Ken Jacobs: Star Spangled To Death

Los Angeles Premiere

Jack Skirball Screening Series

(1957-59/2003, 16mm film transferred to video, 6 hrs.45 min.)

Star Spangled To Death is Ken Jacobs' devastating and mesmerizing critique of mainstream American culture as revealed through a parade of amazing found-films salvaged from mid-20th-century dustbins, and seen here against a visual backdrop of late-50s artist drop-outs (led by Jack Smith and Jerry Sims) cavorting whimsically on the streets of Lower Manhattan. Almost a half-century in the making, Star Spangled is a bracing corrective tonic to the unchallenged control media has always had in shaping our opinions and ideals. Jacobs describes it as "a social-critique picturing a stolen and dangerously sold-out America, allowing examples of popular culture to self-indict."

Special holiday screening schedule. Presented in two parts with a dinner break

Date/Time	G	ST	CA
Mon 10.11.04 8:30 pm	$8	$6	$4
Mon 10.11.04 8:30 pm	$8	$6	$4

Date/Time

Mon 10.11.04 8:30 pm

REDCAT NEWS

REDCAT’s 16th Season: Vital Artists at a Crucial Time

REDCAT is a home for diverse artists and audiences who are interested in pushing the evolution of contemporary culture, and discovering new art forms for our complex and volatile world.

“Art is a mediator of the unspeakable,” wrote Goethe. Artists can open the mind and soul to help us comprehend beauty as well
as atrocity; vibrancy as well as anguish. Many artists at REDCAT this fall are finding creative and profound ways to do both.

In the gallery, more than 20 Iranian artists explore complex social issues, while using the rich cultural significance and beauty of flowers as a starting point. In the theater, Dutch art collective Hotel Modern, who came to REDCAT in 2015 with an astonishing performance addressing the horror of WWI, return with an acclaimed and meticulous piece commemorating the worst atrocities of WWII; choreographer David Rousséve celebrates the life of composer Billy Strayhorn, who was a gay, African-American activist more than 60 years ago, and wrote some of Duke Ellington’s most famous music; wryly funny German/UK ensemble Gob Squad works with local performers to probe definitions of “beauty” and the grace of aging; the bi-coastal trio My Barbarian finds
a way to confront economic injustice while making us laugh heartily and tap our toes to their band; and Brazilian director Christiane Jatahy merges cinema and theater to re-imagine
the themes of anguish, hope and love in Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

There is much more—ranging from adventurous music and multi-media events, to groundbreaking film and video programs. These are events you’ll want to experience, not just hear about.

We hope to see you here,
Mark Murphy
The Steven D. Lavine Executive Director of REDCAT

Ken Jacobs: Star Spangled To Death

REDCAT NEWS