Denver Mayor Hickenlooper performing for Karaoke Convention
Sample 1 of 12 karaoke tracks
Dialog:City will premier Peltz's Karaoke Convention '08, throughout Denver's bars, clubs, and restaurants. Popular and political culture converge as this initiative brings political speeches from both Democratic and Republican candidates to Denver, through the social media of karaoke. This digital media work transcribes the text of 2008 presidential candidates' speeches into a karaoke format, allowing citizens to re-perform these addresses. The speeches are organized in three categories: concession, victory, and dropout, as well as, by candidate and location of delivery. An intimate encounter, the Karaoke Convention '08 creates an environment in which participants and attendees engage in the election process in new ways.
Peltz' media projects build a foundation upon which the production of new understanding is made possible. This new work follows such projects as Beepez-le. In Beepez-le (Cameroon) Peltz bought a cell phone for God and invited people to beep him. Peltz explains, "Through a context sensitive system, I learned that Cameroonians had developed beeping into a complex language capable of a range of communications". This multimedia installation was comprised of a live-feed camera, a cell phone and a video projector that were used to project God's cellphone screen onto a wall in the city when he was beeped. Thus, creating a fantasy framework in which one could ruminate on the implications of shifts in communications technologies.
Peltz received his B.A. in sociology/anthropology from Colby College, Waterville, ME and his M.F.A. from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. He has exhibited at San Francisco African Art Museum, San Francisco, CA; Bildmuseet in Umea, Sweden; The Cable Gallery in Helsinki; and the Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA. Peltz is currently a faculty member of the Film and Video Department at the Rhode Island School of Design and a Fulbright Fellow at Konstfack in Sweden.
Additional Events
Friday: Rockmada, 1150 East Colfax, Denver, CO 80218, 7-9pm
Saturday: Sobo 151, 151 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209, 7-9pm
Sunday: Sobo 151, 151 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209, 7-9pm, and JR's Bar and Grill, 777 E 17th Avenue, Denver, CO 80203, 7-9pm
Monday: Benders, 314 E. 13th ave., Denver, CO 80206, 7-9pm
Tuesday: Benders, 314 E. 13th ave., Denver, CO 80206, 7-9pm
Wednesday: Sobo 151, 151 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209, 7-9pm, and B.J.'s Carousel, 1380 S Broadway, Denver, CO 80210, 7-9pm
Download the exhibition guide for The Karaoke Convention '08 (PDF)
