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Beijing: Activists detained after lighting up "Free Tibet" LED Throwies banner near Olympics site from Students for a Free Tibet on Vimeo.
Free Tibet 2008 Online TV Station from Students for a Free Tibet on Vimeo. No word from the American artist 24 hours after being taken into Chinese custody Powderly was in Beijing to unveil a project made with pro-Tibet activist group New York City, August 19, 2008, 7:30PM EST- Artist and Eyebeam alum James Powderly was detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing early Wednesday, according to a message received by Students for a Free Tibet around 5PM Beijing Standard Time, said an SFT spokesperson. The message, sent through the social networking site Twitter, read "held since 3AM", said friend and SFT board member Nathan Dorjee. Powderly has not been heard from since-more than 24 hours later-and his whereabouts remain unknown, he said. "Freedom of speech has always been central to James' practice, and we support this commitment. Most importantly, we hope for his quick release," said Eyebeam Executive Director Amanda McDonald Crowley. Powderly was a fellow in Eyebeam's R&D OpenLab in 2005-2006, and a senior fellow in the OpenLab from 2006-2007. Powderly is also co-founder of the Grafitti Research Lab, a project developed during his fellowship at Eyebeam. He was in Beijing collaborating with the activists to project messages onto the facades of prominent Beijing buildings using a laser beam and stencils. The artist was detained before the planned launch of the project-dubbed the "Green Chinese Lantern"-in which a beam of light would be used to display graphics and text on structures up to two stories high, said Dorjee. It is unclear how Chinese authorities learned of the plan. Also today, five activists with Students for a Free Tibet were detained after displaying a banner that spelled out "Free Tibet" in LED Throwies, the open source technology pioneered by the Grafitti Research Lab and popularized online and worldwide. This brings the number of SFT protestors detained in Beijing to 42. In the majority of these cases, the individuals were heard from and deported within 6-12 hours of their arrest, said Dorjee. Upon learning of the detention, fellow artist, collaborator, and current Eyebeam senior fellow Steve Lambert said, "He's an amazing, entertaining, brilliant, and committed person. Not all of us have the courage to travel to China to make such a statement at a key time like this. He's a great friend and obviously, like so many others, I'm concerned about his well-being. I hope he's allowed to return home as soon as possible." The L.A.S.E.R. Stencil technology is a modification of the GRL's L.A.S.E.R. Tag, which was featured in the 2007 Eyebeam exhibition Open City. This portable, updated version is the size of a flashlight, requires one person to operate, and is intended for use with homemade micro-stencils. Students for a Free Tibet, a group with more than 700 chapters worldwide, has been staging protests in Beijing over the course of the past two weeks. According to Dorjee, who is also the group's technical advisor, GRL technology was an ideal fit for the spectacle of the Olympics, and called the GRL the "go-to group for open source urban expression". For the latest information and images, please visit the website of Students for a Free Tibet: http://freetibet2008.org/ Additional images for download: The Grafitti Research Lab, with images made using the L.A.S.E.R. Stencil (in the US): www.grafittiresearchlab.com LED Throwies: http://www.flickr.com/photos/urban_data/tags/ledthrowies/ Additional coverage: Boing Boing: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/19/beijing-activists-de.html The Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/19/AR2008081901287.html
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kudu_mixer.jpg

Kudu at MIXER, June 14.
Photo: Christine Taylor.

We come in several original summer flavors

It’s the end of June and Eyebeam is about to burst with interactive activity with the launch of Interactivos?@Eyebeam, Summer School and Digital Day Camp.

You can also catch the tail end of the Dewar’s commission for resident artists show Tourists and Travelers, and get a tour with Charlie the robotic duck to Central Park before we kiss our Spring 2008 residents goodbye, and usher in the Summer 2008 residents.

And for the memories, hot MIXER pics are online now. Summer is finally HERE kids!


This Week at Eyebeam:

June 26: Upgrade! launches Interactivos?

June 27: Interactivos? workshop and public skill-share begins

June 28: Camerautomata Charlie walking tour

July 1: Eyebeam Summer School is in session

July 7: Digital Day Camp begins

New from our Labs:

June – August 10: Sarah Cook presents Broadcast Yourself at Cornerhouse

June: TouchKit API version 2.0 to be released

June: Ayah Bdeir’s littleBits in Berlin

July 5: Anti-Advertising Agency’s OFFFice in Chicago

On the road again: The Eyebeam Roadshow call for Fall 2008 hosts

Eyebeam community news:

HeHe’s Pollstream – Nuage Vert wins 2008 Golden Nica


June 26: Upgrade! launches Interactivos?

Upgrade!
Date: Thursday, June 26, 7PM
Location: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St., NYC
Cost: Free

Join us on Thursday, June 26 at 7PM for the Upgrade! New York launch of Interactivos?: Better Than the Real Thing. R&D OpenLab fellow Zach Lieberman will set the scene with a presentation about Interactivos? and its beginnings at Medialab-Prado. Discussions of the real, the fake, and spoofing will ensue, with a presentation by The Yes Men. Informal discussion and a reception will follow. Eyebeam projects on display, that evening, will include BoozBot by Eyebeam senior fellow Jeff Crouse and Eyebeam Production Lab fellow David Jimison.

Upgrade! is an international, emerging network of autonomous nodes united by art, technology, and a commitment to bridging cultural divides. Upgrade! New York has been in existence since April 1999 and partnered with Eyebeam in March 2000. Upgrade! meetings present new media projects, engage in informal critique, and foster dialogue and collaboration between individual artists.

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June 27: Interactivos? workshop and public skill-share begins

Miseong Lee, Through Time Tunnel

Interactivos?: Better Than the Real Thing
Dates: June 27 – July 12, 12 – 6PM
Location: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St., NYC
Cost: Free
http://www.eyebeam.org/learning/learning.php?page=interactivos
Stay tuned for the official Interactivos? project website launch!

Join us daily between June 27 and July 12, from 12 – 6PM to witness the transformation of Eyebeam’s main space into a lab for the creation of interactive art projects.

From an open-call, Eyebeam selected nine new projects to be realized by artists from around the world, with the collaboration of Eyebeam resident artists and fellows and over two dozen very skilled artists, engineers, musicians, programmers, designers, and hackers (also selected from an open call). The projects investigate interactivity in all of its forms, and usually feature a mix of hardware tinkering, software coding, and conceptual hacking.

During the intensive two-week Interactivos? workshop, the lab will be open and the public are welcome to drop in, see the artists and collaborators at work, and participate in discussions, critiques, and other social activities investigating interactivity in the context of this year’s Interactivos? theme: the blurry line between the real and the fake. A full schedule of events will follow. On July 12 the lab will be transformed into an exhibition, Double Take, which will be on view through August 9.

Interactivos? was initiated two years ago by the Medialab-Prado program and the Madrid City Council. This is the first time it has taken place outside Spain.

The full list of projects can be found here:
http://www.eyebeam.org/learning/learning.php?page=interactivos
and an additional Interactivos? project website will be launched during the next two weeks.

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June 28: Camerautomata Charlie walking tour

Date: Saturday, June 28, 2:30PM
Location: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St., NYC

As part of the Tourists and Travelers exhibition and in conjunction with Interactivos?: Better than the real thing, come see how a robotic duck can take better tourist photos than you can. Join the guided tour of tourist sites with the magical image-digesting robotic duck Charlie. The tour will start at Eyebeam at 2:30PM (participants are encouraged to check out the exhibition before setting off!) when they’ll join the artist and the duck as they walk and take public transportation to Bethesda Terrace, Central Park, where they will then wander around the park with other tourists. The tour will take about 2 hours. Participants may also meet the group at the Bethesda Terrace at around 4PM.

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July 1: Eyebeam Summer School is in session

Dates: July 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 19, 22, 6PM
Location: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St., NYC
http://www.eyebeam.org/learning/learning.php?page=workshops

Eyebeam Summer School is an annual adult workshop series designed to encourage the creative use of technologies for personal expression, activism, communication and community involvement. For more information and to register, email: bookstore AT eyebeam DOT org.

Tuesday, June 1: Illegal Billboard Workshop with IllegalSigns.ca and The Anti-Advertising Agency. Presenter: Eyebeam senior fellow Steve Lambert.

Activists estimate that half the billboards in New York City are illegal. Worth millions in profit, outdoor advertising has become a corporate black market that doesn’t stop short of breaking the law to get your attention. On July 1, the Anti-Advertising Agency and Rami Tabello of IllegalSigns.ca will lead a free workshop on how to identify illegal advertising and get it taken down. Canadian activist group IllegalSigns.ca is responsible for the removal of more than over 100 illegal billboards in Toronto. Rami Tabello will reveal how the billboard industry gets away with breaking the law and will offer suggestions on what New Yorkers can do to stop it locally. To sign up, email: workshop AT antiadvertisingagency DOT com

Thursday, July 3: Eyebeam senior fellows Steve Lambert and Jeff Crouse will lead a workshop on A Basic Sentence Markup Language (ABSML)—an artist statement generator—and a new email spam-inspired project to Keep an Army Recruiter Busy.

Tuesday, July 8: New Tools for Collaborative Practice. Presenters: Eyebeam senior fellow Steve Lambert; Mushon Zer Aviv and Dan Pfeiffer; NOR_/D: Eyebeam Production Lab fellow Addie Wagenknecht with Stefan Hechenberger.

  • Subversion (SVN): a version control system used to maintain current and historical versions of files for source code, web pages, and/or documentation—like a wiki, but for code.
  • Shiftspace: an open source layer above any website. It seeks to expand the creative possibilities currently provided through the web, allowing for the creation of online contexts built in and on top of websites.
  • TouchKit: a modular multitouch development kit with the aim to make multitouch readily available in an open source fashion. Learn the basics of how to set up your own multitouch system, the supplies you need and where to get them. We supply the open source API, schematics, source code and demo applications.

Thursday, July 10: What do artists and audiences think of interactivity? Presenter: Beryl Graham.

As part of Interactivos?, and in preparation for the opening of the exhibition Double Take, we present a lecture on how artists and audiences consider interactivity, led by Professor of New Media, Beryl Graham. Examples of high and low-tech projects in gallery and publically-sited contexts will be shown, and a rousing discussion with artists based on their own experiences will follow. This evening is in conjunction with Eyebeam research partner CRUMB, the resource for curators of new media art, based in the UK.

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July 7: Digital Day Camp begins

Dates: July 7 – 25, Monday – Thursday, 1 – 5PM in the Education Lab
Location: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St., NYC
http://www.eyebeam.org/learning/learning.php?page=ddc

In July 2008, Eyebeam will produce its ninth annual Digital Day Camp (DDC) program for NYC public high school students. DDC is a paid three-week summer intensive program, this year focused on the theme of Better Than the Real Thing—taking off from the Interactivos? workshop series.

Selected participants will explore the tension in distinguishing “real” from “fake”. Among the questions to be addressed: What is authentic in the real of the digital? Can something be so fake that it becomes real? How can hoaxes, recreations, and illusions be used aesthetically and critically? DDC 2008 will investivage this through the creation of interactive art projects, which will join the projects produced during Interactivos? in the exhibition, Double Take, July 29 – August 9. DDC participants will publicly present their final projects on July 29, 7PM at Eyebeam.

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New from our Labs:

Doug Hall, Chip Lord, Jody Procter, The Amarillo News Tapes, 1980, Photo: copyright the artists

June: Sarah Cook presents Broadcast Yourself at Cornerhouse

Broadcast Yourself
Date: June – August 10
Location: Cornerhouse. 70 Oxford St., Manchester, UK
http://www.broadcastyourself.net

Broadcast Yourself is an international group exhibition of artists’ interventions into television and strategies for self-broadcasting from the 1970s to today, co-curated by Kathy Rae Huffman and Eyebeam curatorial fellow Sarah Cook.

Artists include: Active Ingredient (Rachel Jacobs / Matt Watkins); Shaina Anand; Ian Breakwell; Chris Burden; Stan Douglas; Alistair Gentry; Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Adriene Jenik; Doug Hall, Chip Lord and Jody Procter; Joanie 4 Jackie (Miranda July et al.); Pat Naldi and Wendy Kirkup; TV swansong (curated by Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie); Bill Viola; Van Gogh TV; 56KTV Bastard Channel (curated by Reinhard Storz / xcult.org).

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June: TouchKit API version 2.0 to be released

The Opensource Multitouch software development kit TouchKit developed in part by Eyebeam Production Lab fellow Addie Wagenknecht will be released as the API version 2.0 in the coming two weeks. Sign up for the mailing list: http://nortd.com/touchkit/list.html to be the first to know when the newest versions and updates go live, and stay on top of upcoming free workshops around the US!

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June: Ayah Bdeir’s littleBits in Berlin

Eyebeam R&D OpenLab fellow Ayah Bdeir is participating in the Friends of Fritzing Summit in Berlin, where she will present an early prototype of littleBits: a library of discrete electronic components pre-assembled in tiny, magnetic circuit boards. The project is in collaboration with Jeff Hoefs: http://www.jeffhoefs.com, and Smart Design: http://www.smartdesignworldwide.com.

http://www.fritzing.org/events/friends-of-fritzing-summit-08
http://www.ayahbdeir.com/littleBits

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July 5: Anti-Advertising Agency’s OFFFice in Chicago

The Foundation For Freedom (Eyebeam senior fellow Steve Lambert) is thrilled to announce our new temporary world headquarters at 6932 North Glenwood Avenue in Chicago. Starting today, and over the next four weeks, we’ll bring our mission and services to all the brilliant Chicagoland advertisers, marketers, and PR people ready to contribute to society in a meaningful way. The oFFFice will be open weekdays from 9AM to 4PM, through July 15 Brazil time, in solidarity with the visionaries who banned outdoor advertising (11AM to 6PM CST). We’re holding several events in our first week to celebrate! Come by and learn more: http://antiadvertisingagency.com/news/offfice-hours

Steve also has drawings at the Haterdorn Museum in New Jersey: http://visitsteve.com/news/hunterdon-museum-the-house-that-sprawl-built/

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On the road again: The Eyebeam Roadshow call for Fall 2008 hosts

The Eyebeam Roadshow is looking for hosts for its Fall 2008 tour. The Eyebeam Roadshow consists of a vibrant series of mini-lectures and skill-share workshops, from the distinguished roster of artists who have worked within Eyebeam’s Labs.

Lecture topics may include: art and technology; copyright; open-source hardware and software; public space; hacking as an art form; how to write the world’s worst artist statement; creating tools for dissent; and other nascent projects developed at Eyebeam.

If you are interested in hosting The Eyebeam Roadshow, please contact the Eyebeam production manager Stephanie Hunt: stephanie AT eyebeam DOT org with possible dates.

More information about the Roadshow visit: http://roadshow.eyebeam.org

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Community news:

HeHe’s Pollstream – Nuage Vert wins 2008 Golden Nica

HeHe (Eyebeam alumni Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen) Pollstream – Nuage Vert: http://www.nuagevert.orghttp//www.nuagevert.org transforms clouds into projection surfaces. As such, these indefinable, constantly and chaotically changing products of the condensation of water vapor become media bearing political ideas and messages. Or aestheticized symbols of environmental pollution caused by carbon emissions. Pollstream – Nuage Vert was developed in collaboration with experts in laser technology, computer science, electrical engineering, energy generation and air quality monitoring. Development commenced in 2002 and concluded in February 2008 with a performance in Helsinki that demonstrated how art is capable of encompassing an entire city—its public sphere, its industry and its inhabitants—and unfolding sociopolitical relevance.

Pollstream – Nuage Vert is the recipient of the Prix Ars Electronica 2008 Golden Nica in the Hybrid Art category.

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Intermedia artistStephanie Rothenberg presents "Invisible Threads", a mixed reality project in real and Second Life. Form Eyebeam's website. Stephanie Rothenberg uses performance, video, and net-based media to create interactive situations that question relationships between individuals and socially constructed identities, lifestyles and public spaces. Referencing corporate models and their infrastructures, her work merges popular forms of advertising and market research with participatory experiences involving role-playing and fantasy. Stephanie received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her work has been exhibited in numerous media festivals and galleries in the US and abroad. Stephanie commutes between New York City and Buffalo, New York where she is Assistant Professor of Communication Design at the State University of New York at Buffalo. While at Eyebeam, she will be working on the project “The School of Perpetual Training,” which explores the intersections between physical labor in the real world and the immaterial labor of the virtual sweatshops that have emerged over the past five years in the online gaming industry. http://www.pan-o-matic.com/
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Short interview with Taeyoon Choi on his project Camerautomata developed at Eyebeam as an artist in residency. From Eyebeam's website: Taeyoon Choi is a Seoul-based artist working with performance and digital media. Choi’s works intervene into urban media spaces humorously, in order to deliver critical commentary on contemporary digital culture. Choi is involved in interdisciplinary collaboration with various networks and collectives including: FunOut Urban Game Inc, DOTPLAY Mobile Hacking Workshop, and Upgrade! Seoul. Choi earned a B.F.A at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and completed a M.S. at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. For the 2008 Eyebeam Commission, Choi will create Charlie: Camerautomata, a duck-shaped robot built from the hacked electronic components of a digital camera and photo printer, which consumes and defecates images in public spaces at its own will. http://tyshow.org
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I visited Eyebeam's reception for several fellows. Friedrich Kirschner presented a prototype of one of his recent projects as Production Fellow. From Eyebeams's website: Friedrich joins Eyebeam as a fellow in the Production Lab. He is also a filmmaker, visual artist and board member of the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences, and re-purposes computer games to create animated narratives and interactive performances. Friedrich’s work has been shown and performed at various international animation festivals and it occasionally spreads into the physical realm as well, where he investigates the impact of milk and other liquids on computer graphics. http://www.zeitbrand.de/
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I had a lot of fun dancing to the music created by Bubblyfish with loops payed from several Gameboys. Sorry that I had to change the soundtrack! the sound levels of my camera were too high so lots of distortion. That is her music anyway...

MIXER, Eyebeam’s new series dedicated to showcasing leading performing artists in the fields of live video and audio. In addition to live performance by video artists, musicians, VJs and DJs, each MIXER event will present new interactive work by Eyebeam artists that encourages audience participation and creative play. Hybrid in format, and Eyebeam in spirit—collaborative, spontaneous and a little off-the-wall—MIXER will electrify Eyebeam’s Chelsea warehouse for a Saturday night quite unlike any other. Media sponsor: The Onion. Liquor sponsored by Newcastel Brown Ale and Kronenbourg 1664 http://www.eyebeam.org/about/news/022008.html http://www.eyebeam.org/
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February 16, 2008 1:00 PM - 6:30 PM 540 W. 21st St. Eyebeam and the UK’s MediaShed a free-media community center in Southend by the Sea, have been working closely on the development of Gearbox, an open-source, online media-making toolkit. On February 2, Eyebeam's Student Residents, Senior Fellows and staff will travel to Southend by the Sea for six days o meet, share practices, and develop collaborative projects using Gearbox. MediaShed youth will travel to NYC on February 12 complete the projects and install them in Eyebeam’s galleries. This exchange will culminate in an all-day Free Media Workshop on February 16, which will focus on the use of “free-cycled” materials to create new and innovative forms of public infrastructure. Eyebeam and MediaShed participants, together with workshop participants, will present their projects and discuss the idea and application of “free media”. The event will close with public reception celebrating the exchange. To take part in the workshop: Teams of two or more will need to sign up in advance with project ideas for public space installations, based on one of the five different free media construction techniques being taught. To register, email: liz AT eyebeam DOT org, subject: Free Media Workshop sign-up. Include in the body of the email a brief description of the project you would like to build/conceptualize, the technique you've selected, and the number of people in your team. This event is free and open to the public. Free Media Workshop Schedule 1PM MediaShed and Forays presentation MediaShed members will discuss what free media is, and why is it important. The artist collaborative Forays will assist with student presentations of collaborative projects from the MediaShed/Eyebeam exchange. Artists and teaching groups will explain how they document and share their work. 2PM Tutorials Introduction to cardboard construction techniques, Shapelock, DIY devices, sign-making, and MovieSandBox. 4PM Production Participants will break into groups to build their ideas with assistance from workshop leaders, and will document this process. The Eyebeam/MediaShed exchange students will go out to find a nearby space to install the structure built during the exchange. 5:30 – 6:30PM Workshop participants and exchange students will upload their projects to the Gearbox website. 6:30PM + Eyebeam/MediaShed exchange closing reception party with informal presentations of workshop outcomes. Construction Techniques Joo Youn Paek's Inflatable Craft Workshop: Making clothing and structures from used plastic bags. Not An Alternative's Spectacle-making via props constructed from cardboard: Build sturdy and attention-grabbing structures using cardboard. Jamie Allen's Micro-radio Transmission: Hacking and/or building radio transmitter from scratch for use in public space. Jerry Juarez's Shapelock: Learn to mold and build unique and durable structures from the non-toxic and malleable plastic. MediaShed's: DIY Video: Make covert video cameras and equipment from found and inexpensive a/v equipment.
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dance-tech.net went to Eyebeam's Mixer party. This is a short video showing visitors interacting with drawn - an installation for hands and ink, zachary lieberman (2006) From Zach's website: This project presents a whimsical scenario in which painted ink forms appear to come to life, rising off the page and interacting with the very hands that drew them. Inspired by early filmic “lightning sketches,” in which stop-motion animation techniques were used to create the illusion of drawings escaping the page, drawn presents a modern update: custom-developed software alters a video signal in real time, creating a seamless, organic and even magical world of spontaneous and improvised performance of hand and ink. http://www.thesystemis.com/drawnInstallation/index.html MIXER, Eyebeam’s new series dedicated to showcasing leading performing artists in the fields of live video and audio. In addition to live performance by video artists, musicians, VJs and DJs, each MIXER event will present new interactive work by Eyebeam artists that encourages audience participation and creative play. Hybrid in format, and Eyebeam in spirit—collaborative, spontaneous and a little off-the-wall—MIXER will electrify Eyebeam’s Chelsea warehouse for a Saturday night quite unlike any other. Media sponsor: The Onion. Liquor sponsored by Newcastel Brown Ale and Kronenbourg 1664 http://www.eyebeam.org/about/news/022008.html http://www.eyebeam.org/
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