MoMA Presents Weeklong Run of DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation
Published May 20th, 2009
The Museum of Modern Art presents DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation, a weeklong run of composer, multimedia artist, and writer Paul D. Miller’s (a.k.a DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid) film Rebirth of a Nation (2008), a deconstruction and remix of D.W. Griffith’s highly controversial but landmark The Birth of a Nation (1915), from June 22 through 28, 2009. As one of the critical repositories of the work of D.W. Griffith, MoMA will provide audiences the opportunity to experience Miller’s reworking of this American masterwork in the context of the original with two screenings of MoMA’s print of The Birth of a Nation on June 25 and June 27.
Rebirth of a Nation was originally commissioned as a live, multimedia performance that premiered at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York (2008) and was subsequently performed at more than 50 international venues, including the Festival d’Automne á Paris, the Spoleto Festival USA, and the Vienna Festwochen.
For the theatrical film version, produced by Starz Media/Anchor Bay Films, Miller takes Griffith’s original work, which is set during and after the American Civil War and provoked controversy for its treatment of white supremacy and its positive portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, and applies a “DJ re-mix.” Using his skills as a DJ to mash music and film techniques, he recontextualizes Griffith’s achievement and places the original film in a moral framework, drawing striking parallels between socio-political conflicts in America during Griffith’s era and today. The film features Miller’s original score, performed and recorded by the Kronos Quartet.
Miller will be present to introduce the opening night screening on June 22, and will participate in a post-screening discussion.
Paul D. Miller (American, b. 1970) is a composer, multimedia artist, and writer, whose work has been seen in a wide variety of contexts, including the Whitney Biennial (1997/2001); The Venice Biennial for Architecture (2000); the Ludwig Museum, Cologne; Kunsthalle, Vienna; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, and the Art Basel Miami Beach fair (2007). He is the author of two books, Rhythm Science (2004) and Sound Unbound (2008), and has produced notable compilations, remixes, and collections of music.
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