Beginning Saturday, January 20, the first anniversary of the Trump administration, the Institute of the Arts and Sciences and the Digital Art/New Media MFA program will present a live stream of TRUTH BE TOLD in the foyer of the Digital Arts Research Center (DARC) at UC Santa Cruz. TRUTH BE TOLD, an art project by collaborators Ligorano/Reese​, features a 2,000 pound ice sculpture of the word TRUTH that will melt away over the course of days. Watch the melting TRUTH from beginning at 3 p.m. on January 20 until it disappears. 

As conceptual artist team Ligorano/Reese​ explains, “TRUTH BE TOLD symbolizes the emergence of an alternate fact world – where belief supplants truth. The work will last for days, one week, possibly longer, an almost imperceptible disintegration that belies the force and speed at which the current administration is attempting to undermine the basic concepts of our nation’s history and governance.”

TRUTH BE TOLD is the sixth sculpture of Melted Away, the temporary monuments series begun in 2006 to mark the problems which beset the United States in opening decades in the 21st century. The artists see art as an ideal medium to depict the transformation of social values and semantic meaning that define these times. According to the artists, ice is an ideal medium to depict the transformation of social values and semantic meaning that define these times through the monument series; “first, DEMOCRACY is broken, then, the ECONOMY ruined; the MIDDLE CLASS disappears, THE FUTURE is tenuous, THE AMERICAN DREAM vanishes, and TRUTH remains an open question.” As art critic Robert Atkins writes, “The ice sculpture’s straightforward display conceals a rare capacity to elicit complex reactions and intense emotions demonstrating sculpture’s power to engage our bodily awareness.”

#MeltedAway @meltedaway @melted_away, Instagram@meltedaway, Tweeting @melted_away, #ligoranoreese, #publicart, #TruthBeTold, #Truth, #ArtActionDay

Truth be Told Team

LigoranoReese – Artists, Lisa Guido – Social Media, Diane Bertolo – Lotus + Pixel – Website Designer
Shintaro Okamoto, Thomas Browne  – Okamoto Studio – Ice
SPECIAL THANKS
Lydia Cheney & Jim Sokol, Jim Kempner, Wanda Kownacki, Peter and Beverly Lipman, Michael Mann, Yvonne and Mike Nevins, Sarah and Steve Sorkin, Deborah Wexler
Dru Arstark, Diane Bertolo, Catharine Clark, Nina Colosi, Lisa Guido, Perry Hoberman – School of Cinematic Studies, University of Southern California, Jim Kempner – Jim Kempner Fine Art, Cathy Kimball, Sondra Kitchen, Wanda Kownacki, Todd Lester, David Lopez, JoAnne Northrup, Shintaro Okamoto, Roddy Schrock, Kristin Soderqvist,  Isabel Sullivan, Sally Szwed, Shawn van Sluys – Musagetes Foundation, Maria Venuto – The Standby Program, John Weber – Institute of the Arts and Sciences, UC Santa Cruz

Truth be Told streaming partners include:

TRUTH BE TOLD streaming partners include:
●      ArtsEverywhere, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
●      Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco
●      Contemporary Art Museum, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
●      Eyebeam, New York City
●      Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
●      Institute of the Arts and Sciences and the Digital Art/New Media MFA Program of UC Santa Cruz Arts Division, Santa Cruz
●      Nevada Museum of Art, Reno
●      San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose
●      Streaming Museum, New York City
●      Division of Media Arts + Practice, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
●      And http://meltedaway.com

Artists Bio

LIGORANOREESE

Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese collaborate as LigoranoReese. Their work is an ongoing investigation into the impact of technology on society and the rhetoric of politics and visual culture in the media. They have exhibited at the Biennial of Contemporary Art, Cartegena, Colombia, Catharine Clark Gallery, Kent Fine Art, Portland Art Museum, MIT MediaLab, Museum of Arts & Design, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York Public Library, and Lincoln Center. They have received funding from the Jerome Foundation, Puffin Foundation, NYFA, NYSCA, NEA, and been in residence at the MacDowell Colony, Montalvo Arts Center, and Djerassi Resident Artists Program. They are represented by Catharine Clark Gallery and Jim Kempner Fine Art. They are exhibiting a new series of artworks at Catharine Clark Gallery from January 27 through March 17, 2018.