Posted on 06/25/2002 11:06:51 AM PDT by gugen
COME ALL YE flame-eaters, snake charmers, stilt-walkers, tall-bikers, unicyclists, jugglers dancers, poets, puppeteers, clowns, costumers, performing artists, video artists, sound artists, light artists, artists of any kind, gamers, dreamers, builders, theatricians, poster/zine/book makers, movers and shakers, bakers, alarmists, thinkers, logistic kings and queens, researchers, organizers, creators and activists:
2 ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS: PROPAGANDIZING AGAINST PROPAGANDA How to be sensitive within the social/political landscape + be able to communicate dissenting ideas and gestures.
And . . . discuss participation in “The Good American” + CIRKUS TENT events for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival August 30 - September 8.
AT THE CIRKUS TENT ("THE BUMPIN' BIG TOP"):
THE GOOD AMERICAN (Performance about post-911 propaganda and the psychology of enmity involving movement, theatre, stilt-walking, video, vaudeville to dances of darkness . . . * looking for performers *)
PUPPET UPRISING (Puppet Cabaret)
FLAM CHEN (Arizona group with amazing fire and stilt-walking action)
VIDEO SCREENINGS CHEAP ART SHOW + TABLING SIDE SHOW SPECTACLES GAMES + FOOD + other ideas
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 DATES FOR SIMULTANEOUS DISCUSSIONS AND PLANNING:
SUNDAY, JUNE 23 SUNDAY, JUNE 30 1pm A-Space 4722 baltimore ave philadelphia
If you can’t make the meetings and still want to participate or if you have any questions, call: jodi 215.386.3533
••••••••••••••••••• THE GOOD AMERICAN A multi-media performance spectacle jodi netzer + The Conscious Collective
NOT ONLY ARE WE IN A WAR AGAINST "TERRORISM", WE ARE ALSO IN A WAR AGAINST IMAGES AND IDEAS. PROPAGANDA IS ITS WEAPON. PARANOIA IS ITS ARTIFACT. CENSORSHIP IS ITS CONSEQUENCE. ____________________________________________ The media is a mythmaker through selective perception and repetition. The style of spectacle and persistence makes the message fantastic and fashionable. A desensitization occurs. Generalizations and stereotypes dangerously become fact, calling for a quick emotional response. Dissenters become the outsiders and spoilers of the ‘truth’. There is a large gap between the images of war and war itself. Propaganda is the conditioning through hate-training which turns murder into patriotism with a reassurance of safety and happiness through moral and ethnic policing. And there is a nostalgia for war. Commercial advertising can also make the viewer feel personally worldly, educated, and powerful or at least wanting to be.
Messages become blurred when there is an american flag next to every logo touting of its exuding patriotism and insinuating that, if you buy into their product, you will be "The Good American".
DESCRIPTION
"The Good American" is a propaganda circus for the short-attention span ranging in style and emotion: a broadway-style singing Jesus with his gospel apostles receiving signs of God through a billboard to Butoh dancers ripping at their own flesh as victims of war. The performance analyzes the psychology of enmity through satire, vivid choreography, and visual media.
Divided into 6 parts in the vain of the propaganda posters below [GOD: ten commandments with tank coming out of roman numeral for 'honour thy father and mother', HERO: hitler gleaming, FEAR: cartoon of Japanese beast attacking American woman, SEX: glamourous woman wrapped in French flag like an evening gown, EMPATHY: mangled face of Irish political prisoner, EDUCATION: ROTC class portrait as advertisement] and modernized to fit the messages of today, this piece will prove that the war on terrorism is not a new kind of war, but rather a recycled arsenal of hate, pride, fear, and greed. The show will address how the exaggeration and dissemination of persuasive artifacts of restlessness, such as God and religion, heroism and pride, fear and demonization, sex and gender roles, empathy and security, and education and censorship, are methods of conducting misinformative cultural codes, fuels the fires of war, and creates a submissive nation.
Through dance, theatre, puppetry, mask work, stilt walking, video projections, slide animations, and live music this collaborative work targets a wide audience of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival during the 1st anniversary of 9/11.
The Good American is a world premiere. Students from Masterman High School and West Philly High will be involved in the performance to express the importance of resisting censorship and intimidation placed on the targeted youth. Literature about sustainability and a list of resources for alternative views of current/historical events and issues will be given as one of the “free gift offers” for attending the show. A cheap art show will be on site. It will be performed in a circus tent and would share the venue with the Puppet Uprising and video shorts screening along with other forms of entertainment, such as live music and side show spectacles and games, between shows. Flam Chen, a group from Arizona, will also be present with spectacular fire and stilt-walking talents. A venue with a wide assortment of happenings...
A MEANS TO AN END
Progress, by today’s terms, translates into production, consumption, and the power to oversee the process by any means necessary rather than achieving a balance between the environment, personal/communal experiences, and ideas. The piece will encourage people to reverse this pattern and to break the cycle of which blame produces blame. It will get the audience to take an active role in questioning the messages that filter through to our everyday life. And ask questions such as: Why is war an exception to “Thou shalt notkill”? What would happen if killing overseas in the act of war is as serious a crime as killing someone on the streets of Philadelphia? What if such an act is classified as a mental illness? The audience will be taken through a period of withdrawal and come out a better person– sweating out the toxinsto achieve a place of humility, understanding, and tolerance.
As a Jew (though, not at all practicing), I studied and came to understand the historical institutions of oppression. As a graphic designer and media-maker, I studied and came to understand how easy it is to tap into the human psyche. Still, I have a responsibility to end the cycle of psychological, emotional, and physical manipulation even if it means resisting government, big business, and institutionalized religion. Break violence through awareness. Let history NOT repeat itself. _________________________ "WE ARE INNOCENT. THEY ARE GUILTY. WE TELL THE TRUTH AND INFORM. THEY LIE AND USE PROPAGANDA. WE HAVE A DEFENSE DEPARTMENT. THEY HAVE A WAR DEPARTMENT." example from Sam Keen's "Faces of the Enemy"
THE GOVERNMENT, MEDIA, AND YOU- OMNISCENT, OMNIPRESENT, OMNIPOTENT ••••••••••••••••••••• contact: jodi 215.386.3533 netzer@voicenet.com
Sean
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