Los Angeles artist Liz Glynn and several volunteers are going to build it, tear it down, reenact its wars and stage its downfall all within 24 hours. Glynn is bringing her “24-Hour Roman Reconstruction Project,” also known as “Building Rome in a Day,” to The Arthouse at the Jones Center.
The project starts with two participants playing Roman founders Romulus and Remus building their huts. The events then parade through Roman history at about 1.238 years per minute, through the Gallic Invasion, to Emperor Nero’s reign, from the era of Constantine to the final destruction of the city Visigoths, where the entire city will be demolished in front of the audience. The city will be built using typical Roman materials, including wood and cardboard, up to the advent of concrete during Nero’s era.
“We’re always interested in bringing provocative projects to the gallery that people can participate in,” said Elizabeth Dunbar, a curator at The Arthouse.
Glynn is the head of the project and hails from Los Angeles, where the project was first unveiled in 2008 to rave reviews. More recently, the “24-Hour Roman Reconstruction Project” appeared with “The Generational: Younger than Jesus” exhibition at the New Museum in New York. With its arrival in Texas, the project has been “Texas-sized,” with the scale of the building and destruction made larger, and the whole event being stuffed with additional activities.
There will be lessons and readings on Roman history, including a recitation of Augustus’s “Res Gastae” and a historic tour of Rome’s art history just before its fall, will be scattered along the 24-hour stretch. Several music performers and groups will be performing at climaxes during the project, including The Waco Girls, William Meadows, No Mas Bodas and fiddler Phoebe Hunt who will be playing a furious piece to represent the fires during Emperor Nero’s reign.
The project also features several other events within the timeline, including “Republic versus Empire wrestling” staged by the UT wrestling team, and the destruction of a ceremonial effigy. All audiences at the event should come hungry, as it will feature a French breakfast, a pizza party, a barbeque pig-out, German snacks and drinks, and other Roman ritualistic snacking.
WHAT: Building Rome in a Day
WHEN: Friday, midnight – Sunday, midnight
WHERE: The Arthouse at the Jones Center, 700 Congress Ave.
Admission: Free
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