Pat Oleszko and Paul Zaloom are American performance activists. These two brilliant artists are slated to perform live as part of the USA National Exhibit, FROM THE EDGE (Susan Tsu, artistic director) our country’s official entry to the Prague Quadrennial (PQ).
I hope you don’t mind if I ask: Would you be willing to help us out on our fundraising efforts to bring Pat Oleszko and Paul Zaloom to represent the USA in Prague?
We are so close and yet so far away! We’ve made great strides toward our goal, but still have to raise about $2,200 in just 10 days. If we don’t meet our goal, we won’t see a dime from anyone—that’s the way the system is set up.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/75642835/usa-performance-activists-captivate-prague-quadren
The Prague Quadrennial (PQ) is the world’s foremost international theatre design event. It will happen this June in Prague! As many as 60 countries will showcase the best of their best in Prague at what is known in the business as the “Olympics of Design.”
I am a creator and curatorial advisor to the USA team of curators and designers of this USITT-USA National Exhibit. For the past four years, I have volunteered my time, money and efforts to become part of this unique USA pavilion.
If Pat and Paul are able to come to Prague, this is the first time in the history of USA involvement at PQ that the live performances of American artists will be officially on display in a USA national exhibit.
23,000+ people will experience the PQ in the Czech Republic June 16-26, 2011.
Our exhibit is bold, beautiful, and profound. It is both introspective and irreverent. It is reflective of socio-political issues consuming American performance makers today. Pat Oleszko and Paul Zaloom will bring to life the theme of our USA exhibition with their electric, satirical performances.
Pat and Paul will enhance the exhibit immeasurably as they satirically illustrate and expose issues that impact American lives. With conscience and humor, Pat and Paul deal with issues like race, discrimination, ecology and politics- all while engaging viewers and making folks laugh!
http://kck.st/fjv9Pn <http://kck.st/fjv9Pn>
THIS PROJECT WILL ONLY BE FUNDED IF AT LEAST $8,500 IS PLEDGED BY TUESDAY APR 12, 11:59PM EDT. IT IS NOW LESS THAN 10 DAYS AND WE STILL HAVE $2,200 to raise!
We have a goal of raising $8500. So far we have raised $6,345.
One easy click will take you to the website where you can find out more about the fabulous work of Pat Oleszko and Paul Zaloom.
There are still 10 days to pledge your support for sending American artists to participate in PQ! Any help you can provide would be most appreciated! No amount is too small.
http://kck.st/fjv9Pn <http://kck.st/fjv9Pn>
66 people have committed to support the project so far and have pledged amounts between $10 and $500. Can you help?
Here are the Top 5 reasons why this project is important to me and why I think it deserves your support:
- The vitality of American design is apparent in the range of the productions selected for this year’s PQ. But without performance as part of the exhibit, the dynamism of American theater shines less brightly.
- Beyond the simple exhibition of the design work, there are opportunities to program additional events in the space. Performance rightly belongs at the center of these activities.
- In trying times like these, it is critical that American artists put our country’s best face to an international audience. The delightful, intelligent work of these two artists represents that spirit beautifully.
- The Adventures of White-Man, performed by Paul Zaloom, is a toy theater spectacle about the male Caucasian human. White-Man arrives on Earth and “civilizes” it, becomes the philanthropist Santa Claus, kicks “aliens” out of Arizona, and finally realizes with shock that white folks will be a minority in the U.S.A.
- Quit Draggin’ and the Sea of Change by Pat Oleszko is a walk and roil acquatic epic of immodest proportions. This siege of sea, a recumbant blue monster comprised of thousands of blue plastic bags, reiterates the challenge. QUIT DRAGGIN’: GLOBAL WARNING, FALSE INFORMING, MEDIA WHORING, FACTS IGNORING, OIL BORING, JUST CONFORMING, WHILE DEPLORING, GLOBAL WARMING, and so forth and so, forth. You get my drift.
Follow the link below, and and lend us a hand. No amount is too small and every dollar pledged gets us closer to our goal. A thousand thanks to those of you who’ve made a contribution, and thank you in advance to those of you who still may.
Help us take the USA exhibit over the top! Thank you!
Randy Gener
USA PERFORMANCE ACTIVISTS TO CAPTIVATE PRAGUE QUADRENNIAL!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/75642835/usa-performance-activists-captivate-prague-quadren
PAT WHO?! PAUL WHAT?!
PAUL ZALOOM
The Adventures of White-Man, performed by Paul Zaloom, is a toy theater spectacle about the male Caucasian human. White-Man arrives on Earth and “civilizes” it, becomes the philanthropist Santa Claus, kicks “aliens” out of Arizona, and finally realizes with shock that white folks will be a minority in the U.S. in the near future. The puppet cast is a collection of toy cars, action figures, wind-up toys, weird junk, and useless crap. A video is projected onto a screen so that the audience can see the puppet mayhem. Remember Beakman’s World? Paul Zaloom is Beakman!
PAUL ZALOOM is a comedic puppeteer, political satirist, filmmaker, and performance artist who lives and works in Los Angeles and tours his work all over the world. Zaloom has written, designed and performed 12 full-length solo spectacles. He started out with the renowned avant-garde puppet company, the Bread and Puppet Theater, in Vermont.
PAT OLESZKO
Quit Draggin’ and the Sea of Change is a walk and roil acquatic epic of immodest proportions. This siege of sea, a recumbant blue monster comprised of thousands of blue plastic bags, encompasses all manner of animated aqua-furious beasts and bounty swimming for their very existence. Captured in the wave of our future is the weeping and seeping World, a drowning Lady Liberty, oil-soaked foul on the whine dark sea, a bi-polar bear in the deepwater horror-eyes-on, and Venice. The slime of the ancient marinade also includes an inflated dragon Patsquinade that reiterates the challenge. QUIT DRAGGIN’: GLOBAL WARNING, FALSE INFORMING, MEDIA WHORING, FACTS IGNORING, OIL BORING, JUST CONFORMING, WHILE DEPLORING, GLOBAL WARMING, and so forth and so, forth. You get my drift.
Pat Oleszko makes a spectacle of herself—and doesn’t mind if you laugh. Known as the Ms Tricks of Dis Guise, she has a large body— of work—which includes many Unnatural Acts. Utilizing elaborate costumes and props, she has created lithe performantzes, films, installations that a-dress trees, knees, breasts, butts, elephants and fingers. There have been notorious spatial events with the cast-off thousands and uttered shenanigans. She has worked from the popular artforms of the street, party, parade and burlesque house, to the Museum of Modern Art, from Sesame Street Magazine to Ms, Playboy, and Artforum.
