U.S. Department of Art & Technology
Press Secretary
press@usdept-arttech.net
For Immediate Release: March 13, 2002
US DEPARTMENT OF ART & TECHNOLOGY
ANNOUNCES EXPERIMENTAL PARTY
Washington, DC. - On April 13th at the Thaw
2002 Festival of Video, Film, and Digital Media in Iowa City, Iowa - the
heartland of the nation and a hotbed of American politics - the US Department
of Art & Technology will announce the formation of a new artist-based
political party, heralding a new era for the nation. The party will be
officially named the Experimental Party - the "party of virtualization"
- to be built on the inherent strength of the artists' message.
"There is no stopping the Experimental
movement," said Randall M. Packer, Secretary of the US Department
of Art & Technology and National Co-chair of the newly formed Experimental
Party Steering Committee. "The new Experimental Party of the United
States of America is an artist-driven caucus from which will fuel the
momentum against the corporatization of media that is building on a global
scale."
The US Department of Art & Technology has
decided to form the Experimental Party in order to activate citizens across
the country in its effort to bring the artists' message to center stage
of the political process. According to Packer, "This is a great political
awakening, 'Representation Through Virtualization' is the major political
thrust of the Experimental Party, it is the driving force."
"In making this announcement in America's
heartland, the Experimental Party is working for the things that will
make a positive difference in the lives of average citizens, " Secretary
Packer said. "We are working towards new ways of thinking, freedom
of association, and extreme states of subjective experience. We propose
an end to corporate control of mass media, so that a new century is spared
new horrors of CNN - the issue Americans should care most about."
At the University of Iowa, Packer will announce a two-part strategy to
build the party in the coming years.
(1) The Experimental Party intends to recruit
and support viable artists who will virtualize both Republicans and Democrats
at every level of government. The party will subject these two parties
to artistic forces of appropriation, virtualization, and transformation.
(2) The Experimentalists will aggressively
register new members across the country to create a party that will truly
engage the voter, to catalyze the artist's need to extend aesthetic inquiry
into the broader culture where ideas become real action.
Packer's announcement, scheduled for 12:00
PM at the Shambaugh Auditorium at the University of Iowa, will be open
for press coverage. The speech will be taped for delayed broadcast over
Tel-SPAN, the telematic broadcasting channel of the US Department of Art
& Technology. Throughout the day, Packer will be available for questions
and for the recruitment of party members.
The Department's "Media Deconstruction
Kit" Preview will also be on view at the University of Iowa Art Museum.
The "Media Deconstruction Kit" seemlessly integrates data, analytics,
theory, electronic art, virtual reality and straight through processing
in a single, extraordinarily robust and complete solution delivered in
real-time to the desktop, gallery, artist studio, or outdoor media sculpture.
Media representatives may cover this event
upon presentation of either (1) a US Government-issued identification
card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Art and
Technology, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a photo ID issued by the employing
media organization, or (3) a letter on official letterhead from their
news organization verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied
by an official photo ID (drivers' license or passport).
For further information, visit the following
URLs:
US Department of Art & Technology
Tel-SPAN
Thaw 2002
Contact: Press Secretary of the US Department
of Art & Technology
press@usdept-arttech.net
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