[1]Ownership means acquiring, maintaining, and wielding power (the power to define, select, include, and exclude). What are the sources of American ownership? What is the history of American power? How is that power exercised today?

I Hate America! (I Love America): Who Owns Myth, Pop, Money, Race, and Terror in the Land of the Free? is a six-month collaboration and conversation between artists in the UK and the US – culminating on November 30, 2013 in concurrent daylong events in London and Chicago. Through presentations, conversation and video, the 10-hour event features artists, activists, scholars, and volunteers who will research, dissect, explore, discuss, protest, celebrate, and argue about the United States.

UK and US events will take place simultaneously on Saturday, November 30, 2013 at the Glass Factory in London (from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.) and Defibrillator Gallery in Chicago (from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).

I Hate America! (I Love America): Who Owns Myth, Pop, Money, Race, and Terror in the Land of the Free? is supported by DIY 10: 2013[2], a Live Art Development Agency[3] initiative in collaboration with Platform[4]. Additional funding for the project provided by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York.

The work is produced by Lucky Pierre[5] and is created, organized and realized with 31 collaborating UK and US artists. Community may or may not be built, but action will be attempted through discussions between former empire and shaky empire.

VENUES:

Defibrillator
1136 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60642 USA

Defibrillator is located in Wicker Park approximately 10 minutes walk south on Milwaukee Ave. from the Blue Line Division stop.

Bus: Division/ Milwaukee/ Ashland
Train: Blue Line (Division stop)

The Glass Factory

9a, Queens Yard
White Post Lane
London E9 5EN

The Glass Factory is located in Hackney Wick a short walk from public transportation.

Bus: 26 / 30 / 236 / 388 / 488
Train: Hackney Wick Overground

EVENTS ON NOVEMBER 30, 2013

Live Presentations: A 10 hour live event in London with 20 presentations responding to the question: “Who owns myth, pop, race, money, and terror in the Land of the Free?”

Each presentation will respond to one of the topics in the form of an “historical re-enactment.” The presentations may be performance, film, music, or lecture; however the presenter chooses to interpret topic and form. Presenters will be members of the core group of UK and US artists, and invited guest presenters.

Conversation between Chicago and London: A live 10 hour conversation will take place between volunteers in Chicago and London responding to “Who owns myth, pop, race, money, and terror in the Land of the Free?” The video-conferenced conversation will be broadcast live on the Internet.

Video Channel: 10 hours of video programming relating to the question “Who owns myth, pop, race, money, or terror in the land of the free?” The program will include curated film and video as well as found material from YouTube. The program will presented at both the London and Chicago venues (single channel video projection) while simultaneously being broadcast online.

Myth, pop, money, race, and terror defined by American Heritage Dictionary:

Myth:

1a. A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society: the myth of Eros and Psyche; a creation myth.

1b. Such stories considered as a group: the realm of myth.

2. A popular belief or story that has become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a cultural ideal: a star whose fame turned her into a myth; the pioneer myth of suburbia.

3. A fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology.

Pop:

1. Of or for the general public; popular or popularized: pop culture; pop psychology.

2. Of, relating to, or specializing in popular music: a pop singer.

3. Of or suggestive of pop art: a pop style.

Money:

1. A medium that can be exchanged for goods and services and is used as a measure of their values on the market, including among its forms a commodity such as gold, an officially issued coin or note, or a deposit in a checking account or other readily liquefiable account.

2. The official currency, coins, and negotiable paper notes issued by a government.

3. Assets and property considered in terms of monetary value; wealth.

Race:

1. A group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of supposed physical or genetic traits shared by the group. Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them.

2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the Celtic race.

3. A genealogical line; a lineage.

4. Humans considered as a group.

Terror:

1. Intense, overpowering fear.

2. One that instills intense fear: a rabid dog that became the terror of the neighborhood.

3. The ability to instill intense fear: the terror of jackboots pounding down the street.

4. Violence committed or threatened by a group, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals.