[Nettime-bold] SWEARING-IN SECRETARY OF DEPT. OF ART & TECHNOLOGY

[US Department of Art & Technology <press@usdept-arttech.net>]

Title: SWEARING-IN SECRETARY OF DEPT. OF ART & TECHNOLOGY

US Department of Art & Technology

Washington, DC

http://www.usdept-arttech.net

press@usdept-arttech.net

Press Secretary

For Immediate Release: November 19, 2001

RANDALL M. PACKER TO BE SWORN IN AS FIRST

SECRETARY OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF ART & TECHNOLOGY

The US Department of Art & Technology is pleased to announce that on Friday, November 30th, Randall M. Packer will be sworn in as the first Secretary of the US Department of Art & Technology. The ceremony will take place at 9:00 p.m. at the Mt. Royal Station Auditorium in Baltimore, as part of the Link: A Critical Journal on the Arts in Baltimore & the World release event celebrating their new edition on art & technology. Pre-ceremony festivities will begin at 8:00 PM. US DAT Chief of Protocol and founder of the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) Alice Denney will officiate at the ceremony.

As the Department's first Secretary, Mr. Packer will work with the White House and the Government to promote new media initiatives and revolutionary aesthetic and scientific ideologies intended to help the nation cope with an increasingly mediated society in these times of crisis. Packer will represent US artists' interests actively on a range of political, economic, commercial and security issues, and will reveal dramatic new measures to confront these issues by increasing artistic production and critical efforts in the media arts across the nation.

Mr. Packer's nomination was recently announced by President Bush in his first artist-based initiative in the wake of recent terrorist attacks and their impact on the national psyche. Upon receiving the nomination, Packer has announced that "it is the role of the artist to engage its government in meaningful cultural dialogue vital to national interests. For in the words of Marshall McLuhan, 'to prevent undue wreckage in society, the artist tends to now move from the ivory to the control tower of society'"

The ceremony is open for press coverage. Press who wish to cover the ceremony should inform LINK Media Contact Joy McClure (410.327.4001) before the close of business on Monday, November 26. Please note that there will not be a "question and answer" period offered at this event. Press will be escorted out of the building at the conclusion of the ceremony.

The Mt. Royal Station Auditorium is located at 1400 Cathedral Street  (across from the Lyric Theater) in Baltimore.

For previous news releases, see the US Department of Art & Technology temporary Website:

http://www.usdept-arttech.net

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