The Denver Office of Cultural Affairs will present Dialog:City: An Event Converging Art, Democracy and Digital Media, an official public program of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee, August 21 through August 29.
World-renowned artists, ranging from a MacArthur Fellow to a leading “green” design faculty member, will come together to create a series of innovative commissioned works in conjunction with local organizations. Events and exhibitions will take place at locations throughout the city.
Dialog:City artists include:
· Charlie Cannon and students from the Rhode Island School of Design Innovation Studios (representing numerous states/countries)
· Minsuk Cho (South Korea)
· R. Luke Dubois (New York)
· Ann Hamilton (Ohio)
· Sharon Hayes (New York)
· Lynn Hershman Leeson (California)
· D.J. Spooky, a.k.a. Paul Miller (New York)
· Daniel Peltz (Rhode Island)
· spurse collective (representing numerous states/countries)
· Krzysztof Wodiczko (Poland/United States)
Dialog:City events include:
Dialog:Denver
Opening Reception
Robischon Gallery
1740 Wazee St.
Aug. 21, 6-8pm
Robischon Gallery presents a group exhibition featuring works by Dialog:City commissioned artists and 16 noted local artists: Jack Balas, Zach Burk, Albert Chong, Francoise Duresse, Gary Emrich, Chuck Forsman, Carlos Fresquez, Jill Hadley Hooper, Jerry Kunkel, Terry Maker, Sarah McKenzie, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Kevin O’Connell, Bruce Price, Floyd Tunson and Rebecca Vaughan. The exhibition will run August 16 through September 20. Through a collaboration between Dialog:City and The UnConvention, these Colorado artists will also be part of The Unconvention’s My Yard, Our Message project during the Republican National Convention.
The Karaoke Convention ’08
Launch Event
Supreme Court Café & Nightclub
1550 Court Pl.
Aug. 21, 8-11pm
This civic karaoke campaign, designed by artist Daniel Peltz, utilizes digital media to translate a dozen Republican and Democratic Presidential Candidate addresses from the 2008 campaigns into karaoke formats, allowing citizens to reenact them at local “Karaoke Convention Centers”—i.e., karaoke bars around Denver that will feature the project. Members of the public are invited to get closer to the story of this historic campaign by, for example, performing a speech thanking New Hampshire for a win or dropping out of the race in Louisiana. The launch event for this week-long project, hosted by local karaoke VJs from Alien Entertainment, will include performances by Mayor John Hickenlooper, Congressman Mark Udall, State Senator Joan Fitz-Gerald and Ray Rivera, Colorado State Director for Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign. A list of “Karaoke Convention Centers” will be available soon at www.dialogcity.org. To participate in presenting The Karaoke Convention ’08 at your establishment, contact Kathy Knaus at kathykaraoke08@gmail.com or 303-717-6735 and Alien Entertainment at 303-960-7647.
The Veteran Vehicle Project
Opening Event
14th St. and Grant St.
Aug. 22, 8:30-10pm
Krzysztof Wodiczko premieres the Veteran Vehicle Project, a new media sculpture that transforms a Humvee into a traveling media projection vehicle, telling the stories of Denver homeless veterans. Working collaboratively with more than 40 Denver-based veterans, Wodiczko’s multimedia project will offer intimate portraits of their experience through audio and text projection. The project will be presented at dusk from August 22 through August 26.
Air Forest
City Park
Behind the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, in the meadow area along the lake
Aug. 26-29, 10am-6pm.
This one-of-a-kind temporary architectural pavilion by Minsuk Cho is designed as a pneumatic hot air balloon-like structure that levitates by the compression of air.
Yoga Health Festival at Air Forest
Aug. 24-25, 9am-6pm
This two-day festival includes workshops, events and presentations for families.
ArtLab at Air Forest
Aug. 27, 6-7pm
A presentation of Throwaway/Runaway, a play about teen homelessness. Written by ArtLab youth. Directed by José Mercado.
Partly Sunny: Designs to Change the Forecast
Opening Reception
Denver Pavilions
16th St., west side, between Welton St. and Tremont St.
Aug. 24, 11am-4pm
Charlie Cannon and the Rhode Island School of Design Innovation Studios present Partly Sunny: Designs to Change the Forecast, a design showcase with supporting projects and events. In keeping with the green theme of the Democratic National Convention, Partly Sunny is focused on demonstrating what we can do now to address the challenges posed by climate change. The display will run August 25 through August 29, 10am-6pm.
Terra Nova: The Antarctica Suite
Opening Performance
Ellie Caulkins Opera House
14th St. and Curtis St., in the Denver Performing Arts Complex
Aug. 24, 7pm
Terra Nova: The Antarctica Suite, a multimedia performance work by DJ Spooky, aka Paul Miller, is an acoustic portrait of a rapidly changing continent. Terra Nova transforms Miller’s first-person encounter with the harsh, dynamic landscape into multimedia portraits with music composed from the different geographies that make up the land mass. Miller’s field recordings from a portable studio, set up to capture the acoustic qualities of Antarctic ice forms, reflect a changing environment under duress. Coupled with visual material from Getty Images’ vast collection, Terra Nova is a 70-minute performance, creating a unique and powerful moment around man’s relationship with nature.
Hindsight is Always 20/20
Denver Performing Arts Complex
14th St. and Curtis St.
Aug. 26-29, 10am-6pm
This work by R. Luke DuBois examines the history of American political discourse through the metaphor of vision. Drawing from the annual State of the Union addresses given by Presidents to Congress, Hindsight consists of a single Snellen-style eye chart for each President. Instead of the typical characters present in an eye chart, DuBois’ piece employs words drawn from their speeches, presented in order of most frequent (top line) to least frequent (bottom line). The result is a startlingly clear snapshot of the lexicon of each Presidency, containing a mix of historically topical keywords and rhetoric unique to each President and the time period in which they served in office.
Circle of O’s
Opening Performance
Location TBD (16th St. Mall or Denver Performing Arts Complex)
Aug. 25, 5pm
Ann Hamilton launches her collaborative work with Denver-based choirs, choreographers and composers, celebrating this historic moment through movements along 16th Street downtown. This newly composed song is drawn from the phrases, pace and spirit of Ralph Waldo Emerson writings imagining the new American voice. Live Denver choirs and pre-recorded sound will lead this unique movement through several stages.
Green Constitutional Congress: a symposium on the future of environmental action
Buell Theatre
14th St. and Curtis St., in the Denver Performing Arts Complex
Aug. 25, 6-8pm
In partnership with the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center’s Presidential Climate Action Project, Dialog:City presents Green Constitutional Congress: a symposium on the future of environmental action. Prompted by Charlie Cannon and the Rhode Island School of Design Innovation Studio’s Partly Sunny, the public symposium brings together national leaders who are working to ensure our environmental and energy future. Participants will present their work and discuss how they came to be engaged in this socially entrepreneurial practice. Confirmed participants include David Orr, Oberlin College, Senator Gary Hart and Charlie Cannon, Rhode Island School of Design Innovation Studios. Special guest Bruce Mau, renowned designer and creator of the Massive Change project, will introduce the symposium.
Dialog:City Responses
Opening Reception
PS1 Charter School
1062 Delaware St.
Aug. 26, 6-8pm
This exhibition of 12 PS1 Charter School student responses to Dialog:City will run August 22 through August 31. Local teachers and artists participating in the exhibit include Abbey Byrne, Katie Hoffman, Harry Lyrico, Xander Point-Zollo, Elaine Scheffler, Susan Vaho and Ravi Zupa. (Note: This exhibition will also be on display at NEXT Gallery from August 1 through August 17.)
Revolutionary Love: I Am Your Worst Fear
Launch Performance
16th St. Mall, between Welton St. and California St.
Aug. 27, 5pm
Sharon Hayes will gather 100 people at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions to read a text in unison addressing political desire and romantic love as part of Creative Time’s summer-long, national public art initiative Democracy in America: The National Campaign. To take back the queer agenda and forefront the personal in these fortresses of the political, Creative Time has joined forces with Dialog:City in Denver and Walker Art Center and The UnConvention in Minneapolis – St. Paul. Conflating grassroots political activism, performance art, queer theory and national politics, Hayes’ two large-scale public performances will include speakers drawn from the gay, lesbian, and transgendered community in each city. They will become the medium of her work by reciting the text written by Hayes. The 10- to 20-minute texts will be read three times over the course of two hours.
Artificial Intelligence is Better than No Intelligence
Opening Reception
The Lab of Art + Ideas at Belmar
404 S. Upham St., Lakewood
Aug. 28, 5-8pm
The opening reception for Lynn Hershman Leeson’s Artificial Intelligence is Better than No Intelligence will take place from 5-6:30pm. The subject of Leeson’s work is an artificially intelligent and fully interactive personality named DiNA, who is running for president. With her brain connected to the Internet, DiNA charismatically answers any question you might have. The reception will be followed by The Lab’s Mixed Taste lecture program celebration from 6:30-8pm, featuring Lynn Hershman Leeson. $5 tickets can be purchased at The Lab for the Mixed Taste portion of the event. The exhibit will run August 24 through August 29.
spurse collective
The spurse collective is designing a unique cultural and environmental map of the Denver metro area. This walking tour will locate what spurse calls “entanglements.” Entanglements are moments or demonstrations of large-scale forces coming together to create ecological dialogues. Whether, for example, it’s a new migration pattern of animals becoming visible locally or shifting streams and paths of water, this map will re-introduce you to a Denver that is evolving. Maps will be distributed across the city as free artistic prints.
Focus on Education
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) faculty and staff Julie Pollack, Bruce Price, Kelly Britt Webb and Rebecca Vaughan are working with Dialog:City commissioned artists Charlie Cannon, Ann Hamilton and Daniel Peltz and more than 40 students to activate the artists’ respective exhibitions. The experience will serve as real time case studies for the students through summer courses, internships and independent research.
More than 35 youth from PlatteForum and PS1 Charter School are involved in unique Dialog:City summer curriculum and programs. Through this partnership, students have the opportunity to serve as Dialog:City docents, experiment with site-specificity, take a workshop on public art and exhibit their own work in response to Dialog:City.
Dialog:City will make available education guides to accompany each of the exhibitions. These guides are designed to give educators and community members ways to explore ideas and topics within each Dialog:City exhibition, as well as to learn about the individual artists. The guides will be available at www.dialogcity.org starting August 4.
To learn about becoming a Dialog:City docent, or to schedule a tour of any of the exhibits, contact Liz Newton at elizabeth.newton@denvergov.org.
For more information on Dialog:City, visit DialogCity.org.
