Subject: Fwd: Larry Litt's Blame Show taping in Glasgow Date: Wed, 24 Sep 03 11:22:09 +0100 From: Malcolm Dickson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ambit" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I got a call from the guy who is doing this project yesterday so all very short notice - I'm sending this on in case any of you might be passing the CCA today between 1 and 6 when Larry Litt will be doing short interviews with people in the foyer for an arts cum documentary project on 'What you are willing to die for'. There is an anti-war theme there as the text describes.
best Malcolm
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Peace and Pleasure,
Larry Litt
The Blame Show:
To Die For?
The Blame Show began in October 2001 when New York based media artist Larry Litt started to use new media technologies to record and disseminate the diversity of views within the realm of public opinion. The impetus behind this initiative arose from the perception that the links between the media and feelings of fear, uncertainty and disenchantment have particularly negative consequences for democracy and citizenship. By capturing ordinary views about the global, political and economic issues which impact on everyday life The Blame Show provides an opportunity to explore these links. By making what people say into something to look at and evaluate, The Blame Show seeks to test the democratic potential of new media.
Using video portraits of individual speakers each edition of The Blame Show is themed around a specific question and is produced and exhibited in a particular location. The first, Dissent = Freedom, addressed the question �Who do you blame?� without stating any specific event or cause. It was commissioned by White Box alternative arts space in Manhattan and shown in May 2002. The second, Polite, Politic, and Political, posed the question �Who do you blame for our insecurity?� in a similarly open-ended manner. It was commissioned and exhibited by the Queens Museum of Art in September 2002. The third, Before You Don�t Vote, commissioned and exhibited by the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art in July 2003, addressed the question, �Who�s to blame for voter apathy?�
Currently, Litt is taping interviews for To Die For? the fourth edition of The Blame Show, on the theme of �What are you willing to die for?�. This will depart from the previous format by extending the production and exhibition of the show across a network of locations, beginning in Washington D.C. and Charleston, South Carolina, and New York, moving through London and Sydney. After exploratory taping in Edinburgh and Glasgow The Blame Show is negotiating to work with spaces for production and exhibition in these cities for Autumn 2004.
The location is usually the main site through which participants are recruited. Once sufficient interviews are collected the tapes are edited and then exhibited in DVD multi-monitor installation. The Blame Show also facilitates activities and events to accompany the installation such as talks on media and political activism, workshops, and panel discussions and debates. The Blame Show DVD will also be available for use in educational and similar institutions and organisations when the installation is completed.
For further information including a DVD availability, a reviews package, biography and other supporting documentation please contact Larry Litt on (001) 718 478 2929 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In Scotland the local agent for The Blame Show is Jeremy Valentine who can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
THE BLAME SHOW is taping "TO DIE FOR?" Produced and Directed by Larry Litt
We'd like to interview you for our new video which seeks diverse answers to the question, "What are you willing to die for?"
It won't take long. We know most people would die for their families. Besides that, we want to know what else you'd end it all for, from the serious to the absurd, perhaps economic opportunity, religion, morality, country, friendship, freedom, political philosophy, a decent or indecent society, your lover, conspiracy theories, integration, segregation, and assorted personal experiences for this video.
Monosylabic responses aren�t very interesting, unless they�re followed by a complete thought. Please answer in complete sentences. After you've been interviewed, complete and sign the videographic model release before you go.
Ken Johnson�s New York Times arts section review on August 23, 2002: �Works of note include Larry Litt's wryly conceived, politically provocative videotape "The Blame Show," made up of clips from interviews conducted by the artist in which unnamed private citizens denounce public figures and institutions or blame themselves for the current state of public affairs.�
This video's title comes from my priority interview question, "What are you willing to die for?" Here are some of the other questions I may ask interviewees in this video:
When are you willing to die for whatever reasons?
Could you be a suicide bomber or assassin?
Would you have a public, symbolic target or will anyplace will make your statement?
In your current mind what could push you to that act?
What would stop you from acts of violence?
What could stop others from acts of violence?
Is dying for a cause romantic or spiritual or stupid?
Do you think about acts of violence?
Dare you be specific and reveal violent thoughts in these paranoid times?
For more information e-mail Larry Litt at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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