For the fifth consecutive year, Pratt Manhattan Gallery will welcome back the election season with Pratt Falls, a free cabaret of political satire at 7 PM on October 16, October 30, and November 6, at 144 West 14th Street, Second Floor. The cabaret is produced by political satirist Larry Litt, who is best known for his work on the political television series, The Blame Show. All events are free and open to the public and produced in conjunction with the exhibition, “Party Headquarters: Art in the Age of Political Absurdity,” curated by Eleanor Heartney and Larry Litt, on view through November 6, 2012. The exhibition and surrounding events draw attention to the social consequences of greed, the corrosive effects of money and religion in politics, the dire state of the environment, the contradictory aspirations embodied by the American Dream, and the destructive outcome of unquestioning faith in American exceptionalism.
Veg Artists Can Save the World Party
Tuesday, October 16, 7-9 PM
Participants will engage in a wild night of Fast Food Horror Stories and Foodoo Rituals. They will share vegan burgers while talking art/food politics. Attendees go home with a free vegan burger recipe book.
Artichoke Dance Company's Plastic People of the Universe
Tuesday, October 30, performance begins at 7 PM
Plastic People of the Universe examines the nature and exponential growth in our use of plastics. This deconstructed version of the work, originally created for a theatrical stage, is placed in a visual art gallery within a set created from 5,000 plastic six-pack holders, which is dismantled during the performance leaving the gallery littered with plastic.
Dancing to Democracy Election Night Watch Party
Tuesday, November 6, 7-9:30 PM
Guests will dance or cry as election night results are broadcast live in the gallery. The event will celebrate the electoral process and the closing of the exhibition “Party Headquarters: Art in the Age of Political Absurdity.”
Larry Litt is a democracy activist and political humorist who has uniquely traveled the roads between art, journalism, and filmmaking since 1974. He produced The Blame Show video and cable television series Polite, Politic, and Political, and the award-winning video Before You Don't Vote: Advice to the Angry, Apathetic, and Alienated. He has curated several political art exhibitions, has been featured in the Venice, Moscow, and Gwangju Biennales, and has performed internationally in one-person shows.
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“Party Headquarters: Art in the Age of Political Absurdity”
September 28–November 6, 2012
Pratt Manhattan Gallery
144 West 14th Street, Second Floor
Gallery Hours: Monday–Saturday, 11 AM-6 PM; Thursdays, 11 AM-8 PM
Images: Larry Litt as “Veg Shroomdog,” photo by Ian Laughlin; Artichoke Dance Co, photo by Hanna Birch.; Suspicious Package, Election Night Watch Party 2008, photo courtesy Pratt Manhattan Gallery.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Amy Aronoff at 718-636-3554 or aarono29@pratt.edu