A CRIME AGAINST ART IN NEW YORK

NEW YORK PREMIERE: A CRIME AGAINST ART

This staged conceptual trial on the morals of participation in the contemporary art field blurs the lines of script and character with its real performers and their possibly actual beliefs. Suddenly art promoters and theorists take on the appearance of criminals in a kind of daily TV-court, questioning the responsibility and negotiating the performative aspects of the art discourse.

New Vision Award, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, 2007 Following successful premiers at the Copenhagen and Berlin Film Festivals, The New Museum is pleased to present the New York premier of A Crime Against Art. The screening will take place on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 7:30 PM. For tickets please go to www.newmuseum.org/events/158 A Crime Against Art Director: Hila Peleg, Madrid/Berlin, 2007, 100 min, original footage DV A Crime Against Art is a film based on the trial staged at an art fair in Madrid in February 2007. The trial, inspired by the mock trials organized by avant-garde movements in the 1920′s and 30′s, theatrically raised a number of polemical issues in the world of contemporary art: collusion with the ‘new bourgeoisie’, instrumentalization of art and its institutions, the future possibility of critical artistic agency and other pertinent subjects. The trial begins with the assumption that a crime has been committed, yet its nature and evidence are allusive and no victims have come forward. The testimonies and cross-examinations become an attempt by the Judge (Jan Verwoert), the Prosecutors (Vasif Kortun and Chus Martinez) and the Defense Attorney (Charles Esche) to unravel the nature of the puzzling “crime against art”. Set as a television courtroom drama and filmed by four camera crews, A Crime Against Art presents a condensed 100 minute version of a the trial. Cast: Defendants: Anton Vidokle and Tirdad Zolgdhar Prosecutors: Vasif Kortun and Chus Martinez Defense attorney: Charles Esche Judge: Jan Verwoert Expert witnesses: Maria Lind and Anselm Franke Artist: Setareh Shabazi Public: Keti Chukrov and Barnaby Drabble With special contribution by Liam Gillick. A Crime Against Art is based on The Trial in Madrid, February 2007 Organised by Anton Vidokle and Tirdad Zolgdhar. A Crime Against Art is distributed by bdv bdv (Bureau des Videos) 7/9 Rue Gabriel Laumain 75010 Paris, France Tel. +33 1 48 24 97 28 Fax +33 1 48 24 97 29 info@bureaudesvideos.com www.bureaudesvideos.com A Crime Against Art is the 2008 official selection at the Canadian International Documentary Film Festival It will be screened in Toronto at: 4/18/2008 – 9:45:00 PM at the INNIS theatre 4/20/2008 – 1:15:00 PM at the ROYAL theatre