Jan 092014
 

Politics and the English Language

Performance

The title for the proposed piece is taken from the Orwell essay, which concludes, “Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

“Politics and the English Language,”
Orwell, Horizon. — GB, London. — April 1946

Two performers, dressed identically, offer people a word selection. Once the word is chosen, it is recited in unison, followed by contradictory definitions.

For example

SANCTION
to authorize, approve, or allow

SANCTION
to penalize

A simple consideration of context and meaning, political rhetoric and its obfuscation. What may sound fixed, is, in fact, mutable.

 

Artist Bio

Matthew de Leon was born in New York, raised on Governor’s Island, and now lives in Brooklyn. He received his BFA from the UConn, and his MFA from Parsons. Diane Dwyer grew up in New England. She now live in Brooklyn, where she hosts a circus in her apartment. Matthew and Diane are long time collaborators. 

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