Franklin Furnace at Pseudo Programs, Inc. (1998)
Franklin Furnace at Pseudo Programs, Inc. (1998) marked the first season of Franklin Furnace’s collaboration with Pseudo Online Network. Franklin Furnace’s move from a physical space to a virtual one resulted from the culture wars on artistic freedom in the United States. Despite efforts to maintai other physical spaces in downtown Manhattan, the Franklin Furnace Board agreed that the organization’s prime focus would be to increase access and broaden their audience through new media. This radical move marked Franklin Furnace’s shift from presenting avant-garde art in physical spaces to netcasting it in digital realms. Through Pseudo’s innovative online platform, Franklin Furnace investigated the democratic landscape of the Internet as a censorship-free space to present political performance art. Franklin Furnace at Pseudo Programs, Inc. features performances by Halona Hilbertz, Bingo Gazingo, Patricia Hoffbauer, Jon Keith, Jason E. Bowman, Kali Lela Colton, Nora York, Anna Mosby Coleman, Lenora Champagne, and Alvin Eng with Yoav Gal.