Karaoke Convention ‘08

The Karaoke Convention provides a PLATFORM for RE-SPEAKING.
The Karaoke Convention aims to create EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE in the project participants. By reading and re-speaking the words of the candidates and adopting their gestures, the campaign seeks to create a space for deeper, more intimate understandings of the candidates and the meanings contained in their political rhetoric.
The Karaoke Convention is a project FOR THE PEOPLE OF DENVER, it is meant as a form of LOCAL CULTURE JAMMING. A powerful stream of video signals will be transmitted from the Pepsi center. The people of Denver, living within a few miles of the Pepsi Center, will receive, via their televisions and over the internet, the same signal as those over 5000 miles away in Dakar. This project is aimed at EMPOWERING THE PEOPLE OF DENVER TO RE-INTERPRET this transmission through a LOCAL RECEPTION FILTER.
The Karaoke Convention is a campaign aimed at DISCOVERY, it is not a form of propaganda set on transmitting established thinking. Even without changing the words of these speeches, they are transformed by the natural character of the performers themselves. In the process of this transformation, we may discover something important about the meanings behind this staple form of political communication.
The establishment of ALTERNATIVE CONVENTION CENTERS, utilizing the EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE of karaoke bars, KJs [karaoke jays] and potential new karaoke performance venues, is critical to the aims of this campaign. Interested businesses are asked to contact the campaign manager to find out about how to become a local Karaoke Convention Center and to receive a Karaoke Convention Campaign Kit to assist them in hosting an event.
The Karaoke Convention will be MADE BY THE PEOPLE OF DENVER, without them it will not exist. By going to their local Karaoke Convention Centers they will perform and create this collective artwork.
The Karaoke Convention is interested in EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLITICS AND CELEBRITY in a heavily mediated political and popular culture where most of our knowledge comes through the passive consumption of images on our televisions and over the internet.
The Karaoke Convention campaign is A REAL CAMPAIGN, AIMED AT REAL CHANGE It is not a joke just because it involves serious play. It is aimed at real transformation through embodied knowledge.
REHEARSAL VIDEOS will be made available online for those interested in preparing in advance for their performance. Speeches from a wide range of the primary candidates from both parties have been translated into Karaoke tracks and will be made available via download for the participating Karaoke Convention Centers and their VJs/KJs. Online and in person participants are encouraged to make a record of their performance and to share this record with others via the karaoke convention website.