RECENT READS with overlapping topics that I have found fascinating:

“Economics of Good and Evil” by Tomas Sedlacek, the young Czech Economist/Scholar

A  quest for economic meaning going back to biblical times and a re-thinking of our assumptions about how economies should function.

“Forbidden Faith The Gnostics Legacy “by Richard Smoley

The various strands of Gnostic practices throughout history

“You Are Not a Gadget” Janon Lanier

Polemic by game inventor, researcher, musician and thinker. If you unhappily spend more than 6 hours a day in front of a screen, you need to read this.

Two of my works will be featured in LUMEN, a cutting-edge video and performance art festival on Staten Island’s waterfront next Saturday, June 25, from 6pm-midnight. Admission is free. The event will be held at the northern, industrial, Staten Island waterfront site of the Lighthouse Museum is a 2-minute walk from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal

For more info, please visit:  http://www.statenislandarts.org/blog/lumen/

Mandy Morrison / mandymachine, with NYCArts Cypher, presents

PLAYING DEFENSE

A Video and Performance Event at 8PM

Conceived by artist Mandy Morrison in collaboration with performers of the Staten Island break dance collective, NYCArts Cypher and its Director, Charlie Balducci, Playing Defense explores the physical and spiritual dimensions of war, sacrifice, and loss as performed through the eyes of youth who are of the same demographic background as those called upon to defend U.S. interests. The video portion of the program was shot on location at historic Ft. Jay on Governor’s Island; performance is live. Supported through a grant from the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island.

SLEEP (ongoing, festival loop), Single Channel Video

A re-interpretation of Andy Warhol’s seminal film Sleep from 1963, Morrison, in collaboration with youth participants of the Blue Sky Project, creates a performance-based response on video in ­ classroom setting.

PLAYING DEFENSE
A Video and Performance
@ The Brooklyn Museum

Eastern Parkway Blvd. Brooklyn, NY, Train stops #2/3/4/5

Part of “Free Teen Night Open House: Stomp and Step!’ , Friday, at 5 p.m.
May 13, 2011 Beaux-Arts Court, 3rd Floor

This event is planned by teens for teens and will highlight the Museum’s Arts of Africa collection. Come see live performances by teens and professionals and take part in interactive activities.

Playing Defense, is a short collaborative work, generated by artist Mandy Morrison with performers of the Staten Island break dance collective, NYCArts Cypher and their Director, Charlie Balducci. The work is about the physical and spiritual dimensions of war, sacrifice and loss as performed through the eyes of the youth.  The piece borrows from the war dance traditions of West African cultures in utilizing dance to communicate ritualized notions of discipline, combat, death and rejuvenation. Shot on location at historic Ft. Jay on Governor’s Island.

For more information or to RSVP, contact (718) 501-6588 or e-mail teen.programs@brooklynmuseum.org.

Contact: mandymorrison@mandymachine.com/ info@nycartscypher.com
PH: 347 742 6143

This project has received support from the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island.