The most ambitious work to date by Chicago artist, Max King Cap, will be showcased in God’s Punk, a video opera installation, making its debut at the Hyde Park Art Center. Both a performance and an enormous sculptural installation, God’s Punk presents an alluring narrative that questions conditions of our shared humanity while testing the limits of our compassion and complacency towards injustice. Cap has worked diligently over the past two years to produce this ground breaking mixed media artwork that will enthrall and expand the notion of installation artwork for audiences of all ages. p(callout). “Without the power to effect change,” Cap fears, “a person may refrain from taking any action at all.” Drawing from the dark literary construct of iconic stories including Alice in Wonderland, Dracula, and Faust, Cap has created a new media opera with seven characters that combines clandestine love, ritual and allegory to revisit the American social contract as it stands today. “Without the power to effect change,” Cap fears, “a person may refrain from taking any action at all.”
Featuring a set design by Zimpel, the 2,400 square foot gallery will be painted black and converted into a mystical garden and forest – a metaphor for heaven and hell – complete with multiple video screens, an original soundtrack, mirror balls, decaying vegetation, and an inverted greenhouse looming over a black enamel lake. The public is invited to walk among these staged symbolic elements of God’s Punk, while taking in the 50 minute performance that will play repeatedly during gallery hours. Actors will perform three live performances during the run of the exhibition featuring a performance by Mung.
