About The Imperial Orgy
Underground Music, Arts, and Culture
The Imperial Orgy emerged from the primordial muck in the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains in rural Pennsylvania. At the time, Caeser Pink was stricken with nausea from a decaying American culture. From a society commercialized, materialistic, shallow, apathetic, lulled into complacency, obedient to authority, and worshipping mediocrity.
In 1993, as Caeser prepared to join the ranks of college drop-outs, he lured a group of the best minds from his cohorts within the Film Department of the Penn State University, convincing them to help fulfill his vision for a surreal multimedia concert presentation he called The Imperial Orgy.
The Imperial Orgy was designed as an insult to the icons and idols of popular culture, an attack aimed straight at the heart of conformity, a gob of spit hurled into the face of the gods…
But above all else, it was a call to rebirth as free spirits and independent thinkers.
Caeser began with a simple plan – there would be absolutely no limitations on creative freedom either musically or within the lyrics. And the live performance would use any art form available with which to communicate their iconoclastic message to the audience. The performance would mix music, interactive video projections, performance art, dance, poetry, and theatre.
For a year the group worked nightly in a dirty basement in Lewistown, PA writing and rehearsing. When they were finally ready to release their musical Frankenstein onto the unsuspecting public, they could not find a theatre willing to let them present the performance. Instead the group was forced to present their work in a small bar that usually featured top 40 cover bands. The audience reaction was riotous.
In the months that followed, hail and brimstone rained down from the heavens as The Imperial Orgy repeated their performance at local clubs and bars. The newspaper headlines screamed, “Performance Cancelled Due To threats from Religious Organizations,” “Posters Banned From University,” “Feminists Debate Pink’s Sexual Message.”
At the same time a community of artists, activists, and seekers grew
around The Imperial Orgy. Pink’s message of freedom and liberation
became a catalyst for political, spiritual, and sexual awakening for
those that joined The Imperial Orgy tribe.
After a year The Imperial Orgy abandoned the confines of Central, PA and
moved to New York City. A place where their musical congregation was
free to grow, and from which they could take their message to the world
at large.
Since that time the group’s activities have included concerts, art
exhibitions, poetry reading, fashions shows, a 13-episode arts variety
TV series, documentary films, music videos, poetry reading, cultural
events, the creation of the Arete Living Arts Foundation (a 501c3
non-profit organization), film festivals, and now, the IO TV Roku
channel.
The IO TV Roku Channel is a showcase for underground arts, music, film, and culture.The artistic content is guided by the mission of the Arete Living Arts Foundation:
Art As Activism! – Art As Education!
The mission of the Arete Living Arts Foundation is to create art works that inspire personal, political, or spiritual awakening, and to use art as a medium to stimulate personal transformation, and effect social change.
EXPANDED MISSION:
#1 – To create art works in a variety of media that express a positive social message, are innovative in form, or present a unique and original vision
#2 – To support economically disadvantaged emerging artists who are dedicated to those goals through training & education, career guidance & support, and by providing positive work experience.
#3 – To bring arts to areas and cultures that do not have access, with a focus on rural areas and small towns that have limited access to non-corporate media outlets, alternative viewpoints, and progressive ideas.
PHILOSOPHY:
We believe that art is a means of communication that can inspire personal transformation, and effect social change.
We believe art is education. Throughout history art has been a fundamental tool for teaching, sharing new ideas, and spreading enlightenment.
We believe art is evolutionary. We strive to create and support works that are innovative in form or concept, with the goal of pushing artistic mediums to new stages of creative evolution.
We believe art is a platform to express the concerns of the common man. In an age when mass media is being consolidated under the control of fewer and fewer large corporations, it is important that art serve as a medium to express alternative viewpoints, and present values that differ from those promoted by commercial entities seeking profits. It is vital to the health of our society that there are voices that inspire people to question not only their own values, but also the values and actions of society, government, religious, and corporate institutions.