Farrington's 'The Passion Project' Gets Workshop

3LD Art & Technology Center will present  a  production workshop of  REID FARRINGTON's performance installation THE PASSION PROJECT beginning June 19th. THE PASSION PROJECT is spun from the reels of the last great silent film, Carl Th. Dreyer's 1928 masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc. Dreyer tells his story through the eyes of Joan, using close ups and fast cuts to communicate the severity of her situation. It remains one of the most fascinating portraits of emotion ever captured on film. With support from the Danish film Institute and The University of Copenhagen, this performance installation includes every frame Dreyer shot in relationship to the film, including the reels that -- like Joan herself -- were lost to fire.

THE PASSION PROJECT explodes the film into the three dimensions; placing the audience inside the film, sitting next Joan, subjecting them to her interrogators and the relentless rhythm of 30mm film projection.  Using a single live actor and multiple projection surfaces, THE PASSION PROJECT explores the intersection of performance and film. It uses Dreyer's classic film as the main narrative along with the history behind the making of the film, a discussion with a Danish archivist, the story of making this project, and Joan's story; her trial, torture, and execution.

THE PASSION PROJECT is also an archival piece. The Passion of Joan of Arc is an artifact that has endured a similar fate as the woman the film portrays. Dreyer released his film in 1928. The master negative was lost to fire that same year, forcing Dreyer to release a second film cut from his outtakes. In 1935, that film was lost to fire. Many "bastardized" prints circulated around Europe and the US until in 1980, a print believed to be from the master negative was found in a broom closet of a mental institution in Norway. With the help of Casper Tybjerg, the leading Dreyer scholar from the University of Copenhagen, and the Danish Film Institute, this piece uses every frame of film still in existence connected to The Passion of Joan of Arc.: the Oslo print found in 1980 in Norway, the Lo Duca print reedited in Paris in 1957, and the Krog print edited by Dreyer in 1938.

Directed by Reid Farrington and performed by Shelley Kay, the workshop production includes costumes by  Sara Jeanne Asselin, set by Janet D. Clancy, and dramaturgy / technical assistance by Stephen O'Connell and Austin Guest. The piece had its initial workshop production at the PS/K2 Festival last November  in Copenhagen. It will have its official premiere at PS 122 in the fall.

For the past seven years REID FARRINGTON has been employed as a video artist for the Wooster Group. He has designed video and created hardware and software systems for the play back of video and sound for To You the Birdie!, Brace Up!, Poor Theater, House/Lights, WHO'S YOUR DADA, and Hamlet. He has toured productions to Moscow, Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Brussels, and Athens. He has edited has authored interactive DVDs of The Wooster Group's performances, Brace Up! and House/Lights.  He is also a director, set, light, and costume designer for various theater and dance companies in NYC. For more information, visit www.reidfarrington.com.

3LD Art & Technology Center creates and supports challenging large-scale art within a financially sustainable environment. Their goals are to create viable growth oriented business models for experimental art production, revitalize the experimental tradition in New York by improving the working conditions and quality of production, and foster a community of artists who work cooperatively and aggressively to address their own barriers.  In order to achieve these goals, they create, re-distribute and re-imagine resources that drive core cost reduction while increasing capacity and revenue.

THE PASSION PROJECT runs June 19 - July 19, with performances Thurs.-Sat. at 8pm. 3LD Art & Technology Center is located at 80 Greenwich Street (at Rector Street -- accessible from the 1/R/W trains at Rector Street). Tickets are $20, available at 212-352-3101 or  www.3LDNYC.org.

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