OPEN CITY: Tools for Public Action - at EYEBEAM

OPEN CITY: TOOLS FOR PUBLIC ACTION
Exhibition and Public Programs

Mar. 1 - Apr. 7, 2007
Opening Reception Mar. 1, 6-8pm
Eyebeam - 540 W. 21st Street

Eyebeam launches it’s 2007 exhibition program in its 10th Anniversary year with a daring and exciting project exploring ideas of technology and innovation in public space. Open City, is an exhibition and series of public programs that focus on the innovations of graffiti, street art and urban intervention. Choosing not to bring this work, intended for the streets, into the gallery, Eyebeam has asked a NYC and international roster of artists and collaborative groups to present their process via video documentation of work in the gallery alongside displays of the actual tools used to generate the works on the streets. A series of screenings, presentations and workshops exploring tool building, tactics, techniques and approaches to communication by any means necessary within the urban context, will accompany the exhibition and turn Eyebeam into an active and participatory environment for the duration of the show. This exhibition is on view Mar. 1 - Apr. 7, Tues-Sat 12-6pm. Eyebeam is located at 540 W. 21st Street (between 10th & 11th Aves, Subway - 23rd Street C, E ) and all workshops and activities take place there unless otherwise noted.

Invited participants include:
- Aram Bartholl (Berlin)
- BORF (Washington D.C.)
- Graffiti Research Lab (NYC)
- Institute for Applied Autonomy (USA)
- Improv Everywhere (NYC)
- Mark Jenkins (Washington D.C.)
- KATSU (NYC)
- KR (NYC)
- Object Orange (Detroit)
- Leon Reid (NYC)
- Matthias Wermke (Berlin)
- Krzysztof Wodiczko (PL/NYC)

Using the activities of Graffiti Reseach Lab, a collaboration formed in Eyebeam’s R&D OpenLab in 2006, as a departure point, Open City examines graffiti as a form of action more akin to performance than visual art. By displaying only documentation and artifacts (tools and evidence of them in action) in the gallery, Open City strives to keep graffiti projects from being treated as precious objects and highlights the thought process and actions of its practitioners rather than the physical evidence of what is left behind.

Open City uses a broad definition of the term ‘graffiti’, encompassing anythingwhich happens in public space that doesn’t ask for permission. Projects included in the exhibition range from spray paint to digital projection, urban pranks, robotics, site specific sculpture and more. Materials and technologies range from high-tech projectors and custom machinery to simple homemade markers and inks, innovative uses of low-cost materials, the internet, hacking and re-appropriation of existing urban systems.

Participants in the exhibition as well as Eyebeam residents and fellows will lead workshops on a how to create laser cut stencils, weld and install work in urban spaces, and fabricate audio devices for urban broadcast. A “DIY Wall” (do-it-yourself, destroy-it-yourself) will be constructed in Eyebeam’s Open Prototyping Space to test out tools developed in the workshops. Eyebeam’s facade will become a venue or launching pad for an (uncurated) ongoing collaboration between the exhibiting artists, workshop participants and the public. The exhibition and the dialogue around the work changes and evolves over the duration of its presentation. The intention is to have these activities foster a program that encourages interaction between artist and audience, mirroring the exchange that takes place within the broader graffiti community and across net communities.

For more information on Open City and a list of ancillary public programs please visit www.eyebeam.org.


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Eyebeam is an art and technology center that provides a fertile context and state-of-the-art tools for digital research and experimentation. It is a lively incubator of creativity and thought, where artists and technologists actively engage with culture, addressing the issues and concerns of our time. Eyebeam challenges convention, celebrates the hack, educates the next generation, encourages collaboration, freely offers its contributions to the community, and invites the public to share in a spirit of openness: open source, open content and open distribution.

Eyebeam's current programs are made possible through the generous support of the Atlantic Foundation, Time Warner Youth Media and Arts Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the Experimental Television Center, the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For a list of past supporters, please visit www.eyebeam.org.

Location: 540 W. 21st Street between 10th & 11th Avenues
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm
Bookstore: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm
Admission: All events are free to the public with suggested donation unless otherwise noted.