|
REPRINTED FROM THENEXTMAYOR.COMApril 11, 2007 press release, (submitted via e-mail) |
Media Contact:
Contact Information: Chris Meck
Phone: 215-901-8484
Email: chris@chrismeck.com
One time only showing on First Friday May 4, 2007
For Immediate Release: April 11, 2007
See the democratic process processed a whole new way when photographer Chris Meck and artist Meredith Warner, local artists turned activists, premier Referendum: Democracy In Action and Reaction, a multimedia documentary about the anti-casino movement. Produced and presented by the artists, and the muckraking web site Hallwatch, on the eve of the city’s historic referendum on casino development near neighborhoods, the one-time event takes place on May 4, 2007 at Power Plant Productions, 230 North 2nd Street, from 5pm-10pm.
Using film and video shot over the past year at rallies, signature drives, protest marches civic meetings, city council hearings, and on trips to Harrisburg, Referendum documents the groundswell of opposition that brought together diverse communities and succeeded in providing the citizens of Philadelphia a chance to vote about the location of casinos. City Council approved a historic casino referendum to go on the May 15, 2007 ballot.
“This is not a project about trying to censure gambling but a comment on the fight for basic civil liberties in city neighborhoods,” says Meck. “It’s about our right to vote, to be part of the civic process and to protect where we live. And, in an age where transparency is on everyone’s minds, it’s about our right to transparent government.”
Philadelphia-based Meck is herself a member of the Passyunk Civic Association and the Delaware River Neighborhood Alliance. She lives in South Philadelphia. See more of her work online at www.chrismeck.com. (Artist statement below.)
Meredith Warner is an artist, activist and educator. She is the Director of the Department for the Investigation of Neutrality and Palatability, part of a the Philadelphia-based Think Tank that is yet to be named. Her work can be viewed at thinktank.boxwith.com.
The videos were produced by Iden Rosenthal, local videomaker, and Ed Goppelt, citizen journalist, for hallwatch.org hallwatch.org. Hallwatch is devoted to providing Philadelphians with tools and information to participate as equals in the political life of their city.
Sponsors for the event include: Whole Foods Market.
###
Artist Statement: Chris Meck
“Referendum” was inspired by my desire to fight for civil liberties, and make that fight into art. Philadelphia has a long history of resignation; a deep-seated belief that nothing we can do can change the inevitable. It is important to reverse this inherent sense of powerlessness. This project captures moments of citizens discovering their own power, and explores how these moments create change. I hope the photographs crystallize the beauty of individuals recapturing their power through civic responsibility.