From: cs421olek@envmsa.eas.asu.edu (NEUMANN)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk
Subject: CP Performance Art
Date: 26 May 92 02:07:00 GMT
Lines: 122

Here  is  information  on  Survival  Research  Laboratories.   They are the
closest to CP performance art (or industrial performance art) that  I  have
seen.  It is taken directly out of the AMOK Fourth Dispatch.

     "Survival Research Laboratories was founded in 1979 by Mark Pauline and
has operated as an organization of artists and technicians dedicated to
exploring the potential for redirecting the techniques, tools and tenets of
industry and science away from their typical manifestations in practicality
or product.  Since 1979, SRL has staged 33 mechanized presentations in the
UNited States and Europe.  Each performance consists of a unique set of
ritualized interactions between machines, robots, and special effects
devices with humans present only as operators or audience."


_A Bitter Message of Hopeless Grief_ - SRL

Thi film is a fractured narrative featuring large anthropomorphic robots
constructed by SRL, a glimpse into the disturbing nightmare of machine
psychology.  Living in their own fictional world devoid of humankind, the
machines act out scenarios of perpetual torment, exasperated consumption
and tragic recognition.  For the past seven years, director Jonathon Reiss
has worked closely with SRL, producing documentaries of their performances;
this film is an outgrowth of that relationship, representing their
collective desire to go beyond the restraints of documentation and the
traditional utilization of non-human characters in narrative cinema.
Filmed in 16mm, color, 13 minutes.
#0265 (VIDEO/VHS)       $18.00


_A Scenic Harvest from the Kingdom of Pain_ - SRL

Documentary by Jonathan Reiss and Joe Rees of these SRL performances: "1)
Sept. 18, 1983.  Athletic lot, Potrero Middle School.  S.R.L. VIEWS WITH
REGRET:  THE UNRESTRAINED USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE.  A massive deployment of
S.R.L machinery configured to demonstrate the unpredictable consequences
which can arise when unreasonably powerful forces are applied to seemingly
defenseless targets.  In this tape no less than 30 major mechanical systems
are pitted against one another (and some members of the audience) in a
large, eerily lit open lot before a crowd of 2500 persons.  2) March 6,
1984.  ON BROADWAY THEATRE.  Staged in conjunction with presentations by
Einsturzende Neubauten, Boyd Rice, and Rhythm & Noise.  A furiously paced
celebration of the possibilities for interaction between machines, meat,
and meat by-products.  3) June 27, 1984.  Ft. Mason Center, Pier 3.  AN
EPIDEMIC OF FEAR: THE RELIEF ON MASS HYSTERIA THROUGH EXPRESSIONS OF
SENSELESS JUNGLE HATE.  Some of SRL's most threatening of constructions
interact against a background of props suggesting racial sterotypes and
elements of mob violence.  The tense mood was enhanced by a concentration
of suffocating fumes originating from numerous fires, explosions, and
gasoline motors, as well as the shattering of several dozen large sheets of
glass.  All of which was accompanied by a cacophonous soundtrack assembled
by Matt Heckert and Monte Cazazza, with live mix by Monte Cazazza."
#2306  (VIDEO/VHS)     $20.00


_Virtues of Negative Fascination_ - SRL

Documentary by Jonathan Reiss and Joe Rees of the following SRL
performances: DELIBERATELY FALSE STATEMENTS: A COMBINATION OF TRICKS AND
ILLUSIONS GUARANTEED TO EXPOSE SHREWD MANIPULATIONS OF FACT, Sunday,
October 6, 1985, San Francisco, CA;  AREA performance, Wednesday, May 5,
1985, New York City, NY;  EXTREMELY CRUEL PRACTICES: A SERIES OF EVENTS
DESIGNED TO INSTRUCT THOSE INTERESTED IN POLICIES THAT CORRECT OR PUNISH,
Sunday, August 11, 1985, Los Angeles, CA;  CLUB DV8 performance, Friday,
June 16, 1986, San Francisco, CA;  FAILURE TO DISCRIMINATE:  DETERMINING
THE DEGREE TO WHICH ATTRACTIVE DELUSIONS CAN OPERATE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR
CONFIRMATION BY EVIDENCE, Saturday, May 24, 1986, Seattle, WA.
#2769  (VIDEO/VHS)      $25.00


_The Will to Provoke - An Account of Fantastic Schemes for Initiating
Social Improvement_ - SRL

Documentary of SRL's 1988 European tour.  "SRL ferrets out and gleefully
satirizes assorted icons of cultural pride in two of Europe's more
allegedly libertaian social democracies, Holland and Denmark.  Not only
provides the most comprehensive coverage of SRL's performances themselves
but also delves deeper into whys and wherefores of SRL's existence and
development.  Explores their attitude toward society, their ability to
survive with little or no funding, the ideas that go into the making of the
machines, and the performance scenarios.  Also addressed is how SRL seeks
to confound and confront their audiences and their reaction to their host
countries in Europe."  Directed by Jonathan Reiss, photographed and edited
by Leslie Asako Gladsjo.
#2865  (VIDEO/VHS)     $25.00


_Baited Trap_ - SRL

Short 16mm narrative film by Jonathan Reiss, with "Nightmare Seqence
Machines" by SRL.  After being humiliated at the hands of his
father-in-law/partner, an ambitious co-owner of a meat packing plant turns
to murder in an attempt to solve all his problems.  Since he is blind to
the tru nature of his torment, all does not go as planned.  Combining high
noir, horror and documentary styles, the film establishes a world of
deluded desire and fatalism.
#0198  (VIDEO/VHS)      $12.00


Survival Research Laboratories T-shirt - SRL

White shirt with two-color SRL logo design available in medium, large, and
extra-large.
#2539  (T-shirt)       $14.00



All of the above can be purchased through AMOK mail order.  The address is:

	AMOK
	P.O. Box 861867
	Terminal Annex
	Los Angeles, CA 
	90086-1867  USA

To order by phone:  (213) 665-0956, Tuesday-Sunday, from 12pm to 8pm PCT.


Well there it is.  I hope you all enjoy it.


Dave Oleksy
ASU


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