War/Peace
A week-long installation and participatory performance project

War/Peace is a week-long collaboration between Seth Lepore and communities across the United States. The goal is to open up a guided workspace during the weekdays, a “healing chamber” that community members can utilize to cultivate a better understanding of war and peace. Lepore interviews locals throughout the week for half hour segments. Lepore also works with interested participants to teach them the interview process.

Participants will be given the opportunity to define what war and peace means, interact with what other people think and create visual representations of their ideas, feelings and thoughts that will become part of a transparent database. All the information documented will be immediately displayed and made available for viewing.

By the end of the week, the space will be transformed into a public collage of meanings and ideas leading to a greater potential for understanding.The information gathered throughout the week through these facilitated interactions between the participants and Lepore are simultaneously absurd, heartfelt and absorbing.

At the end of the residency Lepore creates an informed yet improvisational, multi-character based piece that reflects the ideologies, belief systems and viewpoints that have been expressed and absorbed throughout the week.

“Truly interactive, War/Peace delves into larger issues that pertain to all communities. It ignited a dialogue between REACH viewers engaging them as part of the project. They took away a provocative conversation that reverberated as an authentic experience. As an artist facilitator, Seth is smart, candid, and wicked funny. It is immediately apparent that he returns the honesty that he receives.” -Burns Maxey, Coordinator of Easthampton City Arts+, Curator for REACHfest