Why Art - SURFING THE APOCALYPSE AT BIRDSONG

Summer 2025 Program Concludes

Friday, October 3rd saw the conclusion of the Public Art for Dialogues Summer 2025 Program at Birdsong Farm, in Hamden. 

About 40 to 50 people showed up from different parts of Delaware County, Ostego, from Woodstock, Dutchess County and New York. 

They gathered in a wide circle formation, in chairs circumscribing a comfortable looking Persian rug and spoke about social engagement in the Oneonta, Delhi, Andes, Margaretville and Bovina area. 

Friends spoke about Tribal Link, an organization for Indigenous people that was begun at the first Climate Summit in Rio De Janeiro, in 1991, that has since protected biodiversity and human rights for Indigenous Peoples, worldwide. 

Others from a drumming and Kirtan singing group that regularly performs at the Unitarian Church in Oneonta, shared their work. 

Following this gathering of cross-silo individuals and the feeling community and conversation everyone entered into an immersive cinematic environment constructed from five projection screens somewhat above head height.

The films that were projected there had a collagist feeling that spanned images from book burning, forest fires, mass climate migration, ocean pollution, ocean clean up, huge choirs singing, eco art performance, micrometeorite flying particles, all sewn together like a panoramic tapestry. 

Members of the Bobcats, a Bob Dylan tribute band from Woodstock, headed by Bruce Milner and Rob Stein, led participants through several Dylan hits, George Harrison and Beach Boys songs. 

The group sang in unison, as has been the sensibility and artistic style of the Institute for Cultural Activism International (ICAI) curated exhibitions from this past June through September. The message seems to be “ We are all interdependent, interconnected with nature and our future depends on the harmony we create.”

As explained by John Halpern of Delhi, Co-founder of ICAI with artist Emily Marie Harris, WE DO: SURFING THE APOCALYPSE KARAOKE originated in Capri, Italy in 2022. Together, with Margret Wibmer from Austria, the team captured the attention of passersby in the highly touristic squares of Capri, brandishing QR codes printed on their elegant surgeon’s costumes and on their iPhones. As participants on the street snapped the QR codes on their mobiles, they saw the five films mentioned earlier, comprising utopian and dystopian imagery. The sensation was – they were part of an international, virtual narrative about healing the world in troubled times. The performance was meant to engage and empower the community and its inherent creative forces for good.

WE DO: SURFING THE APOCALYPSE KARAOKE was sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group through a re-grant from New York State Council for the Arts.  

Communal singing has traditionally accompanied gatherings of worship, ritualistic magic and healing. The videos shown were projected from a central column positioned at the core of the five cinema screens. Imagine a bonfire warming the room with a complex narrative, a hub in the center of a whirling cosmic wheel. 

In ancient Greek, APOCALYPSE means “revelation, unveiling, or disclosure of something previously unknown or hidden.” Here, this art event offers a promise evident in the choir of diverse voices heard and felt that evening, a secret love and care for each other, the world, a potential to heal, to create another narrative, unknown, unanticipated or predicted by “the powers that be.” A constantly surprising revelation of humanity and its capacity to shape its world and future.

Thanks to local artists, Tom, Nancy, Risdon, Beth from NYC, so many more, and to the amazing roster - the community of sponsorship.

As co-author of WE DO: SURFING THE APOCALYPSE KARAOKE and the Summer Program for Public Art and Dialogue at Birdsong 2025, on behalf of myself, Emily Harris and all the artists and hundreds that came to the events this summer, we wish everyone a beautiful winter. 

To learn more about the event, see films and support ICAI, visit www.studioicai.org