Night School: Public Seminar 6
Paul Chan
A play, some pornos, and a presidential campaign
September 11th – 13th, 2008
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
212.219.1222
A play, some pornos, and a presidential campaign
Night School with Paul Chan
September 11
Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: an illustrated lecture
In November 2007, Paul Chan, working with New York’s Classical Theatre of Harlem, and Creative time, a public arts group, staged five free site-specific performances of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, in two New Orleanian neighborhoods destroyed by the flooding caused by the levee breaks during Hurricane Katrina. The performances were part of the larger project which also consisted of a fund to help local rebuilding and reorganizing efforts, and a series of dinners, lectures, classes, and events that unfolded throughout the city during the fall of 2007. The project was entitled
For more information about this project:
www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/arts/design/02cott.html
September 12
A poet for president: Eileen Myles and her run for the White House
In September 1991, legendary New York Poet Eileen Myles launched her write-in presidential campaign, running against George Bush Sr. She writes, “As President he functions as a grand employer who has a complaint box. Each of us may get our two cents in. Once. After that we’re on our own because there is no special treatment for the vast majority of Americans today. There is very special treatment for white upper middle class heterosexual men and their spouses and children, there is special treatment for fundamentalist Christians and fetuses. [I] am a 41-year old American, a female, a lesbian, from a working class background, a poet, performer and writer making my living pretty exclusively from those activities. I’ve lived the majority of my adult life under the poverty level, without health care. More Americans, far more Americans are like me than George Bush. Why is he ruling this country and our lives?” Eileen will read a selection of letters and poems from her campaign and talk with Paul about her run and her work.
For more information about Eileen Myles:
September 13
The Sade I know: screening and lecture
Pornographer, philosopher, and revolutionary, Marquis De Sade remains an indispensable figure in the history of Post-Enlightenment western thought. His books Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and the notorious The 120 Days of Sodom (written during imprisonment) push our understanding of sex, violence, and reason, to unimaginable heights. Sade has inspired countless writings and works. In this screening, Paul will show clips from three films based on, or inspired by, Sade. They include Salo (1975) by Pier Paolo Pasolini, who situates Sadean characters in Fascist Italy, Marquis (1989), a French live animation film featuring a talking penis, and Marquis de Sade (1994), a hardcore adult film starring Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi. In between clips, Paul will discuss Sade’s relevance today in politics, pornography, law, and morality.
For more information about the Marquis De Sade:
supervert.com/elibrary/marquis_de_sade
Night School is an artist’s project by Anton Vidokle in the form of a temporary school. A yearlong program of monthly seminars and workshops, Night School draws upon a group of local and international artists, writers, and theorists to conceptualize and conduct the program.
Paul Chan lives and works in New York. His recent solo exhibitions have been presented at the New Museum, New York (2008); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, (2007); Serpentine Gallery, London (2007); The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, (2006 – 07); Portikus, Frankfurt, (2006); Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall (2006); Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong (2006); UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2005); and The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (2005). Selected group exhibitions include The Turin Triennale, Turin (2008); The Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul (2007), The 2006 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum Of American Art, New York; New Work/ New Acquisitions, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2005); 8th Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon (2005); Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2004).
All events are free with Museum admission but tickets are required. Tickets can be reserved online or at the Museum one week before the seminar’s start; a limited number of tickets will be available one hour before each event’s start. Tickets are limited, distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis, and must be collected prior to the event’s start time. Unclaimed tickets will be released promptly at the event’s start time. Please check individual events below for tickets and more information.
For tickets see www.newmuseum.org/events
Night School is part of the Museum as Hub, which is made possible by the Third
Millennium Foundation.
With additional generous support from the Metlife Foundation
Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Endowment support is provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Skadden, Arps Education Programs Fund and the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs at the New Museum.
Generous support also provided by the Charlotte and Bill Ford Artist Talks Fund.
