1000 Print Summer

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Dates: Sept. 1-2

ArtOrg’s “The 1000 Print Summer” is a project that travels to a dozen different venues making art prints with a steamroller. So far this summer, the project has made 704 prints at such locations such as Northfield, Owatonna, Red Wing, Rochester, and The Walker Art Center. Join both kids and adults at Peavey Plaza as the patterns change from birds and bugs to elephants and donkeys for the Unconvention. It is likely that the magical 1000 print total mark will be passed sometime during this weekend!

Americans Who Tell the Truth

Venue: Traffic Zone Gallery
Date: September 1-30
“I began painting this series of portraits —
finding great Americans who spoke
the truth and combining their
images with their words.”
— R.S.

As Below, So Above

Two skywriting planes, flying side-by-side, will trace the banks of the Mississippi river as it snakes gracefully through the Twin Cities.

Backbone, Values, Hairstyle

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date: August 30 - September 2
This installation consists of a found aluminum voting booth with “circuit-bent” electronic keyboard hardware embedded inside. The participant pushes switches, activating irregular sounds. This draws on the parallel absurdity between motives in voting decisions and the capricious nature of the circuit-bent device. This piece will be installed at the intersection of 11th street and Nicolette Ave, in Peavy Plaza, from August 31 through September 2.

Bedlam Theater

Activist Nightlife During the UnConvention at Bedlam Theater

Black Dog Block Party + Photographs

On August 31 and September 2, Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar in Lowertown St. Paul is hosting a block part inspired not only by the RNC but also by Robert Bly’s poem “Call and Answer.” See the line ups on Sunday and Tuesday. Also on exhibit, “Local Color,” photographs by Media Mike Hazard.

Border Cruiser Video Sculpture

A video installation made from a former police car and transformed into an electrically powered vehicle, this ArtCar will be parked outside and around various neighborhoods, equipped with interior video projections which call attention to the personal voices of “undocumented” immigrants.

BrushFire – Provisions Public Arts

BrushFire is an arts initiative showcasing key contemporary artists whose public projects engage crucial social issues such as immigration, the war in Iraq, food, sustainable energy, housing, the electoral process, the economy, health, and the environment. Taking place in highly visible public settings such as state fairs, urban centers, public parks and highly trafficked recreational areas around the United States, BrushFire aims to enrich the environment for public discussion about the value of democracy in the crucial run-up to national elections in November, 2008.

Dear President blank

Assignment: every student at MCAD will be creating a single 8.5×11 (x1) artwork with a message for next president. (These are the largest dimensions, work of all sizes and material is open, keeping in mind that the work is to be mailed.) These works will be exhibited and then mailed to the president-elect. Time-based media are allowed one minute.

Dialog:City :: Denver

Dialog:City is an arts and cultural event that catalyzes civic discourse by inviting internationally renowned artists and designers to create participatory, interactive, and dialogical site-specific works in neighborhoods across the city of Denver for citizens and audiences of the greater Denver region. From political Karaoke, digital projections of Veteran stories from a Humvee, and a technology hip-hop opera on the climate impact on Antarctica - Dialog:City is a cutting-edge convergence of art and public life.

Don’t You Feel It Too?

Dancing where dancing doesn’t belong.

F-30 Pedal Cloud

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date: August 31 - September 2
For Forecast’s 30th Anniversary celebration—throughout the Twin Cities—the artists of Black Bean Associates designed and built a unique, sculptural, human-powered vehicle.

Form + Content Gallery

Date(s): Thursday, August 28 - Saturday, October 4, 2008

Inspired by the 45 rpm pop singles of years past, Party Party in a Tweety Land b/w This Republic of Suffering contemplates the tensions between suffering and denial, grief and self-absorption, and the real cultural losses buried under the flotsam of a consumer and celebrity obsessed culture.

Forum on Public Art and Democracy

Venue: Macy’s Skyroom / University of Minnesota
Date(s): September 26-27

What makes a space public? How can public art instigate public discourse? How can artists and designers working within constraints create more meaningful public spaces? Internationally renowned artist Suzanne Lacy joins local artists, architects, designers, and scholars for an evening keynote address on September 26 in Macy’s Skyroom (700 Nicollet Mall), followed by a full day of panels at the University of Minnesota, and a performance of Daak: Call to Action by the Ananya Dance Theatre.

Free Speech Surrogate

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Dates: Sept. 1-2, noon and 5:00 pm

The Free Speech Surrogate offers participants the chance to say what’s on their mind without the risk of reprisal. Liberty personified will read public announcements supplied by passers by and Internet submissions. Announcements happen twice daily on September 1st and 2nd at 12 noon and 5pm. Look for the woman in the flowing Greek robes and red Phrygian cap.

Freedom of Assembly

A simultaneous studio, gallery, lounge and caucus, Freedom of Assembly evolves from bare walls as we explore our political identities both as individuals and as a community. Interact respectfully and thoughtfully, the space is non-functional without your engagement.

When: Aug. 22-Sept. 7, 2008
Where: MCAD Gallery: Gallery 148

I Approve This Message

Venue: http://theunconvention.com/iapprove/
Date(s): through September 4

I Approve This Message invites people to create a video in response to questions surrounding the scripted nature of presidential nominations and democracy in general.

IF/THEN: Honor Will Never Be Regained

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): August 30 - September 2

A set of two leaflets designed for automatic, mechanical distribution utilizing the Labor Camp Message Force Multiplier Instruments.

INQ409

Written and directed by Eric Tretbar

The Bush Administration interrogates Jesus aboard Air Force One. One by one, Bush Cabinet members tell Him why His existence and message of Love and Free Will must never be revealed to the public. Adapted from Dostoyevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor”, reported to be the favorite piece of literature of First Lady, Laura Bush.

Iraq KIA WIA

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): September 2, 6 pm - 7 pm

Each month local artist Camille J. Gage sends out an email to a list of volunteers recruiting community members to stand witness to the soldiers killed in action and wounded in action in the war in Iraq.

The project started on May 20, 2006 during a march to commemorate the three-year anniversary of the war. The WIA KIA number at that time was 18,970. The number today (July 1, 2008) is 34,468

The number of Iraqi civilian casualties is unknown.

Kulture Klub Art Shanties

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): August 31 - September 2

During Sept. 1 and 2 at the Unconvention (Peavey Plaza), Art Shanty Projects and Kulture Klub Collaborative will install a shanty base-camp for various public arts activities. These activities will respond to the unconvention themes of non-partisan intersection of participatory media and participatory democracy by inviting artists and youth experiencing homelessness to engage the public in workshops and presentations including; free workshops where the public creates personalized stenciled lawn signs and flags, as well as letter pressed playbills, guerrilla cinema projections of videos created by homeless teens, Auto ethnographic guided tours led by artist and youth.

Liberty Parade

Venue: Nicollet Mall (1:00 pm), Peavey Plaza (approx. 2:00 pm, Loring Park (3:00 pm - 7:00 pm)
Date(s): August 31

What does liberty look like? The fine Citizens of Minneapolis and St. Paul are hard at work creating a large scale parade through the heart of Minneapolis on August 31st, 2008. The Libery Parade is a celebration about what liberty means to YOU. Join us after the parade at Loring Park for music, speakers and surprises that will last into the evening.

Make an Effort

Regardless of your political leaning, everyone in the Metro area should open their arms (or at least be Minnesota-nice) to our guests during the Republican National Convention. An advertising campaign created by Twin Cities advertising agency, Campbell Mithun, encourages you to find your own way to graciously welcome our many visitors–as well as participate in the many non-partisan activities going on in town during the RNC. Check out the campaign and pass it along!

Minneapolis Art on Wheels

Venue: Peavey Plaza / mobile in Minneapolis
Date(s): August 30 - September 2

Inspired by Graffiti Research Labs, the principal tool of the Minneapolis Art on Wheels project is three Mobile Broadcast Units (MBUs), bicycles combing a video projector, generator, and computer. These mobile media devices allow the Minneapolis Art on Wheels project to leverage mobility, scale and real-time interactive audio-visual software for the purpose of engaging broad audience in creative interaction with mobile media.

Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program

Venue: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Date(s): August 29 - October 26

“MILLIONS OF INNOCENT ACCIDENTS” and “Unconventional Wisdom,” are a fine mix of humor, outrage, and matter-of-fact commentary about a range of topics, including consumerism, war, looming elections, and a constantly changing landscape of arbitration. They combine word, image, and consumer debris to create new perspectives on everyday events.

My Yard Our Message

Venue: Denver, Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis neighborhoods, Peavey Plaza
Date(s): August 20 - November 4

This project will solicit political sign designs related to the theme of participatory democracy from artists throughout the world and select the top designs through an online voting process. The selected designs will then be made available via the project Web site to be ordered as a full size political yard sign or downloaded as print it yourself PDF document.

New Stations

Venue: The UnConventional Gathering Place, Main Gallery
By James Case Leal (New York, New York)

Rather than aiming to send people home to watch television in isolation, New Stations creates centers that embody a physical site for both sending and receiving messages together. Part of an ongoing multi-site project series that represents a reinvention of the television medium, this new multi-media installation will celebrate these movements serving not only the geography of the local neighborhood, but also this specific time (i.e. the occurence of the Republican National Convention.) It will provide an opportunity for members of the community to invert the media power relationship by putting themselves on the air and celebrating our collective voice.

One-On-One Film Festival

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Dates: Sept. 1-2

One-on-One Film Festival is an action that creates a space for social/political dialogue between local filmmakers and viewers of their films.

Peace Banners

Banners held high, September 1st through 4th from 9 - 11 am!

The Peace Island Picnic crew is much the same as the Twin Cities Peace Banner Project: If I Had A Banner crew, and we welcome you to join us on pedestrian bridges near downtown Saint Paul as we share important messages with motorists and the arriving delegates to the RNC: “Support the Constitution, End the War”, “Not Another 100 Years”, “Who Lied? Who Died? Who Pays? Who Profits?”, “Don’t Bomb Iran” and other messages. Here are the details:

Peace Island Picnic

Venue: Harriet Island
Date(s): Thursday, Sept 4 from 1:00 to 8:00 pm

A non-partisan family-oriented event. Following four days of marches, art and dramatic presentations and other “UnConventional” expressions throughout the Twin Cities when national attention is on the Republican National Convention, We The People CELEBRATE PEACE.

Peavey Plaza : The UnConvention Outdoors

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): August 30 - September 2

Taking it to the streets.

From 5:00 pm, Saturday, August 30, to 10:00 pm Tuesday, September 2, The UnConvention is alighting in Peavey Plaza in the heart of downtown Minneapolis for 4 days of performances and participatory culture. Join us!

Politaoke

Now you too can deliver the great rhetoric filled speeches of today’s most important politicians. Why settle with hearing politicians when Politaoke allows you to become them. Politaoke, an audience participatory political karaoke bar, changes the face of politics and karaoke by allowing audience members to take on the role of political leaders. It provides the audience a platform to perform, mock, hear and see clearly what politicians say. It allows you the audience to decide how to interpret each politician’s words.

Political Science 101

enue: The UnConventional Gathering Place
Political Science 101
A Crash Course in Civil Discourse on Political Blogs
By Fang-Yu Lin (Brooklyn, New York)

Are the Political Blogs legitimate? Where does it stand in the tradition of civil discourse as a medium? What is the role that the political bloggers play in this suddenly proliferative forums? A study of blogs as a political medium and an appraisal of its traits and uses, this net art installation scans and monitors hundreds of political blogs for keywords and trends in real-time. The “learnings” are presented using textbook style charts and graphs projected through a hacked slide projector in a simulated classroom setting.

Position and Imposition: MCAD Faculty Responds to Politics

MCAD’s annual faculty exhibition takes on the current political climate and our desire to make art a conduit in addressing the controversial social, political, and economic issues of our day.

Where: Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Dates: Aug. 22 to Sept. 24

Revolutionary Love 2: I am Your Best Fantasy

Venue: MN State Capitol, St. Paul
Date(s): September 1, 3:30 pm

Conflating grassroots political activism, performance art, queer theory, and national politics, New York-based artist Sharon Hayes will conceive and stage two large-scale, public performances at the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Hayes will recruit and collaborate with 75-100 citizens in each city who will become the medium of her work — they will recite in unison a text chosen by Hayes that exemplifies the intersection of history and the construction of the “queer figure” in the political terrain.

Revolutionary Table

Facilitated by:
Red76 & Alimentary Tropism

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): September 2, 1:00 pm

In collaboration with the Chicago, Illinois based collaborative Alimentary Tropism, Red76 will offer up some delicious barbecue and pose a seemingly simple statement for the meals guests to complete, “Because of the war in Iraq I…”

Soldier Billboard Project

Will we ever really know what affect living in war zones has on the young people who have gone through such extreme experiences and how it’s affected their lives? Artist Suzanne Opton has been photographing soldiers as they returned from tours of duty from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has made portraits of young men and women who have seen the unthinkable and have returned to Fort Drum in upstate New York to train for another tour of duty. Opton has put a face on these soldiers.

Solutions Volume 3

Solutions Twin Cities kicks off The UnConvention with “Solutions Volume 3,” a celebration of ideas from the Twin Cities most cutting edge designers, artists, activists and progressive thinkers. Hosted by Intermedia Arts, this outdoor evening of short, rapid-fire, media-rich presentations features a cross section of local individuals and organizations whose work is providing real-world solutions to real-world challenges. With exciting presentations, live music, great food, and refreshing drinks, this dynamic event is full of surprises and is sure to entertain and inspire.

Spark24

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): 5:00 pm, August 30 - 5:00 pm, August 31

A non-stop marathon of free entertainment called “spark24” will kick off at 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 30, 2008 and will continue until 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 31 (the days just preceding the start of the Republican National Convention).

Speaking of Home

Forecast Public Art grant recipient Nancy Ann Coyne, will install 23 over-sized, semi-transparent black & white photographs reflecting the Twin Cities’ diverse immigrant population in the busiest skyway in Minneapolis—connecting the IDS Center with Macy’s across Nicollet Mall (between 7th & 8th Streets).

Spontaneous Storefronts

Forecast Public Art has renewed its occasional series of Spontaneous Storefronts as of August 30 through the end of November with a selection of UnConvention projects projected in a street-front window of the historic Minnesota Building at 4th and Cedar in downtown St. Paul.

The Electoral College

The Electoral College is a year-long, hybrid new media art|journalism project focusing on the U.S. presidentials elections, and the opportunities and challenges presented for democratic, civic engagement.

A web site functions as a headquarters from which to view various parts of the project, with a progressive roll out of projects in the months ahead.

The State of Things

Venue: MN State Capitol, St. Paul
Date(s): September 1

The State of Things a temporary sculpture of the word “Democracy” sculpted in ice is a part of Provision Library’s “Brushfire” programming leading up to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

The UnConvention Show

Check out these episodes of UnConvention Show interviews with Jack Becker, Allison Herrera, Chris Penington, Colleen Rowley and others.

The UnConventional Gathering Place

Venue: Intermedia Arts
Date(s): August 31 - November 8

A round-the-clock gathering place for artists, educators, alternative journalists and the general public to interact around issues related to participatory democracy. It will also be the hub for UnConvention partners to convene throughout the convention days to interact with visiting artists, journalists, activists who have come to witness the political conventions.

Translating Politics

Translating Politics is a group exhibition that runs September 1 – 4 at the Northrup King Building in Northeast Minneapolis. The exhibit features work in painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, digital video and more, by 13 local artists who offer their perspectives on global politics.

UnConvention TV

UnConvention TV is a series of hour-long broadcasts compiling a variety of projects about art, politics, and being American. It’s the complicated crossroads where art, politics, journalism and public opinion get together a dance a little cha-cha, a conduit to start talking about the issues, our political process, and perhaps the general absurdity of the whole thing.

Urban Echo

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): September 1 + 2

Urban Echo is an interactive video projection that aims to collect and creatively represent the thoughts and imaginings of city-dwellers.

Voices of America

Voices of America is a participatory internet radio project by Sarah Kanouse, Lee Azzarello and free103point9 which reflects on the media spectacle of the 2008 Presidential Election through the lens of the Voice of America Radio Network, a US government broadcasting service intended for an international audience. Click here for participation instructions. The Sea and Space Gallery in Los Angeles will radio broadcast the project’s recordings and remixes on Election Day.

Walk In Their Shoes

Venue: Peavey Plaza
Date(s): August 30 - September 2

CODEPINK hopes Walk In Their Shoes will illustrate to politicians and Americans the immense devastation of this war, the tragedy of human loss and help convince them to vote against any extended action in the war and to avoid future wars through diplomacy. The nonprofit group has presented this memorial to more than 20 cities around the country. Thousands of people, including hundreds of delegates, will see the display at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

Weisman Art Museum

THE AMERICAN POLITICS SIDESHOW

Thursday, September 4, 11:00 a.m.—9:00 p.m., inside and outside

Mingle with giants, hoola hoopers, and musicians. Expound on any subject on THE AMERICAN SOAPBOX. Take a citizenship challenge and win fabulous prizes. Hear discussions with ethnic media covering the RNC. Buy food from the upscale chef shack. Hear lectures on art and politics, and see Presidential reenactments and films reflecting America today. In the galleries, view Luke DuBois’s exhibit “Hindsight is Always 20/20,” which muses on presidential vision and rhetoric in presidential State of the Union speeches. Also view “Who is a Citizen ? What is Citizenship” featuring American art of the last century. Events occur from late morning until after dark.