Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble [ROKE]: "THE ART OF LUV (PART 6): AWESOME GROTTO!"

January 4–5, 2019

Experimental Theater

View Program for The Art of Luv (Part 6): Awesome Grotto!The Art of Luv (Part 6): Awesome Grotto! is a transformative ritual based on the obsessive recreation of a single unpopular shopping “haul” video that was posted to YouTube on Labor Day 2013 and later deleted by its creator. Drawing on the Ancient Greek Mysteries of Eleusis, and making use of a giant reverse camera obscura, Awesome Grotto! ceremonially reimagines an act that has become totally mundane: looking into a lens and sharing a story with the world. It is a moving meditation on what it means to be a person in the age of social media and the global economy. The Art of Luv is a multi-part, multi-year, multi-disciplinary series addressing the mythologies behind normative 21st Century codes of romantic conduct. Episodes have taken a range of forms: public ritual-performance, video, sculpture, installation, lecture, and party. The Art of Luv (Part 6): Awesome Grotto! is commissioned by Abrons Arts Center with funding from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. The Art of Luv is a project of Creative Capital. Photo by Maria Baranova. Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble [ROKE] is a musical priesthood that explores the metaphysics and mythologies of love, desire, and connectivity in the the VHS and Internet Ages. Formed by artists Tei Blow and Sean McElroy and joined in 2016 by director/designer Eben Hoffer, ROKE generates contemporary ritual out of found media, synthesizing video, meme, party, opera, theater, social practice, and installation. The Art of Luv (Part 6): Awesome Grotto! is commissioned by Abrons Arts Center with funding from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. The Art of Luv is a project of Creative Capital. Image: Maria Baranova