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  1. Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 9 min excerpted from 73 min, The Kitchen, NYC, produced in collaboration with Recess. Featuring television journalists and actors Lynn Berg, Roger Clark, Audrey Crabtree, Annie Fox, Maria Trice, Michael Wiener and Jon Wright.

  2. Laser developed Bystander in collaboration with writer Sofia Pontén while both were in residence at the non-profit art space Recess in New York City. In this SoHo storefront Laser worked with a cast of television journalists and actors to conduct interviews with gallery vistors. Interviewees were provoked to tell personal stories that helped them to identify with key players in the top news story of the day. For the resulting performances at The Kitchen professional newscasters, NY1’s Roger Clark, Maria Trice and weatherman Jon Wright, performed live newscasts interwoven with the subjective opinions and experiences of the eighty people interviewed. Actors Audrey Crabtree, Annie Fox and Michael Wiener performed as audience plants who contributed hard facts as if they were voicing personal opinions. Actor Lynn Berg enacted quotes from principle figures in the unfolding global and personal stories. Both the Recess Session and the performances at The Kitchen were staged in a functioning television news studio set that employed live video feeds with green screen effects. Bystander is part of a series of works that aim to apply the methods of news production to the public's reception of current events.

    Credits:
    Bystander was developed with and features television journalists and actors Lynn Berg, Roger Clark (NY1 reporter), Audrey Crabtree, Annie Fox, Maria Trice (former WWOR-TV reporter), Michael Wiener and Jon Wright (former KEYT-TV and WLBT-TV weather and news anchor). Script written by Liz Magic Laser and Sofia Pontén based on eighty-five interviews conducted by the cast with members of the public at the non-profit art space Recess in New York City while both Laser and Pontén were in residence there. Assistant Director: Sofia Pontén; Technical Director: Irwin Seow; Director of Photography: Laura Cooper; Videographers: Laura Cooper and Lucia Hinojosa; Costume Stylist: Felicia Garcia-Rivera; Research Assistants: Mimi Chiahemen, Lucia Hinojosa, Brian Mcelroy and Rachel Zaretsky.

  3. Related Material+Broadcast Muse: Liz Magic Laser’s Bystander, hyperallergic.com, April 2014 Liz Magic Laser Delivers a Hilarious Parody of a News Broadcast With ‘Bystander’ at The Kitchen, Complex.com, March 2014 The Kitchen RECESSBystander Press Release

  4. Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City.

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City.

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

    Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City.

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, video still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City. 

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      Bystander, Liz Magic Laser, 2014, performance, 73 minutes, production still, The Kitchen, New York City.