Rhizome Presents: CompUSA Live Season 2 Premiere
Rhizome members: $10 (email [email protected] for discount code)
The “original live desktop theater internet television show” comes to the New Museum for a one-night engagement. This event is presented alongside an online exhibition of CompUSA Live as part of the series First Look: New Art Online, co-presented by Rhizome and the New Museum.
Formed as part of the experimental online channel 8Ball TV, CompUSA Live’s creators describe it as “the original live desktop theater internet television show.” Streamed episodically on a website that resembles the desktop of a Windows2000 computer, the show features segments that include surly anti-comedy standup monologues, songs performed in CGI landscapes, sudden interruptions from oddly dressed members of the studio audience, and dramatic behind-the-scenes footage of infighting among the show’s makers.
But CompUSA Live is more than just an unhinged remake of The Muppet Show —through the use of custom software and web interfaces, it aims to rewrite the underlying relationship between viewer, performer, and computer user. After concluding Season 1 with the launch of a highly dubious cryptocurrency, the CompUSA Live team will make a fresh start for Season 2 with this newly commissioned live performance at the New Museum and on the web.
CompUSA Live was created by Mark Fingerhut, Tommi Kelly, and Michael Walker. For additional information about the show, visit www.compusa.live.
Sponsors
Major support for First Look is provided by the Neeson/Edlis Artist Commissions Fund.
Additional support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Further support is provided by the Toby Devan Lewis Emerging Artists Exhibitions Fund.
New Museum and Rhizome public programs are supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
CompUSA Live received a grant as part of the 2019 Rhizome Commissions Program, which is supported by Jerome Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.