Public preview of Lux Phantasmatis, a large-scale kinetic and audiovisual installation by award-winning artists Pavel Zustiak and Keith Skretch. The installation hovers at the intersection of sculpture, choreography, and machine art. Initially intended for exhibition in New York theaters shuttered by COVID-19, Lux Phantasmatis is a product of the pandemic. It emerges as a living embodiment of a world devoid of human intervention against the backdrop of global standstill.
Creative team: Pavel Zustiak, Keith Skretch, Christian Frederickson, Joseph Silovsky, Ryan Holsopple, Christina Tang, Sandra Garner, Joe Levasseur, Marek Soltis, Libor Mlynar
Viewing hours: 3:00 - 7:00 pm, 4th floor. No RSVP is required. Entrance to the building with a face mask only.
Originally crafted as performative scenography for Palissimo Company’s dance production HEBEL—one of countless shows postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19—the installation takes center stage in the show’s absence, a literal “ghost light”* illuminating dark performance spaces. Like its theatrical namesake, Lux Phantasmatis embodies a presence within absence, matter within a void.
The installation’s automation, LED display, and sonic output are governed by custom data-driven programming, drawing on input ranging from the astronomical calendar to the proximity of human bodies in the room. In this way, the Machine responds uniquely to each space and onlooker, albeit in a timeframe that falls outside of casual observation. Similar to an extraterrestrial visiting planet Earth, it is responsive but uninterpretable.
For more information about this exhibition and the 2021 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival program, visit www.rehearsalfortruth.org.
Free and open to the public. Suggested donation $10. RSVP through Eventbrite is required.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions for indoor events, seating capacity is limited and on first-come first-served basis. Reservations must be made in advance. Wearing a face mask is required. No tickets will be available at the door, and anyone who has not received pre-event confirmation will be turned away. Read about Festival Safety Protocol.
ABOUT THE 2021 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH THEATER FESTIVAL
The 2021 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival honoring Vaclav Havel is organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association. The program is co-produced by the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, GOH Productions, Czech Center New York, Polish Cultural Institute New York, One-Eight/Daniel Irizarry Theater, Slovak Consulate General in New York, Palissimo Company, and Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague, Czech Republic.
The 2021 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Ben Kallos. Additional support is by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York, Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka – Member of the KBC Group, PACE.V4 – Performing Arts Central Europe, Visegrad Countries Focus, and International Visegrad Fund.