Summer of Love 2.0

Patrick Lichty (w/Second Front, Janell Baxter, T. Burtonwood, and many others)
“Summer of Love 2.0”: A Durational Social Media Performance
July 7-12+, 2009 Noon-5PM in gallery,
Daily performances from 2-3 PM by Second Front
Group Hug Panoramic Photos, Jul.12, 3 PM Outside
Special Events all through the week. Look at the Facebook page for the most info.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
and:
In Second Life:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/I\%20AM\%20Columbia/58/52/22
On Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/patlichty
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=80802449721
On Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/summeroflove20
On Flickr, Delicious, Digg, youtube, you3b:
summeroflove20
On Twitter & Yahoo IM:
patlichty
Email:
plichty aht colum dot edu
GENERAL CONCEPT
For the period of time, I am performing a durational/relational piece about Social Media asking, “What is Love?” After seeing an ad campaign by Macy’s with pure-looking hippie girls selling the “Summer of Love”, and the YouTube video talking about “2.0”, I’ve come to wonder about what love has become since 1967. Has it merely become a marketing tool for collectivized individuality, or can we still love one another? The concept of togetherness in the age of networked society is complex, but perhaps we can derive meaning from looking at the differences between 1967 and 2009.
For seven days, I am going to make my life transparent to the Social Nets, in a loving (?) sense of Marina Abramovic’s The House with the Ocean View or Hasan Elahi’s sousveillance work. During this time, I will try to have a channel open at all times, inviting people to have a “virtual be-in” with me, and stage small happenings in the gallery.



For the Opening, Lichty and Virtual performance Art Group, Second Front will perform an interpretation of Lennon & Ono’s “Bed Piece” in Second Life, projected live in the gallery.
Each day at the MCA, I will attend from 12-5 every day:
12-1 - pin up prints of activity from the previous day, set out today’s questions, set up computers
1-2- Invite conversation, dialogue, actions, based on the day’s questions.
2-3 - Lead a daily action in Second Life with the performance group, Second Front
3-4 - Daily hug session: Perform the “Hug Piece (after Buscaglia)” in Second Life and in the gallery.
4-5- Docent the performance, greet, wrap up for the day.
The days questions will look at:
19672009Date
Summer of Love`Love 2.0July 7-8
Spaceship Earth (outer)Cyberspace (Inner)July 8
The Earth MovementSustainabilityJuly 9
Global VillageSurveillanceJuly 10
Vietnam WarIraq WarJuly 11
More Love & Panoramic group photo outside, 3pmJuly 12