The Art of the Deal invites three Minnesotan families to star in a reality TV show and to openly discuss family politics during this year’s holiday season.

40 years after its birth, reality TV seems to have become an integral part of people’s life, no matter which country or continent, whether in the US, in Germany, or elsewhere. And more than a decade of Keeping up with the Kardashians has certainly shaped the way realities are being performed all over the world.

Following a docu-style aesthetic, The Art of the Deal depicts the private sphere of three families that will serve as a platform to debate and stage questions of individual behavioral patterns but also collective dynamics. During holidays, unlike any other time of the year, the discrepancy between personal expectations and the actual reality of a family gathering frequently results in a drama that usually is resolved within seconds.

Pivotal, universally valid questions will emerge in this process.
How do families communicate today? What verbal and body language is at play? Simultaneously, more mundane questions will arise: Who negotiates the best deals around the dinner table? Who will be the most charming in finding excuses? Who speaks too much and who prefers to remain silent?

One episode of The Art of the Deal will be screened at the Goethe in the Skyways space; further episodes will follow on the Goethe in the Skyways website.

Katy Anderson is a busy elementary educator and loves teaching and creating music with her favorite musicians, her students. When not in the classroom, Katy thrives on family, friends, creating art, knitting, laughter, and good food.

Laurie Ouellette is jointly appointed as Professor of Communication Studies and Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. She works across the interdisciplinary fields of media and cultural studies, with a focus on media and popular culture’s role in shaping, governing and regulating bodies, subjectivities and differences (gender, sexuality, race, ability, class). Her most recent book, Lifestyle TV (2016), draws from social and political theory to situate television as a cultural technology of citizenship, lifestyle, labor and self-making. She has written and edited several books and teaches courses on the topic of reality TV.