Attention: artist dreaming. Re-assembly of a novel by Joseph Roth (The Radetzky March) while Vic Chesnutt, Silver Mt. Zion and Guy Picciotto deconstruct Strauss' homonymous march. Jem Cohen searches for connections and hallucinations in the dusk of the Hapsburg dynasty.

Friday 6th / 22:30 / Aribau Club 2 (*)
Saturday 7th / 18:30 / Aribau Club 2
(*) Presented by Xavi Cervantes

Don't tell us it was a dream, even though it seemed just like one. This is Jem Cohen (the man who brought us the unforgettable Instrument - about Fugazi) in his most daring, experimental and multimedia phase. Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin is many different things at once: it's a concert and a novel and a deconstruction of classical music and a film. What did ya say? Easy (well, not really): In this piece of work commissioned by the Viennale, Cohen re-assembles Joseph Roth's novel The Radetzky March to construct a commentary about the decline of the Empires; be it the dusk of the Hapsburg dynasty, or the end of the United States as leading world power. The connections between both periods are hallucinogenically fused together by means of archives and images (Vienna and New York), while a musical ensemble gives us a freestyle (and abstract) interpretation of Strauss' March - The Radetzky March- which inspired Roth's novel. Vic Chesnutt, the members of Silver Mt. Zion, Guy Picciotto (Fugazi), T.Griffin and Catherine McRae erect the new Strauss symphony live, weaving it around Cohen's images and the Austrian novelist's words. The result is a work of art that is both dreamlike and powerful, the enormity of which needs to be digested over several days.

JEM COHEN describes himself as a punk rock filmmaker. Fiercely independent and anti-establishment, all his works are critical thoughts on society. His 40 works include Chain, Instrument (about Fugazi) and Benjamin Smoke.