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Larry Litt

What the media and critics have said about
The Blame Show:

1. From Ken Johnson's New York Times (Aug, 23, 2002) arts section review: "Works of note include Larry Litt's wryly conceived, politically provocative videotape "The Blame Show," made up of clips from interviews conducted by the artist in which unnamed private citizens denounce public figures and institutions or blame themselves for the current state of public affairs."
The Blame Show at Queens Museum of Art was listed in the New York Times Picks of the Week Friday calendar section for 14 weeks.

2. In a review in Aufbau (May 16, 2002), the foremost German-American intellectual and arts newspaper for transatlantic dialogue, reviewer Sara Ogger in an article titled "Fifteen Minutes of Blame" wrote: In The Blame Show video, ninety or so people explain who or what they think is to blame for "the current homeland situation." Their answers to this intentionally vague question range from "the oil" to "these crazy people with their crazy religions" to "the Republicans" and "my mother," but a lot of the same people who air these views also end up saying "I blame myself." This last answer is, conceivably, the whole point of the exercise. To create the "Blame Video," a work of social-political art, writer and videographer Larry Litt invited the pedestrians of Chelsea's gallery-laden streets to visit White Box, an alternative not-for-profit cultural venue, to participate in the video. In conversation with Aufbau, he explained that the line went around the block; people seem to have jumped at the chance to act as a talking head, and more than four hours of digitally recorded opinions were edited down to a more manageable fifteen minutes.
3. Time Out/New York (April 25, 2002) chose The Blame Show as its Critics' Pick, reporting that: "The Blame Show...challenges post-9/11 intimidation, ostracism, and governmental censorship in this politically loaded exhibition."

4. In a review titled "The Blame Game-Let The Finger Pointing Begin" Fairfield County Weekly's Mike Sembos wrote on Oct. 24, 2002: The fast-paced, sharply edited product was raw and engaging, almost to the point of addiction. Opinions were all over the political spectrum, covering neighborhood to national concerns, but there was no shortage of fingers pointing toward the White House. Litt spoke first and quickly admitted that he was still new to filmmaking which probably aided in giving his videos a stripped-down, edgy look. He referred to The Blame Show as a means of persuading people to think and then act by using art to make very real things happen. The original was filmed in late 2001, soon after Sept. 11. The second was made this August to show how public opinion has changed with time. "At any time you can turn on a TV and see what so-called important people think," Litt reminded the students who scribbled furiously in their notebooks, "but the unheard masses are who's really interesting to me."

5. From Cleveland Eye TV: Freedom of speech means freedom to blame. "The Blame Show," a video of responses to the question, "Who is to blame for the current homeland situation?" exhibits New Yorkers' responses to 9/11. Some blame public figures. Some blame institutions. Still others blame themselves. "My goal was to create an alternative media,"Litt said, "The reason I did the video was to get opinions from real people, ordinary people, who I think are very much ignored by big mainstream media. I asked almost 100 people who's to blame." Another reason Litt said he chose video as his medium is that, "Video is a very easily recognizable form. People are used to watching television." Recently Litt exhibited "The Blame Show" as part of the Queen's Museum of Art International Exhibition, from which it gained mention in The New York Times. Litt is a commissioned artist at the museum. Tough times and tough questions are upon us. These are not the burning times but are the blaming times. And unlike a game show, "The Blame Show" poses no correct answers. We'll have to wait, view and see.

6. From the article in Berliner Kunst/NY Arts, December 2002 by L.P. Streitfeld: Sept. 11 generated a great deal of patriotic flag waving, but what about the flip side to the war on terrorism that the commercial media is loath to reveal? Observing both the art world's uniform denial of the cultural impact of the watershed event and the personal agenda of the talking heads dominating the airwaves, Larry Litt and Eleanor Heartney decided to take matters into their own hands. The result is "The Blame Show," a rare attempt to broaden the political and social dialogue in the form of a multimedia art exhibition devoted to topical, political and satirical videos, visual art and graphics from a diverse group of artists and writers. In addition to highlighting the Litt "The Blame Show" video, the exhibition features the cartoons of Dan Perkins (aka Tim Tomorrow), "Censorship Timeline: 1989-2002," Tim Rollins & KOS "Animal Farm" and visuals from the "Your Right Not to Remain Silent" project created by ACLU design director Sara Glover. Sponsored in part by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Coalition Against Censorship, this provocative show originated at White Box, the most progressive independent gallery in Chelsea. Tina LaPorta presented the exhibition at Fairfield University as the first stop out of New York on a national tour. "Who do you blame?" Litt, in the role of Mephistopheles, asks the question at the start of "The Blame Show" 13-minute video, the core of a multimedia experiment progressing from a simple equation: DISSENT=FREEDOM. Here the public had an opportunity to voice their opinions on the current state of political and social affairs in the homeland. Litt edited 90 interviews into a fascinating multicultural mosaic synthesizing America at the cusp of the 21st century. The exhibition details for students the variety of possibilities in which communication media can be utilized for political and social dialogue. "We are breaking out of the gallery/museum mold by going into educational institutions," Litt proclaims. "It opens a forum." As a seasoned political commentator, Litt is no stranger to censorship; he lost a position as a regular newspaper contributor when the introduction of religion into his food column aroused the ire of advertisers. His transition to digital filmmaker occurred after a post Sept. 11 discussion with Heartney, the prominent independent New York art critic. "It was out of our frustration," he explains. "We were screaming at television and radio because all we saw was heroes and talking heads. Among our friends there was much more diversified opinion." "The Blame Show" constitutes a technological democracy, incorporating a visual aesthetic with individual voice as a grass roots antidote to corporate domination of the commercial media. Heartney, who appears in the video as a respondent, confirms that "The Blame Show" is extending the definition of art for a new century. "Art institutions are open to us doing this kind of thing, yet it challenges art curriculum the way a regular aesthetic doesn't," she says. The artistic dialogue is further extended in a manner that the original collaborators couldn't possibly have anticipated. Here we discover filmmaker and critic appearing in their own unique self-perpetuating visual art form, by which spectators are also invited into participation. "We are here to educate people that it is okay to be political in a society that wants you not to be," Litt proclaims. "The funding for political work is non-existent," says Litt. "There are very few curators that will take the risk. You have to see these exhibitions at the moment they happen." The moment is clearly now. A second installment of "The Blame Show" video was the centerpiece of a unique investigation of place on exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art this fall. Comprised of interviews with random museum visitors stating their collective concerns, the most engaging element of "The Blame Show" video taped on location in Queens is visual. By brilliantly depicting today's global consciousness in a specific locality, the video celebrates the multi-cultural tapestry that is America, where - regardless of age, sex, race, nationality, economics or social status - what matters most is the freedom to express what is on one's mind. In furthering the self-perpetuation of this unique project, both video installments are the centerpiece of "Daily Terrors" at the Santa Fe Art Institute running through December 6. The exhibition, billed as "an artistic response to political, personal and social terrors we inflict on each other daily," also features: Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, Adrian Piper, May Stevens and Alan Sonfist. A third installment of "The Blame Show" video is currently being taped in Florida and will appear at the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art in spring.

7. From ArtDish, Seattle's Forum on the Arts: ART IN AN SUV NATION by Anna Fahey If the United States were a car, we'd be an SUV. As a country we barrel along, insulated, isolated, sound-proofed, air-conditioned. We live in our own little worlds, each equipped with an entertainment system, plush seats, and televisions in back for the kids. Without a care we guzzle gas and puke emissions and exhaust. We drive by the rest of the world's chaos, hunger, deprivation with nary a glance, sipping our $3 lattes and turning back to our 6 CD changer to drown out cries for help or cries of pain with the new Kenny G. album. No wonder people in the rest of the world want to kill us. I mean, how many SUV drivers do you want to mow down on the freeway or in heavy downtown traffic in an average day of driving? Flipping them off doesn't even seem to have any effect. You have to ram them to get their attention. Even then they might not feel anything. The tragic, violent, hate-inspired events of September 11 finally got our attention. For a brief time we were forced to look outside ourselves. I know I wasn't alone in thinking, if briefly, that the tragedy for all its waste and horror, misery, and terror, had at least finally spurred the American people to open their eyes. Writer and videographer Larry Litt captured the flicker of self-awareness in his work "Blame." (Litt's video was the centerpiece to a May exhibition of post 9.11 political art at the White Box Gallery, New York.) He asked over 90 people randomly in New York whom they blamed for the attacks. The answers ranged from "the oil" to "these crazy people with their crazy religions" to "the Republicans" and "my mother," but a striking majority of those interviewed wound up saying: "I blame myself." This last answer proved to be the point of the whole exercise, documenting the moment when there was a fleeting weakness in our industrial-strength shield of ignorance and self-absorption.