L3FTB3H1ND.COM is an interactive exhibition and an open call for artwork that examines the subtle ties between the Rapture, media convergence and the future of art. L3FT B3HIND is an intentional incitement of LEFT BEHIND, a multi-million dollar empire peddling apocalyptic novels that propagandize the end of days in lurid detail. Artists from around the globe are invited to participate in this exhibition. Visit L3FTB3H1ND.COM and submit!
Technology, an attack on the politics of the religious right, and contemporary art come to a crossroads at L3FTB3H1ND.COM: a conflation between a belief in the imminence of The Rapture with The Convergence of all forms of media into a single source. Each represents the beginning of the end. The Rapture is the beginning of the End of Days when God takes true Christians into Heaven. The Convergence is the beginning of a new reality that ends media diversity. Will media convergence expand or constrict our outlets, our dialogue, and our art? Is apocalyptic thinking at the roots of American right wing politics?
L3FTB3H1ND.COM is a collaborative project initiated by artist Christopher Sperandio with the School of the Arts and the Graduate Department of Photography/Film of Virginia Commonwealth University. Christopher Sperandio is a Distinguished Visiting Graduate Professor of Art at VCU this semester. In addition Sperandio is the Jill Kraus Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, a Visiting Artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Creator and Executive Producer of ARTSTAR, the first reality television series based in the New York art world. He’s part of the collaborative KartoonKings.com
“Isn’t it insane to desire the end of things as we know it?” says Sperandio. “Apocalyptic religious urges seem to be at the root of American foreign policy, and are aided by an increasing consolidation and convergence of media by large corporations. How else can we as individuals hope to cope with these giant moving forces, except through art? We’ve singled out one company who profits enormously by playing on people’s fears and we urge artists not to be L3FT B3H1ND.”
“The way the information conglomerates struggle to bring about The Convergence, that day when all media – including video games, movies and newspapers – folds into one form, has eerie parallels to the way some people lust for The Rapture and the end of the world,” says Tom Condon, a second-year Graduate Student in the Department of Photo and Film at VCU, and a participant in the project. “Should we move to higher ground or just back up our hard drives?”
A launch event will take place on Tuesday, December 6th at 7 pm at Gallery 5, 200 W. Marshall St, Richmond VA. The public is invited.
Press inquiries, please contact Kristi Mathews, press officer.
Telephone: 703-282-3952
Email: [email protected]
Related links:
http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/artweb/photo/
http://www.kartoonkings.com
http://www.artstar.tv