West of Rome Public Art
With Arto Lindsay and Rirkrit Tiravanija Present
Trespass
A Parade, Party & Public Call to Action
In Downtown Los Angeles
October 2-3, 2011

Trespass is Part of the Official Opening Weekend Celebration
Of the Getty-Sponsored, Region-Wide Initiative
Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 14, 2011 [updated 9/19/11] – On Sunday, October 2, 2011, the historic Broadway Theater District in Downtown Los Angeles will erupt with Trespass, a parade where artists and residents will rally together to engage in art, music, dancing, floats, community activism, and performance. The parade is just one component of Trespass – a collaborative project between Arto Lindsay, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and West of Rome Public Art (WoR) that also includes a party and a T-shirt project with call-to-action slogans.  As part of Trespass, many Los Angeles art luminaries, including John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Nancy Rubins, and Jeffrey Vallance, were asked to produce statements – personal calls to action expressing political or social concerns – which will be worn on T-shirts at the October 2nd parade. Many of the participating artists will also join in with performative pieces. Trespass continues into Monday evening, October 3rd with Trespassparty, a blowout celebration at Union Station (800 North Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90012) featuring interactive and musical performances by progressive artists to benefit nonprofit West of Rome. For more information, please visit http://trespassparade.org.

Trespass is part of the opening weekend of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 – a collaboration of more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene. As a catalyst for change, Trespass collaborates and interacts with a high-octane roster of important local artists, the resident Downtown population, and the architecture in the area.  The project invites Los Angeles to gather and occupy the streets of our city as an act of community activism in this time of world turmoil and change. Provocative performance artists, philosophers, musicians, sound wizards, and dancers will rise up and speak out in spectacle to create an unforgettable moment in the cultural life in the streets of Downtown L.A. Trespass strives to convey and reiterate, in a creative way, the importance of free speech as the most powerful and effective vehicle for implementing change.

Sunday, October 2 – Trespass –
Highly influential contemporary artists, the youth of our time, and the public will engage in a symphony of creativity and free speech as Trespass takes over Downtown L.A. on Sunday, October 2nd, with music, dancing and performance. Arto Lindsay will create bold and loud sound experiments, responding to the activity and architecture of Downtown Los Angeles. Additional performers on the parade route will include ACE, Scott Benzel, Nancy Buchanan, Vaginal Davis, Dawn Kasper, KILLSONIC, Joel Kyack, Sylvère Lotringer, Ann Magnuson, My Barbarian, Alex Segade, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and more TBA. Many parade walkers and performers will wear T-shirts with the slogans about free speech, reciprocity, and civic participation, as an act of alternative messaging in the street. The October 2nd portion of Trespass is part of opening weekend of Pacific Standard Time, as swarms of culture seekers flock to the area on a day when dozens of area museums and institutions offer free admission.

For those participating, the parade formation begins at Art Platform – Los Angeles (L.A. Mart, 1933 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90007) at 11:00am on October 2nd. The parade will quietly make its way north through the staging area with the main spectacle beginning around noon at the Herald-Examiner Building at Broadway and 11th (1111 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015). The parade will continue through the heart of the historic Broadway Theater District to First Street. Trespass then takes a left on First Street to the Grand Avenue cultural corridor with a finale by KILLSONIC and ending reception at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) as well as at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater). The length of the parade, including vehicles and performers, will span approximately one long city block and will involve a rolling closure of streets over more than 25 blocks. See the parade map at http://trespassparade.org/when-and-where.

Updated Additional List of Parade Performers –
Dewey Ambrosino, Raul Paulino Balthazar, Dola Baroni, bodycity, CollectiveCollective, Stephanie Diamond, Corey Fogel, !mpact people, James Brandon Lewis Trio, JETS a group organized by CHAMPIONS, Monica Rodriguez Medina, Mobile Mural Lab, Felicia “Fe” Montes, Milena Muzquiz, Newspaper Reading Club, Anna Oxygen, Pedestal & the All-Girl Band, QW##R <3, Christopher Reynolds, Kenny Scharf, Alex Segade, Sir Richard’s Condom Company, Niko Solorio, South Gate High School, Stella Adler Acting Studio, and Yarn Bombing Los Angeles.

Monday, October 3 – Trespassparty –
Trespass will continue into Monday, October 3rd with Trespassparty, a blowout celebration for West of Rome at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles. The party kicks off at 9:30pm featuring interactive and musical performances by progressive artists such as iconic underground figure Ms. Vaginal Davis who will act as MC/host and legendary singer and pioneer in the queer core movement Phranc. The rhythms of Trespass will permeate into the evening as musician Arto Lindsay performs a unique piece composed for the occasion. Artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will engage the audience in a continuation of the collective experience of social awareness stemming from the parade. The evening also features special guest DJ JD Samson of Le Tigre and MEN. A $200 donation is required for entrance to the party, which will feature a signed limited edition recipe by Tiravanija revealing both his artisan pizza creation in collaboration with Pizzanista and vodka drink created specially for Trespass. Kanon Organic Vodka and Singha Beer are the evening’s liquor and beer sponsor respectively. For a $1,000 donation, starting at 7:00pm, a limited number of guests will enjoy a gourmet dinner in Union Station’s historic Fred Harvey Room with a recipe by Tiravanija especially executed for the occasion as well as first access to the silent auction of unique artwork by Barbara Kruger. To purchase tickets, please visit: http://trespassparade.org/party.

Participating Trespass Artists –
In addition to Lindsay and Tiravanija, participating artists include: Eleanor Antin, Edgar Arceneaux, Lisa Anne Auerbach, John Baldessari, Scott Benzel, Walead Beshty, Andrea Bowers, Nancy Buchanan, Chris Burden, Vaginal Davis, Sam Durant, Charles Gaines, Cheri Gaulke, Amy Gerstler, Piero Golia, Matt Greene, Julian Hoeber, Alex Israel, Glenn Kaino, Dawn Kasper, Mike Kelley, Chris Kraus, Barbara Kruger, Joel Kyack, Suzanne Lacy, Liz Larner, William Leavitt, Sharon Lockhart, Ann Magnuson, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Dave Muller, T. Kelly Mason, My Barbarian, Yoshua Okón, Jorge Pardo, Renee Petropoulos, Stephen Prina, Gustavo Raynal, Steve Roden, Nancy Rubins, Sterling Ruby, Aaron Sandnes, Jim Shaw, Susan Silton, Stephanie Taylor, Diana Thater, Kaari Upson, Jeffrey Vallance, Marnie Weber, Pae White, Terry Wolverton…

Public Participation–
The public is encouraged to participate in Trespass by embracing free speech and creative action, either officially or unofficially. To march in the parade or volunteer at the event, please sign-up at: http://trespassparade.org/parade-enrollment. Participants are also encouraged to engage in the event by purchasing a printed Trespass T-shirt with a slogan that resonates with them to wear at the parade.

Trespass T-Shirts –
Trespass commissioned 60 Los Angeles-based artists to produce a statement – each expressing a call to action – printed on American Apparel T-shirts in English and in Spanish and worn as part of the parade. The T-shirts are being sold online to benefit the project. Visit the Trespass online store in advance of the parade to purchase a T-shirt at http://store.trespassparade.org/category/t-shirts.

Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 –
Trespass’ parade is a Pacific Standard Time opening weekend event. Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 is a collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major new force in the art world.  Exploring and celebrating the significance of the crucial years after World War II through the tumultuous period of the 1960s and 1970s, Pacific Standard Time encompasses developments from L.A. Pop to post-minimalism; from modernist architecture and design to multimedia installations; from the films of the African American L.A. Rebellion to the feminist activities of the Woman’s Building; from ceramics to Chicano performance art; and from Japanese American design to the pioneering work of artists’ collectives.  Initiated through $10 million in grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time involves cultural institutions of every size and character across Southern California, from Greater Los Angeles to San Diego and Santa Barbara to Palm Springs.

Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

Trespassis the only Pacific Standard Time event held in an outdoor public space featuring new contemporary works from a number of important Los Angeles artists celebrated in the region-wide collaborative project as well as emerging artists from the present. http://pacificstandardtime.org/participants

Trespass Partners –
Trespass’ community partners include the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time as well as American Apparel, Art Platform – Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Chapman Lofts, Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, Downtown Properties Holdings, LA Inc., MAK Center for Art and Architecture, The Metabolic Studio, Metro, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), The Orpheum Theatre, ANJAC, REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater), Sheppard Mullin and s(o)ul.  Media partners include ForYourArt and LA Weekly.  Trespassparty is a Pink Cloud Production.

Arto Lindsay–
Arto Lindsay’s musical career has often involved collaboration with artists. These have ranged from working with Jean-Michel Basquiat on his artist break for MTV to a performance at The Kitchen with Vito Acconci called “Women’s Business” to a parade during Carnival in Salvador, Brasil with Matthew Barney entitled De Lama Lamina. Recent projects of his include collaborations with Dominique Gonzalez Foerster and Philippe Parreno. In April 2008, Lindsay presented I Am a Man, a parade in Frankfurt featuring dancer Richard Siegal, artist/musician Nico Vascellari, percussionist Marivaldo Paim, and students of the Städelschule. In 2009, Lindsay presented Multinatural (Blackout) a parade at the Venice Biennale. He has also presented parades in New York and Berlin. In 2010, Lindsay collaborated with Rirkrit Tiravanija on a parade in Paris for Nuit Blanche. http://www.artolindsay.com

Rirkrit Tiravanija–
Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija is widely recognized as one of the most influential artists of his generation. His work defies media-based description, as his practice combines traditional object making, public and private performances, teaching, and other forms of public service and social action. Tiravanija was the winner of the 2010 Absolut Art Award and the 2005 Hugo Boss Prize, awarded by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He has also been awarded the Benesse Prize by the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Japan and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Lucelia Artist Award. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rirkrit_Tiravanija

West of Rome Public Art–
Los Angeles-based West of Rome Public Art (WoR) is an innovative nonprofit art organization dedicated to the realization of artists’ projects, exhibitions, and public interventions that encourage dialogue and community interaction outside of the frame of galleries and museums. Founded in 2005, WoR has curated and produced many notable exhibitions including Women in The City featuring Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman and Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley and Michael Smith’s A Voyage of Growth and Discovery, and Marnie Weber’s Eternity Forever. Functioning without a permanent exhibition space, WoR is not anchored to any specific location and is therefore free to explore a diversity of urban spaces for its projects. Each show, installation or event takes place in a uniquely chosen site, sometimes off the beaten track, sometimes in the middle of a high traffic street. These unorthodox exhibition sites are dictated by circumstance, time and the nature of each project, and for a designated period of time, become places of discovery for both the casual passer-by and the attentive art visitor. http://www.westofrome.org

January 2012 –
In January 2012, West of Rome Public Art will present Trilogy, a series of new performances curated by WoR’s Founder Emi Fontana, as part of Pacific Standard Time’s Performance and Public Art Festival. Inspired by the legacy of the Los Angeles Woman’s Building, WoR’s series will begin with a piece by Andrea Fraser dealing with issues of identity and diversity in political dynamics inside feminist groups from the 1970s. A new site-specific piece by Vaginal Davis is a poetic meditation on feminist whimsy and gender queerness. Mike Kelley will contribute to the discourse, exploring the influence that the aesthetics of the Feminist Movement has had in his practice. The January festival will transform Southern California over an eleven-day period from January 19th through the 29th. Performances and projects will be located at institutions and sites throughout Southern California in close proximity to more than two-dozen Pacific Standard Time exhibitions.  The Performance and Public Art Festival is organized by the Getty Research Institute and LA>< ART.

For more information, to request images, or arrange interviews please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

BACKGROUNDER

Synopsis:
Award-winning film Bouncing Cats is the inspiring documentary of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda through the unlikely tools of hip hop and breakdance. Narrated by Common and featuring interviews with Will.I.Am, and K’Naan, the story follows the legendary Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth in the war torn country that has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child.*  Poverty, disease, and a brutal, mindless war in the region have divided families, displaced millions and led to the abduction and mutilation of tens of thousands of children resulting in the deterioration of identity and culture.

In response to these tragic circumstances, Abraham “Abramz” Tekya, a Ugandan b-boy and AIDS orphan, started Breakdance Project Uganda to create much needed positive social change in the region. His dream was to establish a free workshop that would empower, rehabilitate, and heal the community by teaching youth about b-boy culture. Crazy Legs, one of the founding members of the world famous Rock Steady Crew, visited Uganda after receiving an invitation from Abramz to teach b-boy classes. What he discovered upon his arrival was both heartbreaking and inspiring. Traveling throughout Uganda, from the southern slums to the war-torn north, Crazy Legs encountered a passion for hip hop and desire to learn amongst youth living in the most squalid conditions.

After only a few short months on the festival circuit, the film by director Nabil Elderkin has already won “Best Documentary Feature Film” at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York; “Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking” at the Newport Beach Film Festival; and “Audience Favorite Award” at DocUtah – Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival.

*Source:  Former UNICEF head Carol Bellamy has called northern Uganda “pretty much the worst place on earth to be a child.” Over 20,000 children – some as young as six years old – have been abducted by the rebel-led Lords Resistance Army (LRA), forced to serve as child soldiers, sex slaves, and laborers. http://www.warchild.org/projects/WC_Canada/Uganda/uganda.html

Breakdance Project Uganda:
Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU) started in February 2006 by Abramz out of his belief that hip hop can be used as a tool to engage and empower disadvantaged youth. Its mission is to involve young people in hip hop culture in order to build leadership skills and promote social responsibility for positive change. The Project has attracted people from every walk of life and acts as a catalyst for building mutually beneficial relationships between people of different social strata across Uganda and the rest of the world. From the initial three students who turned up at the first session, the Project has grown through word of mouth, regular showcase performances, and exposure on the World Wide Web to become a thriving organization with over 1,000 members nationally in Uganda and many more supporters around the world.

Abramz organizes breakdancing sessions each week for hundreds of youth in different parts of the country. The Project has been built around free breakdancing classes which are currently offered at the Sharing Youth Centre, Kampala, Gulu Youth Centre and TAKS Art Centre in Gulu. The classes are sustained by members freely passing on their skills to new members, following the BPU ideology that everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher with something positive to give. Members have also made outreach visits to towns in other parts of Eastern and Northern Uganda to share their skills and engage more youth across Uganda. Many of the participating children are extremely vulnerable with members who are orphans, victims of war and poverty, unable to afford proper schooling.  Despite the hardships, children walk from miles away to attend the BPU classes each week. As Abramz says, “This is where many people’s pride is. It’s a skill that no one can take away from us.”

BPU supports formal and non-formal education opportunities by advocating the importance of education and partnering with organizations to increase members’ access to educational services such as life skills workshops, media and skills training, voluntary counseling and testing, and advocacy training. Through the sale of BPU t-shirts, the Project also sponsors schools fees for vulnerable members.

BPU aims to:
• Bridge the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged while uniting people of different religious, tribal and social backgrounds
• Promote positive social responsibility
• Build leadership skills and self-esteem
• Increase access to formal and informal education
• Generate employment opportunities through private teaching and performances
• Connect local and international artists

Over the past four years, BPU has partnered with local and international organizations including: Oxfam, MS Uganda, In Movement, People Concern Children’s Project, Danish Centre for Cultural Development, H.E.A.L.S. (Gulu), Global Youth Partnership for Africa, the Embassy of France in Uganda, Uganda FDNC, and USAID/NUTI, Straight Talk Foundation (STF), and has carried out activities in orphanages, juvenile prisons, local and international schools, and youth and community centers.

Call to Action:
For those interested in supporting the work of BPU, donations can be made through the organization’s fiscal sponsor The Voice Project via the Bouncing Cats site at http://www.bouncingcats.com/donate. Donations are 100% tax deductible.  Proceeds go directly to Breakdance Project Uganda to continue its mission to empower and positively inspire youth through hip hop. Abramz also hopes to one day build a permanent center for BPU.

With a donation of $15 or more to BPU, contributors receive a limited edition Bouncing Cats t-shirt while supplies last. The t-shirts are made by Edun, the non-profit fashion brand founded by Ali Hewson and Bono, using 100% African cotton grown by farmers of the Conservation Cotton Initiative (CCI) in Northern Uganda. The CCI was created by Edun, the Wildlife Conservation Society and Invisible Children to build sustainable farming communities and provide a fair trade market for their cotton. The CCI Uganda Program is based in the Gulu District, an area recovering from the civil war. The CCI Initiative assists farmers who are returning to their land by providing funding, tools, and training to grow a sustainable cotton business.

Uganda:
According to the World Bank, more than 30% of the population in Uganda lives below the poverty line. Uganda is a rapidly growing nation with a very young population (Source: UNGASS). An estimated 49% of people in Uganda are under the age of 14 (Source: Population Reference Bureau). After the introduction of Universal Primary Education in Uganda in 1997, primary school enrollment increased to 82% but less than 20% of young people go on to complete further education (Source: Population Reference Bureau). Development in Uganda has been greatly hampered by more than two decades of conflict between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the North and, as a result, the opportunities available to young people are extremely limited. Unemployment levels for young people between the ages of 14 and 24 are estimated to be at 83% (Source: ADI Report 2008/2009).

However, there is hope for young people in Uganda as the country gets closer to reaching its Millennium Development Goals. Since 1992, the number of people living in poverty has substantially decreased by more than 25% according to the 2007 UNDP Uganda Progress Report. Gender equality has been steadily improving with more than 2 million additional girls enrolling in primary school each year. Indicators show that HIV/AIDS prevalence has stabilized at 6.4%. Overall, there is growing optimism across Uganda that things will continue to improve and peace will remain.

Bouncing Cats Cast:
Abraham “Abramz” Tekya:
Abraham Tekya, commonly known as “Abramz,” is the director and founder of Breakdance Project Uganda, an organization launched in February 2006 that uses breakdance and other elements of hip hop culture to promote positive change and social responsibility. A native of Mengo, Kampala, Uganda, Abramz grew up quickly, as most children in Uganda are forced to. At the age of seven, he lost both of his parents to AIDS and was orphaned, shuffled between distant relatives and different homes. Despite these circumstances, Abramz used his life experience and love of hip hop to educate, inspire and unite youth in Uganda and beyond.

Richard “Crazy Legs” Colòn:
To call Richard “Crazy Legs” Colòn a pioneer is an understatement. It is nearly impossible to have a conversation about b-boying without giving mention to the legendary Crazy Legs. Not only is he a veteran of hip hop as a culture, boasting more than 3 decades as the driving force behind the hip hop dance movement, but he’s also an outstanding citizen and role model. He has lent his time, experience, and influence to aiding and encouraging the positive advancement of hip hop culture. Among his many achievements, he is credited with the creation of the classic b-boy move called the continuous backspin or “windmill.”

Jolly Grace Okot:
Jolly Grace Okot, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, was among the first wave of children abducted and forced to be a child soldier in the beginning of Uganda’s civil war.  She is the Uganda Country director for Invisible Children (IC) and has been involved with the organization since the beginning. Her guidance enabled Bouncing Cats‘ filmmakers to see and understand the plight of children in Northern Uganda, and her leadership and direction helped create IC’s initiatives on the ground. Okot also runs H.E.A.L.S., a program that provides play therapy for war-affected children.

Kibuka Mukisa Oscar:
Kibuka Mukisa Oscar, who joined BPU in 2006 and regularly attends weekly Sharing Youth Centre sessions, recently finished secondary school. He dreams of working in the visual arts.

Shadia Aghamu:
Aghamu Shadia was born into a family of 13 children. She dreams of going to a good business school, earning enough money to support her family, and hopes to buy a bus for BPU one day.

Alfred Otim:
Alfred Otim, currently studying at Gulu College, hopes to go to University to become an engineer. He intends to earn money for University by teaching and performing.

Claire Lewis:
Claire Lewis, a 20-year Oxfam veteran, has been based in Africa for the past four years. During a fateful trip to Los Angeles, she met director Elderkin and the two discussed hip hop, which included Lewis mentioning Abramz’ inspirational work in Uganda. After the meeting, Lewis casually suggested Elderkin drop by to see Kampala one day…

Ynot:
Ynot started dancing at the age of 17 and was mainly influenced by James Brown. He is a member of the legendary Rock Steady Crew. He enjoys traveling and teaching workshops across the US and the world.

Ervin Arana:
DJ, photographer and respected b-boy Ervin Arana is a member of the Rock Steady Crew. He has appeared in numerous music videos and shares his knowledge of dance through lectures and workshops.

Additional details on cast members are available at http://www.bouncingcats.com/cast/

Additional Credits & Film Details:
Bouncing Cats was produced by Red Bull Media House and directed by Nabil Elderkin. All proceeds from the film are going to Breakdance Project Uganda.

Nabil Elderkin, Director:
Bouncing Cats Director Nabil Elderkin, originally a native of Australia, began his photography career when he picked up a camera to shoot portraits of fellow surfers. What started as a hobby, rapidly developed into a working career. From surf portraits, Elderkin began shooting musicians and anyone that inspired him. He later moved to the United States to continue to expand his career. Today, Elderkin lives and works in Los Angeles at his studio downtown. He shoots musicians, sports, fashion, and portraiture. Elderkin has recently published a book titled Glow in the Dark with Kanye West through Rizzoli and has directed several music videos and documentaries from here to Africa. Traveling is his passion. He created the film in order to bring attention to the situation in Uganda as well as support the inspiring work Abramz is doing through BPU.

Executive Producers: Amy Taylor, Scott Bradfield, Karma Gardner, Charlie Rosene

Producers: Nyla Hassell, George Mays, Claude Merkel, Charles Spano

Film Editing: Isaac Hagy

Sound Editor: Andrew Le Guier

Genre: Documentary / Music

Runtime: 75 minutes

Country: USA

Language: English

Color: Color

Filming Locations: Uganda, USA

Festival Tour & Special Engagements:
Bouncing Cats is screening on the festival circuit and at special engagements across the US. Key screenings include:

- Apr. 17 – Newport Beach Film Festival – Newport Beach, CA
- Aug. 21 – DocuFest Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival – Atlanta, GA
- Sep. 17, 18 – Urbanworld Film Festival – New York, NY
- Sep. 17-19 – DocUtah – Southern Utah Int’l Documentary Film Festival – St. George, UT
- Sep. 22 – Manifesto Film Fest – Toronto, ON
- Sep. 23 – Montreal International Black Film Festival – Montreal, QC
- Oct. 8-10 – BendFilm – Bend, OR
- Oct. 16, 17, 19, 22 – Heartland Truly Moving Pictures – Indianapolis, IN
- Oct. 18, 24 – Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival – Hot Springs National Park, AR
- Oct. 30 – MoogFest – Asheville, NC
- Nov. 3 – USC Albert & Dana Broccoli Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
- Nov. 4, 7 – American Film Market (AFM) – Santa Monica, CA
- Nov. 7 – Hartford International Film Festival – Hartford, CT
- Nov. 9 – National Geographic LIVE! – Washington DC
- Nov. 11 – Rice University – Houston, TX
- Nov. 16 – Downtown Independent – Los Angeles, CA
- Nov. 19 – Arizona State University – Tempe, AZ
- Nov. 20 – Decatur High School Performing Arts Center – Atlanta, GA
- Dec. 4 – Northwestern University McCormick Tribune Theater - Evanston, IL
- Dec. 5 – Bahamas International Film Festival - Nassau, Bahamas
- Dec. 16 – NYU – New York, NY

Please visit the Bouncing Cats site for additional screening announcements at http://www.bouncingcats.com/screenings/.

Awards:
Newport Film Festival “Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking”
Urbanworld Film Festival “Best Documentary Feature Film”
DocUtah – Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival “Audience Favorite Award”
Bahamas International Film Festival Audience Award for “Best Feature Documentary”

Distribution:
Bouncing Cats distribution is open to negotiations.  For distribution related inquiries, please contact Nyla Hassell at nyla.hassell@us.redbull.com.

Bouncing Cats Links:
- Official Web Site: http://www.bouncingcats.com
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bouncingcats
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/bouncingcats
- Video Trailer: http://vimeo.com/12234800

Publicity Contact:
For more information, or to request screeners, images, and interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Click to watch the Bouncing Cats trailer.

(Updated 12/02/10)

Photo credit Aaron Gautchi

When Lucent Dossier Experience started their new artist residency in the heart of Hollywood last month, they were presented with an unusual challenge: the h.wood space they now inhabit on Wednesday nights is a series of small, den-like chambers without a large, conventional stage. While this could have been a liability, the inventive troupe rose to the occasion by reconfiguring their show, conceptually transforming h.wood’s labyrinth of rooms into a modern day cabinet of human curiosities. Wednesdays through December 23, 2009, Lucent Dossier Experience opens h.wood’s doors every week at 8:00 p.m. with the troupe’s tantalizing performances from 9:00 p.m. to midnight, and DJs/dancing continuing until 2:00 a.m. The residency runs through December, culminating with their Orphan’s Ball on December 23rd which benefits Cuddle The World, Lucent’s charity project for disadvantaged children.For Immediate Release: December 6, 2009

Lucent Dossier Experience Transforms h.wood
Into a Modern Day Cabinet of Human Curiosities
With Performances On Wednesdays
Running Through December 23rd 2009

LOS ANGELES, CA – When Lucent Dossier Experience started their new artist residency in the heart of Hollywood last month, they were presented with an unusual challenge: the h.wood space they now inhabit on Wednesday nights is a series of small, den-like chambers without a large, conventional stage. While this could have been a liability, the inventive troupe rose to the occasion by reconfiguring their show, conceptually transforming h.wood’s labyrinth of rooms into a modern day cabinet of human curiosities. Wednesdays through December 23, 2009, Lucent Dossier Experience opens h.wood’s doors every week at 8:00 p.m. with the troupe’s tantalizing performances from 9:00 p.m. to midnight, and DJs/dancing continuing until 2:00 a.m. The residency runs through December, culminating with their Orphan’s Ball on December 23rd which benefits Cuddle The World, Lucent’s charity project for disadvantaged children. Admission to Lucent Dossier Experience is $15 on Wednesday nights. h.wood (formerly the Stork Lounge) is located at 1738 N. Orange, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Valet parking is available at the venue and self-parking is in the Hollywood + Highland Center complex (rates are $2 for 4 hours with validation, easy entrance to the parking on Orange or Highland). For information on the venue please call 323-871-2262 or visit www.thehwood.com. For more information on the event and to purchase advance tickets, please visit www.lucentdossier.com.

Historically, curiosity cabinets (aka wunderkammer or cabinets of wonder) were eclectic collections of artifacts including natural specimens, religious artifacts, art works, fantastical imaginary beings, historical relics, and other exotica. These rooms of wonder emerged in the sixteenth century and are considered the precursors to museums. They originally provided a retreat for contemplation and a view into strange new worlds with menageries of preserved fish, feathers, curious shells, stuffed reptiles, coins, coral, minerals, horns, tusks, skeletons, clocks, and a fascinating assortment of man-made objects. Often, the displays would contain a mix of fact and fiction, including mythical creatures. The Lucent Dossier Experience h.wood residency arouses a sense of awe similar to the static curiosity cabinets of yesteryear, but here the exotic specimen are in human form and operate in four dimensions (i.e., three dimensional physical space + the performative element of time.

The industrial vintage h.wood space, in the heart of Hollywood, with its two floors of dark nooks and crannies, perfectly houses Lucent Dossier Experience’s otherworldly spectacle into modern day wonder rooms. The club’s distressed leather couches, antique bookshelves, and old fashioned portraits echo the aristocratic library feel of the original wunderkammer.

Until Christmas, on Wednesday nights, Lucent Dossier Experience activates the h.wood maze of rooms into an exotic display of ethereal seductions with aerial artistry, soulful belly dancers, sleek other-worldy creatures, astral readings, decadent rose water foot baths, gypsies offering soul cleansing herbal elixirs, a post portal post office, temporary tribal tattoo parlor, and impish pranksters — all in fantastical haute couture costumes and makeup. Overhead, luminous aerial performers share the rafters with the antique chandeliers. A menagerie of exotic creatures add magic and mayhem including bizarre and alluring burlesque dancers, a bearded lady, spoken word poets, clowns, contortionists, elves, singers, jugglers, stilt walkers, and a sword swallower in a theatrical spectacle of feathers, chains, and lace.

Lucent Dossier loosely translates to a “collection of glowing light.” In the new residency, the interactive troupe provides a curious twist on the conventional, creating an experience that’s like stepping into a fractured Lewis Carroll dream. The result is a weird and wonderful funhouse where the performers activate the boho chic space, mixing with the local Hollywood flora and fauna, transforming Wednesday nights into a realm of new possibilities.

“All the different elements — the performers, the music, the space, the audience, and chance — come into play to create a very fluid, surrealistic wonderland where no two evenings are ever the same,” says Creative Director Dream Rockwell, “And we encourage guests to dress up in their finery, transform into exotic creatures, express themselves, and become part of the experience.”

A different DJ is featured each week along with live musical elements mixed in (that might including sitar, violins, drums, keyboards, guitar, vocals, or bass). On December 9th, Venice-based DJ, composer, and dance floor messiah KRADDY (founding member of the Glitch Mob) will hit the decks with a futuristic fusion of dubstep, hip hop, dance hall, and crunk all bumping together with his signature style of edits and remixes that make his sound super danceable and unique.

“The music is such an important part of the experience. We come from a very organized, and yet still underground, art and music scene. The sounds that came out of our scene 5-6 years ago are what’s being cultivated into the mainstream now,” says Rockwell, “The music makers, DJs, and producers around us are cutting edge and we are thrilled to be able to feature them. Many of them are now touring worldwide but they’re all still our friends. It’s great to have them come down and create musical magic for a night.”

DJs for December 16th and December 23rd TBD.

On December 16th, as a special treat, visual artist Jocelyn Marsh will show her work in collaboration with Lucent Dossier Experience, further enhancing that evening’s cabinet of curiosities. For ten years, Marsh has been collecting bones, insects, metal boxes, and various other interesting items — bringing them together into whimsical assemblages. She lives in Los Angeles with her cat skeleton, Whiskers. For more information on Marsh and her work, see: jocelynmarsh.com

The weekly residency will culminate with an Orphan’s Ball on December 23rd benefiting Cuddle The World. This Christmas Eve Eve-nt, a time to dance and celebrate with extended family, features a toy drive and other surprises. Guests are encouraged to bring something cuddly (new or gently used) for Lucent Dossier Experience to distribute at an orphanage this Spring when the troupe hits the road.

Cuddle the World is Lucent Dossier Experience’s non-profit organization that brings inspiration in the form of inter-active performance, musical instruments, clown noses, costumes, and fairy wings as well as sparks of love and security, in the form of teddy bears and snuggle blankets, to orphans around the globe. These children are in conditions where they receive very basic care but nothing more.

“We believe that we can help inspire these kids to think more creatively when they are dumped into the world at age 16 or 18 so that they will be able to make better choices for their lives as they are forced to fend for themselves with little or no support,” says Rockwell, “It’s the greatest project I have ever been a part of. I just love to see the little kids’ faces light up and know that what we are doing is worth every bit of time, money, and effort we have put into it.

Rockwell, in partnership with Shrine, a Pasadena-based artist, originally founded the troupe in December 2004 to nourish her love of the avant-garde in the form of dance, performance, music, and costuming. Now, five years later, the critically acclaimed Los Angeles-based tribe of inspiring artists has been featured in television commercials, print advertisements, music videos, and large-scale, live productions such as Coachella here in the US, Summer Sonic in Japan, and Electric Picnic in Ireland. Their h.wood residency follows up their hugely successful year-long run of sold-out shows at The Edison in downtown Los Angeles, which ran from April 2008 through April 2009. Also included in the group’s impressive resume is a photo spread in Italian Vogue (as captured by Steven Meisel); shows at top clubs throughout Los Angeles; and performances on MTV and at the official Grammy® Awards Party.

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For more information, photos, or to arrange interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Hasty at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

Event Details:

Lucent Dossier Experience
- weekly artist residency -

h.wood
1738 N. Orange
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-871-2262
www.thehwood.com

8:00pm – 2:00am
- Doors: 8:00pm
- DJ & dancing all night
- Shows: 9:00pm – 12midnight

Admission $15
- Join their mailing list for discounts

- Valet parking available at the venue
- Self parking in Hollywood + Highland complex – $2 for 4 hours with validation

www.lucentdossier.com