US Department of Art & Technology

Net Art / Media Installation / Performance

“To prevent undue wreckage in society, the artist tends now to move from the ivory to the control tower of society.” – Marshall McLuhan

USDATSeal_5_trans_clean
The Seal of the US Department of Art & Technology

The US Department of Art & Technology (USDAT) was an artist-led, virtual government agency created in the aftermath of September 11th to insert the artist’s voice into times of extraordinary crisis. During its brief four year period of activity, the USDAT functioned as a conduit between the arts and the broader political and economic culture for facilitating the artist’ need to extend aesthetic inquiry into the social sphere where ideas become real action. The Department proposed and supported the idealized definition of the role of the artist in society as one whose reflections, ideas, aesthetics, sensibilities, and abilities can have significant and transformative social impact on the world stage.Unfortunately, as the nation descended into war and chaos during the tumultuous Bush years, the Department came to an end in 2005, but its spirit continued as Secretary-at-Large Randall M. Packer descended into the Underworld of America, still determined to change the world. This story is told in the epic account, A Season in Hell.

Project Website and Official Archives of the US Department of Art & Technology: http://www.usdat.us

Photos

Video

State of the Union [The Fateful Embrace]

A re-enactment of the 2005 State of the Union address delivered by George W. Bush, set to the Leibestod of Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde.

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