Dead Language. Image: Simon Houghton
Dead Language is sponsored by
DEAD LANGUAGE - Written and Directed by John Harrigan
Platoons of the latest replicas of Banksy roam the landscape, led by General Clone Banksy, a talentless nobody who once found a sample of Banksy DNA on an empty spray can. A rowdy gang of Tracey Emins wrestle half a dozen dazed Andy Warhols to the ground. It is the future and all forms of art are free, perfect replicas exist of every masterpiece ever created, copyright and ownership are meaningless, ideas are cheap and replicated ad infinitum. Artists have realised that their own identity is the only thing they can own or control, so fans become clones of artists in order to spread their art/identity. One final piece of uncorrupted art remains, yet to be copied: a living story told by Neonate Muses. Come and experience the living story and see how the world died with FoolishPeople's immersive, evolving performance in the ICA theatre. On the Saturday afternoon, a workshop with writer and director John Harrigan will give participants a chance to examine the core concepts of Dead Language: open-source myth, weaponised art and the future of intellectual rights within a dead culture.
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS - THE MALL, LONDON SW1Y 5AH
18 - 22 OCTOBER
ESOZONE - THE SOMEDAY LOUNGE - 125 NW 5TH AVENUE PORTLAND, OREGON, USA
11 - 12 AUGUST
AWARDS
Reviews
"And that reminds me, Fuck your performance art - FP is magick and that’s what we came here for whether we argue about it or not. FP is beyond the predispositions we hold, whether you believe or not, once there in the metaphorical circle they’ve cast around the environment you know something potent is unfolding before you, for those with eyes to see, I suggest it resembles the moment the lotus bursting into blossom. Art on the inside, Blood on the outside - if you are not sacrificing for your art and magick it is lifeless and begging to be infused with a portion of what you are given from out of the depths of the nothingness and beyond - FoolishPeople know this and their work resounds their experience in it’s potency, divinity, and splendorous beauty."
"Obvious survivors of the harshest of Nova conditions, FoolishPeople's performance of Dead Language at EsoZone in Portland shimmered with life force and various less identifiable radiations. Could this be the first theatre requiring tinfoil hats? Whatever the reason, John Harrigan and the other members of his troupe move on stage in a way you can feel all the way in the balcony. Their combination of esoteric symbolism and ritual elements provides an interactive, gnostic experience that will leave you feeling...different. Come see a challenging vision that will leave you scrambling to establish digital rights management for your soul. I cannot recommend attending the next FoolishPeople performance strongly enough. After all, someone should probably be keeping an eye on them."
Bill Whitcomb
Author
The Magician's Companion
