Robert Boyd, Xanadu 
Apr 9–May 14, 2006 
 
PARTICIPANT INC presents, in its entirety, Xanadu, a four-channel video installation by Robert Boyd. The individual video works that form Xanadu probe society’s self-destructive impulse while parodying various elements of popular culture such as cartoons, pop music, documentaries, and news media. Culled from hundreds of hours of archival footage including that of Doomsday cults, iconic political figures, and global fundamentalist movements, Xanadu tweaks, condenses, and re-frames modern events into seconds-long image bites, representing a history of apocalyptic thought as a series of MTV-style music videos within a setting reminiscent of a discotheque.