controversy.

Changing Dynamics and Personal Challenges

• Moore did not receive significant recognition for his role in the successful auction.
• He formed close friendships with individuals like Tony Fehr, Bob Gober, Annie Philbin, Ken Silver, and Jeffrey Aronoff.
• Dino's diagnosis with AIDS coincided with this period, leading Moore to prioritize his care and reduce his involvement with ACT UP.
• He sought treatment information from ACT UP members like Peter Staley but found Dino passive in dealing with his illness.
• Friends from ACT UP, including Bob Gober, Annie Philbin, Brian Weil, and Charles Hovland, provided support during Dino's illness and after his death.
• Moore continued to participate in demonstrations, such as Stop the Church, even while Dino was very ill.
• He distanced himself from committee work due to the fundraising issues and his caregiving responsibilities.

Evolution of ACT UP Actions and Goals

• The effectiveness of ACT UP actions diminished as media attention waned.
• Moore preferred larger actions with broader goals over smaller, treatment-oriented actions that felt unsafe.
• He favored actions that were clever and exciting, such as protesting at the Republican National Women’s Club.
• He participated in Stop the Church, motivated by anger towards the church's perceived hypocrisy.
• He acknowledges that the action was divisive and potentially harmful despite his lack of concern for offending people at the time.

Reflections on Violence and Political Action

• Moore reflects on the role of violence in political action, noting its effectiveness in the civil rights movement.
• He believes Stop the Church alienated some supporters by creating a perception of violence, even though the action was not physically violent.
• He discusses how participation with ACT UP may have influenced a reverse affect with pushing folks away from political are because it was becoming more obscure.

Influence on Writing and Departure from ACT UP

• Moore's ACT UP experience did not significantly influence his first novel, "This Every Night," and a tacked-on ending about ACT UP felt false.
• His second book, "Iowa," was more autobiographical and written while Dino was dying, incorporating themes of AIDS and grief.
• By the time of Dino's death in 1994, Moore had largely withdrawn from ACT UP due to its divisiveness.
• He recalls Dino expressing pride in Moore's activism, which became a significant source of self-worth.

Decline of ACT UP and Shifting Focus

• ACT UP's decline in the early 1990s was attributed to exhaustion, grief, and internal conflicts.
• Some members pursued broader political goals beyond AIDS, which Moore did not share.
• He felt increasingly disconnected as ACT UP diversified and became more complex.
• The shared ethos of the original members eroded, and the organization became dominated by "crazy, angry people" with personal agendas.
• The arrival of protease inhibitors and improved treatments may have reduced the sense of urgency and personal connection among new members.

Impact on the Art World

• Moore believes the New York art world generally feigns concern for social issues but that ACT UP represented a genuine moment of engagement.
• Artists participated in ACT UP due to personal connections, a sense of safety in numbers, and ACT UP's savvy presentation and graphics.
• Gran Fury, particularly Marlene McCarty and Don Moffett, played a key role in shaping ACT UP's graphics and setting a new standard for protest aesthetics.
• ACT UP's influence on fine art is debated, with some arguing that it led to a shift away from overtly political works toward more abstract or obscure expressions.
• Powerful gay men in the art world, like Philip Yenawine, used their positions to advocate for AIDS awareness and support.

Continued Engagement with the Past

• Despite living a comfortable life in Los Angeles, Moore continues to grapple with his past experiences related to AIDS and the gay community.
• He wrote a book to remember his history, address feelings of shame, and reconcile his past with his present.
• The book was a way to integrate those experiences and feel a sense of accomplishment in his life.