RADIO // Living History
Paul Chan, The Spirit of Recession
Originally aired
5/19/08
Paul Chan's work is practically a meteorological occasion, and tonight the Public Art Fund plays storm chaser. His 7 Lights series, displayed at the New Museum, projects the shadowy outlines of Armageddon in progress: human silhouettes plummet to the earth, while inanimate objects, from bikes to cell phones, drift skyward amid loose telephone wires and frantic birds' flight. Though Chan is a peace activist who spent time in Baghdad documenting the effects of war, his lyrical imagery only whispers its political undercurrents. His silhouetted projections, Middle East travels, protest efforts and recent site-specific theater work in New Orleans all lend themselves to this discussion, titled The Spirit of Recession. Recorded at The New School on April 30, 2008 (45 minutes).
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