Plazaville : Evolution Stage 1

Plazaville : Evolution Stage 1 -

Seven new episodes of Plazaville are available on the Turbulence Web site http://transition.turbulence.org/Works/plazaville

A fresh crop of young actors are premiering on the web in this series.They are George Spaeth as Lemme Caution, Bryant Mason as Henry Dickson, Patrick Porter as the Chief Engineer, Kate Kertez Playing Seductress # 2 and a Labcoated Technician, Scott Curtis as Professor Eckle, Kelly Howe as another labcoated technician and Raphaele Shirley as a technician and a driver. Don’t miss Juan Cardenas as the Hotel Clerk in the episode Sleazy Hotel. Christina McPhee has created special ambient works that counterpoint the high punk drama pursued by G.H. Hovagimyan and the actors. Coming in the next couple of weeks a fantastic portrayal of Natasha Von Braun by the acclaimed actress Lanna Joffrey and Thomas Hutchison as the cold Dr. Von Braun.

Plazaville is a new media video artwork, it is based on the classic 1965 movie Alphaville by Jean Luc Godard. It is set in 21st century New York City. The scenes from the original Alphaville are being re-enacted, interpreted and improvised upon by the artists, actors and videographers. The piece uses the internet as one means of distributing the short video clips. This is somewhat like a serialized program but is not in any order. Viewers can download new scenes as they become available on the Turbulence website as well as iTunes and youTube. The videos can be viewed on computers, iPhones and large screen HD televisions (using AppleTV). The final presentation of the work is a video projection/ installation work at Pace Digital Gallery scheduled for April 2009 http://csis.pace.edu/digitalgallery/. The installation will not be a standard video loop but will use a computer as a video server. Each of the scenes will be put into a video playlist that is set to random select. The video will be assembled on the fly breaking the traditional notion of linear narrative. The piece is a truly hypertextual/ hypermedia artwork that has an affinity with the meandering narrative that is a key device of graphic novels. The viewer entering the installation will assemble the story in their mind and imagination.

This work involves a loose collaborative of Artists in New York called Artists Meeting. The members are participating in the work as actors, camera-persons, set designers etc. G.H. Hovagimyan is the director and Christina McPhee has added her superb camera work and improvisational narratives to several performance set-ups. Indeed, this work extends the notion of video-performance by using the idea of a movie shoot as vehicle for ephemeral performance art. Hovagimyan has also enlisted the help of several talented young actors to play the key roles and Raphaele Shirley, one of the New York Fringe Festival originators has thrown her production experience into the mix as a location/project manager and sometimes actress.

Plazaville is a 2009 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Additional Support for Plazaville is made possible by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Swing Space program, which was created with lead support from the September 11th Fund. Project space is donated by The Sapir Organization."



You may access the current scenes of Alphaville via computer at:

RSS feed via web browser – http://transition.turbulence.org/Works/plazaville/index.xml

Computer via internet –
http://transition.turbulence.org/Works/plazaville/index.html

iTunes –
log onto the iTunes store and search for Plazaville Series

YouTube -
http://www.youtube.com/user/ghovagimyan