US DAT to Stage Convention Intervention

WASHINGTON, DC - From August 21st to September 4th, the US Department of Art & Technology and LUXE Gallery, 24 West 57th Street, NYC, will present the Experimental Party DisInformation Center, a state-of-the-art media installation that will redefine the Republican National Convention through works by US DAT staff artists.

On Saturday, August 21st from 6 - 8 PM, US DAT's Propaganda Hospitality Suite will open, welcoming politicos, press, protesters, Republicans, and the public. Then, on Saturday, September 4th from 6 - 8 PM, US DAT will host a Post-Mortem Lounge as the exhibition closes. Regular hours for the installation are Tues. - Sat. 11 AM - 6 PM.

US DAT's decision to open the DisInformation Center while the spotlight is on New York City is of tremendous significance. "It represents the need to manipulate worldwide media coverage of the Republican Convention while the Bush Administration is exploiting the upcoming third anniversary of 9/11 for political hype," stated US DAT Secretary Randall M. Packer. "We welcome all Convention delegates with open hearts and open minds to inform, transform, and redirect their way of thinking," said Deputy Secretary Jeff Gates. "We are thrilled to bring truth, justice, and the American Way to the Republican Party and the political process."

Secretary Packer has collaborated with Department staff artists including: Mark Amerika, Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Jeff Gates, Jon Henry, Lynn Hershman, Gregory T. Kuhn, Andrew Nagy, and Wesley Smith. Additional works by Andy Deck, DJ Spooky and '47,' Trace Reddell, and Rick Silva are also included. The British media arts collective Furtherfield will co-broadcast online media coverage of the Republican Convention.

Featured projects at the Experimental Party DisInformation Center include:

Media Deconstruction Kit (MDK): Live altering of broadcast news and Convention coverage.

Society of the Spectacle (A Digital Remix): Ten-minute DVD art-loop by DJRABBI.
WetheBlog.org: Virtual community for media artists and cultural critics.
Homeland Insecurity Advisory System: Broadcasting the daily governmental threat.
Awaken: A dark portrayal of the Spirit of America.
Abe Golam for President 2004 (A PolyVocal Remix): Politically reborn avatar-candidate.

The US Department of Art and Technology is the United States principal conduit for facilitating the artist's need to extend aesthetic inquiry into the broader culture where ideas become real action. It also serves the psychological and spiritual well-being of all Americans by supporting cultural efforts that provide immunity from the extension of new media technologies into the social sphere.

The Experimental Party - the "party of experimentation" - is an initiative that has been formed to activate citizens across the country in an effort to bring the artists' message to center stage of the political process. This is a political awakening, "representation through virtualization" is the major political thrust of the Experimental Party, it is the driving force.