NEW YORK - Are you a performer? An artist? Simply an arts lover or someone with creative flair? Then here's your chance to interact - directly, and in real time - with two acclaimed artists, and explore the role of performance and collaboration in contemporary art and everyday life. On June 23, from 8:00-9:30 pm (EST), PBS, the 92StreetY Tribeca (92YTribeca) and the non-profit Art21 present The Present Perfect with Art21, a simultaneously live and online event that brings artists and the public together in a creative process like never before.
A live audience at 92StreetY Tribeca in New York City will be joined by a national online audience at video.pbs.org/live/ to experience and participate in a dynamic exploration of collaboration and creativity with artists Laurie Simmons and Oliver Herring. The event will be moderated by Robert MacNeil, iconic host of the former MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour on PBS.
From recent interactive museum exhibitions to flash mob "happenings" on YouTube, the act of performance has become a renewed, powerful force in art and culture, influencing artists and the general public in myriad ways. "With The Present Perfect, we're revealing how contemporary art intersects with, and informs, the culture of our time, as well as providing an opportunity for audiences to explore their own creativity." says Art21 Managing Director Eve Moros Ortega.
Pre-event, the public is invited to connect with the artists by uploading video responses and submitting comments about artist statements, videos, photographs and more.
Artist Oliver Herring creates impromptu, performance-oriented videos featuring friends and strangers. This event is an opportunity for anyone to participate in one of Herring's projects. Using instructions found at art21.org/thepresentperfect/event/, Herring invites willing participants to upload videos of themselves performing his dance moves, and to post choreographic instructions of their own. In-person audiences will be encouraged to get involved on stage, responding to Herring's video and those submitted by others.
Simmons' work includes elaborately staged narrative photographs using dolls to act out scenarios within specially constructed spaces. She will release advance images of her latest work at art21.org/thepresentperfect/event/, as well as a sneak preview of the film Tiny Furniture (directed by her daughter, Lena Dunham), in which she stars. Simmons hopes to prompt questions in advance and during the event that she will answer live.
The Present Perfect on-site event is free but advanced registration is required (find pre-event details at art21.org/thepresentperfect/event/). Online participation that evening is free from anywhere in the United States at video.pbs.org/live/.
The Present Perfect with Art21 is part of PBS' effort to make the arts and the creative process accessible to the broadest possible audience--on-air, online, and in person.
Support Funding for The Present Perfect with Art21 is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS.
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About Art21
Art21 is a non-profit organization that illuminates the creative process of today's visual artists through the production of documentary films, interpretive media, and live programs that stimulate critical reflection as well as conversation. Art21 offers an independent, behind-the-scenes point of view on contemporary art and artists, producing historically relevant primary source materials of the highest quality, exemplified by the Peabody Award-winning documentary series, Art:21-Art in the Twenty-First Century, now in its fifth season on PBS. Based in New York City but with a global reach on television and online, Art21's additional projects include workshops for teachers; public screenings and lectures; and a blog and social media initiatives.
About PBS
PBS, with its nearly 360 member stations, offers all Americans - from every walk of life - the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches more than 110 million people through television and nearly 19 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS' broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry's most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS' premier children's TV programming and its Web site, pbskids.org, are parents' and teachers' most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.
MEDIA NOTE: For photos, interviews and further information, contact:
Jenny Brod or John Michael Kennedy, Goodman Media International
jmkennedy@goodmanmedia.com
212-576-2700
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