Filed under: Events, Hope | Tags: American Dream, Events, Hope, Kristin Marting, Lush Valley, Think Tanks
Join us for our sixth of eight community THINK TANK sessions on Sunday, December 5 from 3pm-6pm which will delve into the concept of HOPE . These Think Tanks are open to the public and are a cross between Town Hall and Open Space format. We are looking to have a diverse group of folks at each event – we are looking for artists, alternative thinkers, educators, activists, social workers, HR, lawyers, parents, politicians and anyone else who is interested. Please come – and if you know someone who fits this description and might enjoy this event, please forward. This is our last think tank until February or March! Please note: this event will be held at HERE’s Rehearsal Space, 75 Varick at Canal Street. Please bring ID for entry into building. If you would like to attend, please email lushvalley@here.org to rsvp. |
Filed under: Narrative | Tags: About, American Dream, Kristin Marting, Lush Valley, Tal Yarden, Yana Landowne
This is the LUSH VALLEY blog. An interactive live art event, LUSH VALLEY invites audience members to abandon their spectator hats and become key players in shaping an alternative national ethos through real-time video interviews, citizenship tests, lectures, voting and historical hallucinations. Have a hand in building LUSH VALLEY, your own idyllic-yet-realizable society, and rediscover this country as the home of differences.
LUSH VALLEY is set in a government office staffed by eight immigration officers who process audience members nightly for citizenship to Lush Valley. The LUSH VALLEY experience features everything from intimate monologues delivered to individual audience members to surreal comic book group scenes and choreographed sequences of bureaucratic alienation performed by the entire company. Within this complex framework, a narrative built around the hopes and worries of a cadre of immigration officers transpires as they question each other’s motives and ethics in granting and denying citizenship. During the show each night, real-time audience feedback shared through person-to-person interaction, texting, on-site kiosks and online social media is incorporated into the proceedings. This production has evolved through a very open, public collaboration that helped define the project through online dialogue (via blog and facebook), in-person community think tanks, video interviews and public art actions.
Director Kristin Marting, dramaturg Yana Landowne, and video artist Tal Yarden (along with writers Robert Lyons and Qui Nguyen and designers Oana Botez, Chris Kuhl, Clint Ramos, and Jane Shaw) created LUSH VALLEY, a live art participatory performance that chases the elusive idea of the American Dream. The performance began in April 2010 with our first think tank & continued through our premiere on September 11, 2011 at HERE. We are currently planning a tour to 3-5 American cities leading up to the 2012 election.
