The Crisis of Today is the Joke of Tomorrow.* - H G Wells

This short program of works selected from the historically significant collection of Chicago's Video Data Bank posits as its theme the notion of irony as subversive intervention. Each work involves a situation that threatens to culminate in disaster. In order to waylay the looming crisis, a negotiation must take place. From individual actions to one-on-one interventions and community responses, complacency is never an option in the face of these pressing predicaments. Abina Manning, Video Data Bank, Chicago