Fwd: ULTRA-RED RETURNS FROM SILENT|LISTEN AT THE ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO

Begin forwarded message:
>
> ULTRA-RED PRESENTS PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITION OF SILENT|LISTEN AT
> THE ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO IN TORONTO TO COINCIDE WITH THE XVI
> INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE.
>
> Following performances of SILENT|LISTEN at art institutions in
> Baltimore, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Banff (Canada), Carbondale
> (Illinois) and Montreal, Ultra-red arrived in Toronto in time for
> the XVI International AIDS Conference. For four weeks in July,
> Ultra-red members Janna Graham and Dont Rhine visited with numerous
> AIDS service organizations in Toronto, learning about the local
> AIDS crisis and inviting activists and organizers to a performance
> of SILENT|LISTEN on August 9 at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).
> With the assistance of AGO educator and AIDS activist Syrus Ware,
> Ultra-red met with twenty different organizations. For the seventh
> performance of SILENT|LISTEN, the record was opened with statements
> from Winston Husbands of the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/
> AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) as well as Zoe Dodd a harm reduction
> activist with Street Health. The event was attended by sixty-five
> people with additional statements entered into the record by a
> representative of the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention
> (ASAAP), Syrus speaking on behalf of the Prisoner's Justice Action
> Committee played an audio taped statement from Pete Collins, an
> incarcerated man who does AIDS activism within the prison and as a
> member of Prisoners' HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN).
>
> The Toronto performance of SILENT|LISTEN took place in the same
> gallery space where Ultra-red would eventually install the SILENT|
> LISTEN exhibition on August 16.
>
> Then on Monday, August 14, Ultra-red presented a special expanded
> edition of the SILENT|LISTEN performance. The performance took
> place at the AGO on the second day of the International AIDS
> Conference. Whereas previous presentations featured one large table
> where people approach and enter statements into the record, for the
> August 14 event, we set up seven identical tables. To help
> facilitate the seven tables, Ultra-red enlisted participants from
> each of the previous SILENT|LISTEN performances. These individuals
> included: Syrus Ware (Toronto), Rick Wadlow and Rich Klinkerfus
> (Carbondale, Illinois), Cynthia (Montreal), Shennod Moore
> (Pittsburgh), Nicole Neve (Banff, Alberta), and Pedro Soto (Los
> Angeles). [We had hoped to be joined by Valerie Spenser from Los
> Angeles, but she was not able to make the trip due to travel
> complications. Since those who participated in the Baltimore
> performance had scheduling conflicts preventing them from joining
> us in Toronto, Ultra-red's Robert Sember facilitated the Baltimore
> table.] Each of these facilitators headed their own table and
> followed the exact same script that has determined the agenda for
> the majority of SILENT|LISTEN performances: inviting special guests
> and audience members to enter statements into the record of the
> AIDS crisis. Cynthia facilitated her table in French, while Pedro
> facilitated his in Spanish.
>
> Processing the record at the seven tables, Ultra-red's Dont Rhine
> and Eddie Peel were joined by five Toronto-based electronic
> musicians: Reena Katz, Scott Kerr, Isabelle Noel, Sandro Perri, and
> Andrew Zealley.
>
> For the August 14 event, the record received statements from nearly
> thirty individuals who joined us directly from the AIDS conference.
> Speaking in a myriad of languages, these special guests spoke of
> the AIDS crisis in South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Poland, Vietnam,
> India, Peru, Holland, Puerto Rico, Mexico, United States, and
> Canada. The event proved enormously powerful, and continues to
> provoke discussion and reflection for those who joined us that
> night. In many respects, this expanded version of SILENT|LISTEN
> marked a turning point in the formal conception of the project.
> While the project has been structured around the ideas of silence
> and repetition, the August 14 performance introduced the notion of
> simultaneity into the organization of the project.
>
> On Wednesday, August 16, Ultra-red opened the installation version
> of SILENT|LISTEN at the AGO. Conceived of as the second and
> analytical phase of the project, the installation features seven
> tables and a recreation of the seven-canvas "White Painting" by
> Robert Rauschenberg. Each table features excerpts from the record
> made during each of the performances [not including the
> International performance on August 14].
>
> The installation provides Ultra-red the basis for the next step of
> the SILENT|LISTEN project which is to imagine what direct action
> might sound like based on what we've heard in the record. This
> third phase will take the form of performance that we've titled an
> "operaction." We hope the various acts of the "operaction" will
> give Ultra-red the opportunity to collaborate again with our local
> partners in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Banff, Pittsburgh, Montreal,
> Southern Illinios, and Toronto.
>
> Finally, we want to thank our Toronto allies for making our time
> there such a remarkable experience. Janna Graham, Eddie Peel, Dont
> Rhine and Robert Sember would like to thank Michele Jacques,
> Assistant Contemporary Curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario for
> being such a wonderful partner and for her deep commitment to this
> project. There were so many folks at the AGO that gave extra of
> themselves in seeing this project happen. Thanks to each and every
> one of you. Also thanks to our various community partners in
> Toronto for opening your doors and telling us about the remarkable
> work being done to bring an end to the AIDS crisis. Special thanks
> to PASAN, ACCHO, Voices of Positive Women, ASAAP, Street Health,
> HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic of Ontario, Fife House, Casey House, Support
> Our Youth, PWA Foundation, AIDS Action Now, and 2-Spirited People
> of the First Nations. Thanks to our dear friends Michael, Jessica,
> Paulette and Michael for opening your spare bedrooms and for giving
> Eddie and Dont a home away from home. Thanks to our allies at Art
> Metropole and to Will Munroe for organizing a special night of
> performances at the Beaver Cafe during our time in Toronto.
> Sometimes the best form of therapy is disco music all night long.
> We also want to thank Andrew Zealley for introducing us to an
> excellent group of musicians who really brought the International
> record to life. Finally, thanks to our friends who came to Toronto
> to help us facilitate the August 14 performance, and to our
> musician comrades for processing the record. We were inspired by
> your enthusiasm for the project and your commitment to the profound
> listening that arises from silence.
>
> Best regards,
> Dont Rhine
> Information Secretary, Ultra-red
>
>
>
> www.ultrared.org
> www.publicrec.org
> [email protected]
>
> Ultra-red
> PO Box 291578
> Los Angeles, CA 90029 USA