10 consecutive hours
condensed into 90 seconds
Last Call – DemocracyICED is Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese’s new time lapse video filmed continuously during their installation on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Coinciding with America’s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, LigoranoReese’s video is testament and testimony to the administration’s ongoing attacks against the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the rule of law.
“This is the fourth time we’ve installed democracy in ice,” Nora told the Huffington Post, “but we’re not sure we’re going to be able to resurrect it after today. Nearly 20 years since our first installation, our democracy is so much further weakened than it was the first time we did it in 2006, with the continued expansion of executive power, the militarization of our streets, attacks on the rule of law and weakening of voters’ rights, the dismantling of public health and scientific research. There’s a long list.”
The video preserves key moments as the sculpture’s letters collapse and break apart, chronicling the public’s reactions to the artists’ 3,000 pound ice sculpture while it melted and disappeared. The film’s soundtrack adds a sense of urgency and peril with sounds of alarm bells, pounding heartbeats, and children reading the Bill of Rights’ First, Fourth, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments. The score steadily builds leading to the sculpture’s final climax.
“We lived through 2 apartment fires, a kitchen fire and a 4-alarm fire that burnt down 3 buildings,” Marshall adds, “We know what it’s like when your house is burning down. And our country is in flames. This is beyond an all out emergency. All hands on deck.”
Last Call – DemocracyICED ice sculpture installation sponsored by Up In Arms; filmed by Bell Visuals, Washington, D.C.; live stream by Robin Bell; edited by Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano; sound design by Brendan Canty; post production and color grading by Nice Shoes, NYC.
WHEN
Time-lapse video available July 4, 2026 on request
WHERE
National Mall, Washington, D.C.
WHAT
High impact time lapse video by LigoranoReese on the threats to our Democracy
LAST CALL – DEMOCRACYICED
Last Call
is LigoranoReese’s 4th Democracy monument and their 2nd sculpture on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The melting away and disappearance of Democracy is a theme the artists have explored before in 2006 and 2008. Previous Democracy sculptures have been installed in New York City, Denver and Saint Paul.
LAST CALL – DEMOCRACYICED
Up In Arms
is a four-year long effort to expose the dangers of militarizing U.S. society and to transform runaway defense spending into a kitchen-table issue ahead of the 2026 and 2028 elections. Led by Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, Up In Arms is fighting to take back our country – and our tax dollars – from weapons manufacturers and war profiteers and to make the American Dream possible again.
Artist’s Statement
Last Call – DemocracyICED
The project
is LigoranoReese’s latest iteration of their Melted Away temporary monument series begun in 2006 on the third anniversary of the Iraq War. Since then, the artists have installed sculptures of words carved in ice at the political conventions and important demonstrations and history events.
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