DIY: 2014 – Lucky Pierre ‘Lucky Pierre Free University: The Sky Is Falling. The Money’s All Gone’

Research, share, argue and collaborate on-line and create responses to increasingly frequent natural, industrial, political, and economic disasters.

The deadline for this project has now passed.

Project Summary:
We are living in a time of both unprecedented technological wonder and the alarming consequences of unchecked “growth.” Natural, industrial and economic disasters threaten the patterns of ordinary life. How can artists respond to and work against despair amid evidence of ongoing economic, environmental, and social fragility? Are we the relief workers of the new collapse?

Co-opting the “free” on-line course model of corporatized higher education, Lucky Pierre as L.P.F.U will lead the workshop:  “The Sky Is Falling. The Money's All Gone.”  Over a period of 8 weeks, L.P.F.U facilitators and participants will work to create responses to themes of environmental and economic fragility.

Participants will respond to a series of weekly prompts. These short assignments will generate material (performance, writing, video, music, visuals, etc.) that will inform and offer new processes and methods for furthering participants' individual practices post-workshop.

At the conclusion of the shared study period, the workshop group will develop individual and/or collaborative projects inspired by the collective research. The final works will be shared with the reconvening group as part of the Abandon Normal Devices Online Summit the last weekend of October 2014. The summit will feature a series of live broadcast, performances, new commissions, film, talk and debates.

Dates, times and location(s):
The 8-week online workshop begins the week of August 10 and runs through September 28 2014. The workshop is followed by a 2-week individual working period to complete projects prior to the Abandon Normal Devices Online Summit.

Application procedure:
Participation is open to all levels of experience. Anyone with an interest in exploring collaboration, research, performance, and technology within a live-art framework is encouraged to apply.

Please be aware that because of the collaborative nature the workshop, a high degree of commitment from participants is necessary. As most of the workshop will be conducted online, access to a fast and reliable Internet connection with Skype capacity is necessary.

Applicants should submit the following via email to Kevin Kaempf cc'ing Aaron Wright:

Work samples (pdf or website link)
6 sentences that tell us all we need to know about you.
Complete the following in any format you desire:

What does it mean to be useful?
How does one manage fear?
Illustrate a tiny disaster.

This is NOT a test! Be as general, specific, abstract, or metaphoric as you want. Your answers will be used to help generate content for the workshop. Thank you.

Deadline, noon, Tuesday June 24th.

The artist:
Lucky Pierre, based in Chicago, is a collaborative group working in performance, writing, and visual forms. Lucky Pierre creates structures for engagement with various publics to explore complex issues and ideas (political, aesthetic, social) in ways that accommodate a wide range of experience, styles and approaches. Recent projects include “I Hate America/I Love America” a 10-hour event occurring simultaneously in London and Chicago; “What We Don’t Talk About: 13-hour Conversation on the War in Afghanistan” in which invited artists, scholars, activists, friends, and strangers worked to create a conversation about America’s longest war; and “America/n” a 12-hour piece about the US Constitution presented US presidential election day 2012 and followed by a publication “America/n (the book)” released on presidential inauguration day 2013. Ongoing projects include “Final Meals” in which we prepare and videotape volunteers eating the final meal of a Texas death row inmate, and “Actions for Chicago Torture Justice,” in which we work with volunteers to create performative actions addressing the history of police torture in Chicago and the use of torture worldwide. Lucky Pierre’s work has been presented in Chicago, New York, London, Detroit, Budapest, Portland and Hamburg. http://luckypierre.org/

Contact Information:
Kevin Kaempf

This project is part of DIY 11: 2014 and is supported by Abandon Normal Devices.