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Future
Perfect
The American Way
Bryant Lake Bowl
March 1- April1,2002
(Every Friday for six weeks) |
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One of
the problems that we have with Future Perfect is breaking it down
to simple and clean two sentence explanations. Especially since
it's a project that by its very nature is continually evolving.
This project will most likely add to the confusion, but not in a
bad way. "The American Way" is a series of performances every Friday
at 7:00 PM for six weeks, starting March 1 at the Bryant Lake Bowl
Theater. Rather than picking a single big topic and putting it under
the microscope for a few hours, this approach allows us to take
on much more diverse topics relating to a single notion and then
explore them over a longer period, getting into the corners and
pathways that might otherwise get missed.
The basic
idea is to document, deconstruct and reexamine life in these United
States. Everyone has at least one good story to tell, and this is
our format for hearing some of them. It's not quite journalism;
it's more like the abstract expressionist version of documentary
filmmaking, This is Future Perfect after all. Imagine Future Perfect
producing "This American Life" with special guests Joe Frank and
David Lynch.
We will
bring you these stories and concepts by using a series of different
collaborators: musicians, media artists, writers, found sound and
dance artists. They all bring their own perspectives and color to
the pieces, thus creating a sum total greater than its parts. We
also bring together a community of collaborators who might not otherwise
get a chance to connect.
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Episode
1 Friday March 1, 7:00 pm(6:30 Doors)
"Living
in a Vacuum"
Music:
Lorren Stafford(cello, electronics) with Jack Pavlek (mechanical
sculpture), Jessie Green (violin), Andrew Venjohn (narration/interviews)
(C. .Strouth, writer)
Machines
are meant to break down. Are they still meant to be fixed? This
episode explores that question through one man's life. This is a
special show: for one thing, it marks Mr. Venjohn's first performance,
but it also features some truly dazzling music provided in part
by a series of small, electronically controlled sculptures that
you really have to see to understand.
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Episode
2 Friday March 8, 7:00 pm(6:30 Doors)
"NYC02"
Photographs
and music by Chuck Zwicky, dance by Debra Jinza Thayer, directed
by Jason Myrold
This
all silent episode is a month in the life of New York in 2002. It
features some very compelling photographs by the noted guitarist
and producer Chuck Zwicky, organized into a presentation by painter
Jason Myrold, best known for his Blood Angels series and of course
as the customizer behind the Zvex line of guitar effects. With improv
dance work by our favorite choreographer.
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Episode
3 Friday March 15, 7:00 pm (6:30 Doors)
"I
Was a Grade School Pentecostal"
Text
and narration by Matt Fugate, music by DJ Drone (Dave Jarosz) Video
by Keri Halverson
Probably
our funniest entry, its a true story about Matt's growing
up in the United Pentecostal Church. A very different slice of life.
Matt is a well known Minneapolis stand-up comedian, and he played
many characters on the TV show What. The music is provided by DJ
Drone, a well known mainstay who has been the opening act for everyone
from Bowie to Prince.
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Episode
4 Friday March 22, 7:00 pm(6:30 Doors)
"It's
Raining in Warroad"
Text
and narration by Chris Strouth, music by Big Daddy, Jr. & the
Spook
You can't
really talk about American Life right now without talking about
September 11, and this is that event. Not a look at the politics,
just more about the human reaction. This should be a pretty pivotal
episode, and I am not saying that because it features me either.
With Big Daddy, Jr.,& the Spook and video by Craig Gierl.
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Episode
5 Friday March 29, 7:00 pm(6:30 Doors)
"As
It Was Spoken... Let Us Record"
Text
and narration by Keith Harris, music by OurMine
Today,
Wallace "Jack" Jackman is co-publisher of the Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder,
the oldest African-American newspaper in Minnesota, and a respected
elder. But he followed a restless, idiosyncratic path to arrive
at that position. From Jackman's birth in Iowa to his current sheaf
of community projects, here is his story. Music provided by what
has to be the closest thing possible to a free jazz ambient supergroup
(Jim Anton, JT Bates, Jeremy Ylvisaker ).
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Episode
6 Friday April 5, 7:00 pm(6:30 Doors)
"Insurance"
Text
and narration by Jon Jindra, music by The Radar Threat, with special
guest TS
This,
the final episode, should be a fairly amazing little program, delving
into the issues of faith, fear, and what safety is. The enigmatic
Mr. Jindra is cast as a non-musical element set against the fierce
yet beautiful synthetic sounds of The Radar Threat and TS, who is
possibly the greatest DJ alive today (well, that might be an overstatement.
But he really is quite good.).
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