About the Project
Doom•oc•ra•cy (dü-ˈmä-krə-sē), n.
1. A form of government in which the supreme power is vested in a tyrant by a terrified general electorate. 2. The esoteric arithmetic that makes the electoral process malleable. 3. A corporate coup d’état in slow motion. 4. Permanent global war waged in the name of freedom. 5. A house of political horrors at the Brooklyn Army Terminal from October 7 to November 6, 2016.
Exchanging political fights for political frights, Creative Time and Pedro Reyes took over the Brooklyn Army Terminal in the fall of 2016 for an exciting collaboration. Doomocracy, a major new immersive installation by Reyes, marked the confluence of two events haunting the American cultural imagination: Halloween and the presidential election.
How much surveillance are we willing to accept? How much pollution? How much corporate malfeasance? Provoking what Reyes calls “political catharsis,” this immersive artwork distilled the horrors of our political landscape into the form of a haunted house, inviting us to navigate a maze of near apocalyptic torments, from climate change to pandemic gun violence to GMOs. Visitors to Doomocracy worked their way through a labyrinth of rooms, exploring the depth and breadth of American political anxieties.
Opening to the public Oct. 7, running through Halloween, and concluding just days before the 2016 presidential election, Doomocracy occupied a vital moment in US history, offering the perfect platform and location to create real dialogue around the contemporary state of global and US politics. Doomocracy was curated by Nato Thompson and directed by Meghan Finn, and was free and open to the public.
(Photos: Will Star/Shooting Stars Pro)