Hi there,
Is capitalism working for you? Let's find out together.
Artist Steve Lambert is bringing a massive illuminated sign to Times Square. His art project invites the public to vote True or False to the statement "Capitalism Works For Me!" Votes are tallied in real-time on a scorecard while humorous conversations ensue.
Known for his collaboration with The Yes Men in creating and distributing 1.2 million copies of a notorious fake "Special Edition" of The New York Times in 2008 announcing the end of the war in Iraq, artist Steve Lambert seeks to inspire debate around crucial social and political issues through spectacular artworks, from drawing to performance, public and digital art.
More info, photos & videos: http://visitsteve.com/made/capitalism-works-for-me-truefalse/
Lambert's Capitalism Works for Me! (True/False), co-commissioned by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and Times Square Arts as part of FIAF's 2013 Crossing the Line festival, will be on view Friday, September 20 from 12–5pm on Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets and Sunday, October 6 through Wednesday, October 9 from 12–7pm on Broadway between 44th and 47th Streets.
Thanks, as always, for the consideration. Press release is below.
John
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John Wyszniewski | Blake Zidell & Associates |
French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and Times Square Arts present
Capitalism Works For Me! (True/False)
Steve Lambert
Friday, September 20 from 12–5pm
Sunday, October 6 to Wednesday, October 9, from 12–7pm
Times Square
New York, New York, August 27, 2013—With a massive, attention-grabbing, illuminated scoreboard set amidst the bustle of Times Square, American artist
Steve Lambert invites the public to engage in one of the most discussed hot topics of our time by voting True or False to the statement "Capitalism works for me!"
Lambert's Capitalism Works for Me! (True/False), co-commissioned by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and Times Square Arts as part of FIAF's 2013 Crossing the Line festival, will be on view Friday, September 20 from 12–5pm on Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets and Sunday, October 6 through Wednesday, October 9 from 12–7pm on Broadway between 44th and 47th Streets.
Best known for his collaboration with prankster activists The Yes Men in creating and distributing 1.2 million copies of a notorious fake "Special Edition" of The New York Times in 2008 announcing the end of the war in Iraq, artist Steve Lambert seeks to inspire debate around crucial social and political issues through spectacular artworks, from drawing to performance, public, and digital art.
Capitalism Works for Me! (True/False) is a 20 x 9 ft illuminated sign that asks people to evaluate whether capitalism benefits them or not. A podium allows viewers to vote True or False, and the votes are tallied on a scoreboard. Humorously engaging audiences' expectations around participation, voting, and fun, the bright, dancing lights lead viewers into challenging intellectual territory, questioning the foundations of our everyday life and tackling one of society's most taboo topics.
Participants' often surprising responses will be recorded on video, in photographs, and in writing, and made available on the Crossing the Line website at fiaf.org/ctl.
"It's important to be able to laugh while actively questioning the various power structures at work in our daily lives," said Steve Lambert. "With Capitalism Works for Me! (True/False), I wanted to use art to begin a public conversation around capitalism. After crossing the U.S. with the sign and showing it in a couple of countries in Europe, I'm excited to see if capitalism is working for people at 'The Crossroads of the World.'"
"We are excited to work with the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)'s Crossing the Line festival to bring Steve Lambert to the Crossroads of the World—one of the most important commercial, urban environments where international tourists, native New Yorkers and local residents and employees mingle," said Sherry Dobbin, Director of Public Art, Times Square Alliance.
Related event:
Does Capitalism Work? Steve Lambert in Conversation with Professor Richard Wolff
& Dr. Harriet Fraad
Presented in partnership with A Blade of Grass and Times Square Arts
Wednesday, October 2 from 7–9pm
Times Square, NYC; specific venue will be emailed prior to the event
Free and open to the public – RSVP required at stevelambert.eventbrite.com
Artist Steve Lambert continues his examination of the impact of capitalism on American society in a unique dialogue with economics theorist and author Richard D. Wolff and psychologist Harriet Fraad. As co-founder and co-director of the Center for Artistic Activism, Steve Lambert is the recipient of a 2012 Organizational Grant from A Blade of Grass.
About Steve Lambert
Steve Lambert's father, a former Franciscan monk, and mother, an ex-Dominican nun, imbued the values of dedication, study, poverty, and service to others—qualities which 'prepared him for life as an artist.' Lambert made international news after the 2008 U.S. election with The New York Times "Special Edition," a replica of the "paper of record" announcing the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other good news. He has collaborated with groups from The Yes Men to the Graffiti Research Lab and Greenpeace. He is also the founder of the Center for Artistic Activism, the Anti-Advertising Agency, Add-Art (a Firefox add-on that replaces online advertising with art), and SelfControl (which blocks grownups from distracting websites so they can get work done).
Steve's projects and art works have won awards from Prix Ars Electronica, Rhizome/The New Museum, the Creative Work Fund, Adbusters Media Foundation, the California Arts Council, and others. Lambert's work has been shown everywhere from museums to protest marches nationally and internationally, featured in over fourteen books, four documentary films, and is in the collections of The Sheldon Museum, the Progressive Insurance Company, and The Library of Congress. Lambert has discussed his work live on NPR, the BBC, and CNN, and been reported on internationally in outlets including The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Guardian, Harper's Magazine, The Believer, Good, Dwell, ARTnews, Punk Planet, and Newsweek.
He was a Senior Fellow at New York's Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology from 2006–2010, developed and leads workshops for Creative Capital Foundation, and is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Purchase. Steve is a perpetual autodidact with ('if it matters') advanced degrees from a reputable art school and respected state university. He dropped out of high school in 1993.
About Richard D. Wolff
Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973–2008. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, New York City. He also teaches classes regularly at the Brecht Forum in Manhattan. Earlier he taught economics at Yale University (1967–1969) and at the City College of the City University of New York (1969–1973). In 1994, he was a Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Paris, I (Sorbonne).
His economic theories are elaborated in several books co-authored with Stephen Resnick, as well as in numerous articles by them separately and together. Professor Wolff was also among the founders in 1988 of the new academic association, Association of Economic and Social Analysis (AESA), and its quarterly journal Rethinking Marxism. His work is available at Rdwolff.com and democracyatwork.info .
About Harriet Fraad
Harriet Fraad is a New York-based psychotherapist-hypnotherapist. She has been the president of the Psychohistory Association. She is a founding member of the feminist movement, and the journal Rethinking Marxism. For forty years, she has been committed to transforming U.S. personal and political life. She is a joint author of the book Class Struggle on the Home Front (Palgrave, 2010). She also lectures and publishes widely on the social causes and consequences of psychological problems. Dr. Fraad's work deals with the interface between economy and psychology. With her husband, Richard Wolff, she coproduces the blog Economy and Psychology.
About Crossing the Line 2013
Crossing the Line is the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)'s annual fall festival, presenting interdisciplinary works and performances in New York. The festival explores the dialogue between artist and public, and examines how artists help re-imagine the world as critical thinkers and catalysts for social evolution. Crossing the Line is initiated and produced by FIAF in partnership with leading cultural institutions. The festival's seventh edition takes place this year from September 19–October 13, 2013.
Since its inauguration in 2007, Crossing the Line has cultivated an increasingly large and diverse following, and received numerous accolades in the press. The festival has been voted "Best of 2009," "Best of 2010," and "Best of 2012" by Time Out New York, Frieze, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Events at the festival have won several Bessie awards, and 2012's Habit received an Obie award for creators David Levine and Marsha Ginsberg. The New York Times states, "For terrifically unusual, unpredictable, unnameable performance, we've come to expect a lot from … the curators of the French Institute Alliance Française's interdisciplinary festival," and Time Out New York says, "This interdisciplinary festival…is one of the season's great joys … Forget about categories; this is a whirlwind of art." For more information and to purchase tickets, visit fiaf.org/ctl.
About Times Square Arts
Times Square Arts, the public art program for the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Acting as a laboratory for contemporary art in the public realm - a place where ideas are tested and new possibilities explored. We work with artists and cultural institutions to create dialogues with Times Square and all of its physical and mythological manifestations. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance's own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity. This co-commission was made possible with support from ArtWorks and ArtPlace America. Visit TimesSquareNYC.org/arts for more information. Follow us on Twitter: @TSqArts.
About A Blade of Grass
A Blade of Grass nurtures socially engaged art. We provide resources to artists who demonstrate artistic excellence and serve as innovative conduits for social change. We evaluate the quality of work in this evolving field by fostering an inclusive, practical discourse about the aesthetics, function, ethics and meaning of socially engaged art that resonates within and outside the contemporary art dialogue. abladeofgrass.org
About the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is New York's premiere French cultural and language center. FIAF's mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. fiaf.org
Merci!
FIAF would like to thank the following for their generous support of Crossing the Line 2013: Nespresso, Proud Presenting Sponsor of Crossing the Line. Air France and Delta Air Lines, the official airlines of FIAF and Lead Sponsors of Crossing the Line. Louis Roederer Foundation, Premier Sponsor of Crossing the Line
Hermès Foundation (Fondation d'entreprise Hermès)'s New Settings program; Florence Gould Foundation; Institut français; The MAP Fund; National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works; New York State Council on the Arts; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; FUSED: French U.S. Exchange in Dance, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., and FACE (French American Cultural Exchange); The Enoch Foundation; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; British Council; Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques; the Goethe-Institut; Robert de Rothschild; Marie Nugent-Head; Sarina Tang; and Elisabeth Wilmers.
LISTING SUMMARY
What: Crossing the Line 2013: Steve Lambert: Capitalism Works For Me! (True/False) Presented in partnership with Times Square Arts
When: Friday, September 20, from 12–5pm;Sunday, October 6 through Wednesday, October 9, from 12–7pm
Where: Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets (Sept. 20);Broadway Plazas between 44th and 47th Streets (Oct. 6–9)
Admission: Free and open to the public
Information: fiaf.org/ctl | 212 355 6100
Transportation: Subway: 1, 9, N, R, W, and S to 42nd Street
LISTING SUMMARY
What:Crossing the Line 2013: Does Capitalism Work? Steve Lambert in Conversation with Professor Richard Wolff & Dr. Harriet Fraad Presented in partnership with A Blade of Grass and Times Square Arts
When: Wednesday, October 2 from 7–9pm
Where: Times Square, NYC; specific venue will be emailed prior to the event
Admission: Free and open to the public – RSVP required at stevelambert.eventbrite.com
Information: fiaf.org/ctl | 212 355 6100
Transportation: Subway: 1, 9, N, R, W, and S to 42nd Street