US Department of Art & Technology
Washington, DC
http://www.usdat.us
Office of the Press Secretary: [email protected]
For Immediate Release: February 16, 2006
ORF'S IMMOLATION
A RITUAL ACT OF PROTEST AND PURIFICATION
Mardi Gras, New Orleans - February 28, 2006
http://www.usdat.us/immolation
WASHINGTON, DC - Secretary-at-Large Randall M. Packer announces ORF'S
IMMOLATION, a ritual act of protest and purification, presented by
the US Department of Art & Technology (US DAT) as the closing event
of Mardi Gras, New Orleans, February 28, 2006, 11:00 pm - 12:00 am
CST. ORF'S IMMOLATION will be executed by Los Angeles tenor Charles
Lane.
US DAT is leading an ambitious artistic response mobilization at
Mardi Gras to confront deteriorating social and political conditions
in America that have led to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. US DAT
will stage the spectacular immolation of Orf at Jackson Square
following a one hour multimedia walk-through from the Marigny
Triangle to the French Quarter. Images of the hurricane and its
aftermath will be projected on the caped figure of Orf while he sings
classic American songs of defiance, catharsis and rebirth. The US
Department of Art & Technology is vigilant in its efforts to recover
and reclaim what is sacred and what is at risk, what is fragile in
the unique culture of New Orleans.
ORF'S IMMOLATION is part of the ongoing project A Season in Hell (for
perilous times in post-apocalyptic America), launched on January 20,
2005 upon the Death of the Nation (Inauguration Day). At that time,
Secretary-at-Large Packer declared the entire nation a disaster area.
Since then, the full arsenal of artistic and technological resources
and capabilities of US DAT have been directed to assist and protect
those citizens who have born the brunt of this national catastrophe.
The Department is working closely with state and local artists to
assess damage, identify critical needs, and bring about forms of
artistic mediation that ensure new models and new possibilities for
social and political transformation.
We know people are suffering, and we are trying to overcome the
enormous collapse of humanity posed by the actions of the United
States Government.
ORF'S IMMOLATION Operations Team: Steven Allen (costume design), John
Anderson (video), Teague Clare (photography), Phyllis Hecht
(Eurydice), Charles Lane (Orf/tenor), Carolyn Mallory (photography),
Fernando Mares (costume design), Randall Packer (concept, direction,
music) Yauger Williams (photography)
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The US Department of Art & Technology
http://www.usdat.us
The US Department of Art and Technology is the United States
principal conduit for facilitating the artist's need to extend
aesthetic inquiry into the broader culture where ideas become real
action. It also serves the psychological and spiritual well-being of
all Americans by supporting cultural efforts that provide immunity
from the extension of new media technologies into the social sphere.
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Orf's Immolation Closes Mardi Gras, New Orleans
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Type: discussion