Cultural Excavation | February 2010
Cultural Excavation explores nostalgia, how we see the past and draw on it in our culture today. People may idealize a certain time or place but doing so requires that we pick and choose only the bits that work with our ideas. Cultural Excavation is a kind of architectural dig, we look into our past and our culture and select those parts to which we choose to give value. Many people draw on these items or ideas to create works of art. In this show we bring together pieces of art made in just this way with a selection of radio programs from the 1930s and 40s. These radio programs are not simply mood pieces to compliment the visual side of the show, or cultural artifacts, they are still entertainment. As much as they provide a time capsule of this period, they can also provide some interesting insight into who we are today. Participating artists include Wayne Bertola, Virginia Broersma, Allison Rae Butkus, Seth Gershberg, Chris Hales, Jennifer Hines, Jennifer Jackson, Sarah Leitten Amanda Paulson, Marta Sasinowska, Kirsten Strauss and Aaron Wooten. Old Time Radio enthusiasts Christopher Piatt and Ben Valentine will present a series of radio programs including Dick Tracy, Lord Haw Haw, X Minus One, Fibber McGee And Molly, The Adventures Of Babe Ruth and many others.
