Coming Soon
Forcella Reigns: The Men Who Play Cards
An Encore Presentation of Francesca Bifulco & Alex Schetter’s
Multimedia Immersive Art Installation
At ZJU Theater in North Hollywood, CA
Wednesday, September 5 – Sunday, September 9, 2018
LOS ANGELES, CA – Creative agency December 9th is proud to present an encore presentation of sculptural painter Francesca Bifulco’s Forcella Reigns: The Men Who Play Cards, an immersive multimedia installation, in deep collaboration with digital artist/sound engineer Alex Schetter. Returning to the site of its successful April 2018 world premiere at ZJU Theater in North Hollywood, the multifaceted art/set/sound installation will run for five days – Wednesday, September 5 through Sunday, September 9, 2018. The artists will be present through its entirety. Forcella Reigns is the culmination of a three-year anthropological study in a rundown neighborhood in Naples, Italy. There, Bifulco imbedded herself with a group of men who play cards on a corner staircase, Gradini Forcella, at the same time everyday, unwitting actors in an improvised show. Surrounded by the smoke of cigarettes, the smell of espresso, and the noise of the dilapidated streets where abuse, violence and organized crime dictate the flow in Forcella, Bifulco would become a mute player and the teller of their story. The installation merges Bifulco’s sculptural paintings with hybrid stage design, integrating shadowbox video projection and 3D environmental sound. All ages are welcome. Admission is free but donations are gladly received. ZJU Theater is located at 4850 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601.
Viewing/experiencing hours for Forcella Reigns: The Men Who Play Cards:
• Wednesday, September 5 – 6:00 -11:00pm
• Thursday, September 6 – 6:00 -11:00pm
• Friday, September 7 – 6:00 -11:00pm
• Saturday, September 8 – 6:00 -11:00pm
• Sunday, September 9 – 3:00 -8:00pm
Intended as a site-specific project about Naples for Naples, the installation’s title comes from a graffiti tag (Forcella Regna) found on site and refers to the Camorra battles in the neighborhood. This world can feel distant from that of the men playing cards. Yet, these two realities coincide in Forcella. Bifulco’s fellow Italian collaborator, Marina Piccola Cerrotta, a Naples-based anthropological art historian, has been involved since 2016. Cerrotta came to realize that contemporary art often coincides with anthropology*, and found that very principal in Bifulco’s project.
Video and sound become an integral part of an atmospheric set where each element functions as a character in a play. The different elements coexist with each other in a black box theater where the audience is invited to follow the daily rituals of Forcella’s card players through reoccurring imagery and a multi-sensory set-up that removes the awareness of linear time and space. Integrating Schetter’s sound design, video and multimedia technologies have become a fundamental part of all projects for Bifulco.