Bananaland

President Richard Nixon eyes a banana with suspicion on a visit to Central America.
President Richard Nixon eyes a banana with suspicion on a visit to Central America.
"Bananaland: A Central America Theme Park" graphic with a large banana behind two diverse hands shaking. Also included is a hidden clues challenge captioned "Can you find the hidden object(ive)s in this picture?" Hidden clues include imagery depicting the exploitive capitalist relationship between the United States and Central American countries. CONCEIVED & ORCHESTRATED BY GEORGE KING & RUBY LERNER JULY 7-24, 1988 SEVEN STAGES THEATRE 1105 EUCLID AVENUE IN LITTLE FIVE POINTS THURSDAYS AT 8 P.M. FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS AT 8 & 10 P.M. SUNDAYS AT 5 P.M. TICKETS: TEN DOLLARS. GROUP RATES AVAILABLE. BOX OFFICE: 523-7647 FUNDED IN PART BY THE THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, THE GEORGIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS, THE FULTON COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL AND THE CITY OF ATLANTA.

In 1988, Ruby Lerner and George King created Bananaland —
the critically-acclaimed performance/installation in 7-Stages Theater, Atlanta, Georgia. Bananaland was an indoor Theme Park where the ‘theme’ was the history of American foreign policy in Central America told through the banana trade and its octopoid embodiment, the United Fruit Company.

The 1988 press release announcing “BananaLand”

Copy of 16t_Bananaland-Press-PacketDownload

Narrative of the BananaLand Project

Copy of 16q_Narrative-or-The-Banana-ProjectDownload

The program (below) served as a visitors’ guide to Bananaland’s tours, exhibits, videos, cabarets and features such as the restaurant and bar, library, and of course–the gift shop!


Copy of 16m_Bananaland-Program-2upDownload

Bananaland—the Movie, shot in glorious VHS, is the only remaining audio-visual documentation of the Bananaland experience.

Bananaland used performances, media, and visual art to tell the story of the United Fruit Company’s history in Central America. Many members of Atlanta’s visual arts community collaborated with King and Lerner in creating the Park’s exhibits: Elizabeth Lide, Barbara Schreiber, E.K. Huckaby, Tyler Stallings, Pat Courtney, Tony Loadholt, Mary Margaret Wade, Sheri Moore, Steve Walker, and Normando Ismay–whose epic paintings are seen below.

Banana Harvester

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Bananaland Reviews

“Banana Picking and Foreign Policy”, Steve Murray; American Theatre, August 1988

Copy-of-16a_Banana-picking-and-foreign-policy-2Download

“The Great Central American Scream Machine”, Dab Hulbert; The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, July 15, 1988

Copy-of-16c_The-Great-American-Scream-MachineDownload

“Redecorating the Fourth Wall: Environmental Theatre Today, Steve Nelson; The Drama Review

Copy-of-16k_The-Drama-Review_Redecorating-the-Fourth-Wall-Envirnmental-Theatre-Today-2Download

PR, Propaganda, and Infotainment, Paul Evans; The Drama Review, Winter 1989

Copy-of-16l_The-Drama-Review_PR-Propoganda-and-InfotainmentDownload

Who’s That Stranger?

Writer/Director/Camera/Editor
29 min. (2007).
Winner: Audience Award, Rome (GA) International Film Festival

Screened at Atlanta Film festival. At 95, Kasper ‘Stranger’ Malone holds the Guinness World Record for the longest recording career in history (1926-2005). As the baby boomers prepare to retire, this film presents an inspiring picture of vitality from someone who simply kept working, 30 years beyond retirement.

To purchase a DVD, send a mailing address and a check for $15 + $3 shipping & handling to:

George King & Associates
813 United Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30312

WHO’S THAT STRANGER? video

Indivisible

Selected as one of 22 documentary artists to participate in this national touring exhibition, CD, and book (Local Heroes, Changing America W.W. Norton & Co.) on the development of grass roots democracy in twelve American communities. Center for Documentary Studies and the Center for Creative Photography, 2000.

Goin’ to Chicago

Producer/Director
70 min, 16mm, color (1994/2001) George King & Associates
Winner: Cine Golden Eagle, National PBS broadcast 2001.

2001 national PBS broadcast.

In the twentieth century more than 5 million African Americans journeyed from the cotton fields and Jim Crow justice of the rural South to the promise of a better life in the industrial cities of the North and West. Goin’ to Chicago tells the story of why people left, where they went, and what happened to them.

Goin’ to Chicago website

Ten Thousand Points of Light

Writer/Co-Producer/Director/Camera/Sound/Editor
30 min, video (1991/2011) Velvet Video
Winner: Atlanta Film & Video Festival, Charlotte Film & Video Festival

A voyage into southern suburban gothic, this homage to the art of Christmas lights and Elvis becomes so much more. Turn up the chroma.

The 20th Anniversary Edition DVD of Ten Thousand Points of Light, the underground hipster’s Xmas classic is now available for the first time. It features a new music score, interview updates with the family, a commentary, and more!

See the promo here on YouTube.
Please copy and send to your friends!

Bananaland

Co-writer, co-producer
1988 Seven Stages Theater

Co-written and co-produced with Ruby Lerner, this critically-acclaimed (L.A. Times, American Theater, The Drama Review) multi-media, “theme park” that viewed the history of US foreign policy in Central America and the Caribbean, through the lens of the banana trade. Also wrote lyrics for all music, wrote and produced the numerous video and audio installations featured in the work.

You Can’t Judge a Book by Looking at the Cover

Writer/Producer/Director
30 min, video (1987) George King & Assoc.
Winner: Atlanta Film & Video Festival.

Regional PBS broadcast. A video on the working process of the late New Orleans’ writer/performer John O’Neal–an artist in dialogue with concepts of “community” and social change. Through a mythical character, Junebug Jabbo Jones, O’Neal works the corners of African American history, translating wit and folk wisdom into theater.

Word of Mouth

Writer/Producer/Editor
3 x 30 min, audio (1987)
Winner: “Best Arts & Cultural Programming” (Golden Reel). National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

National distribution on 75 public radio stations. This three-part series on storytelling asks psychologists, professional storytellers, performance artists, writers, preachers, lawyers, and others: Why Do People Tell Stories?, Where Do Stories Come From?, and, Who Is Telling Stories Today?

“Talking out loud involves communication – the very nature of community is strengthened by it; silence is like a closed door. I think when stories are not told, something happens to us. Stories, they’re like bread and wine, they’re essential to us.”
— STUDS TERKEL, writer, Chicago, Ill.

Thanks to Spencer Herzog at Creative Sound Concepts, we have recently digitally re-mastered this award-winning, 3-part radio series about storytelling.

Notes From Nicaragua

Writer/Co-Producer/Director/Camera/Sound/Editor
30 min, video (1986) Pegajosa Productions
Winner: “Best Public Affairs Documentary” National Federation of Local Cable Programmers.

Regional PBS broadcast. A music video travelogue through post-revolutionary Nicaragua featuring musician Elise Witt & the Small Family Orchestra.

“We were curious to explore conflicting stories we had read and had heard on the radio, television, and in talking to people who’d been to Nicaragua.” Ms. Witt says, “We wanted to bring back a picture of the people of Nicaragua to the people of the United States.