Eyebeam Atelier
Encyclopedia
Eyebeam, is a not-for-profit arts and technology center in New York City
. Their stated purpose is to promote the creative use of new technologies by funding artwork, education and exhibitions. The founders were John S. Johnson III, David S. Johnson (unrelated) and Roderic R. Richardson.
According 2002 New York Times coverage of Eyebeam: "A handful of institutions -- among them the Ars Electronic Center
in Linz, Austria; the V2 Institute for the Unstable Media
in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany -- explore aspects of new-media development. But one devoted to teaching, exhibiting and producing the newest of the new in media art does not exist in the United States. 'It's an historical opportunity,' said John S. Johnson, 35, co-founder of Eyebeam and an heir of the Johnson & Johnson
family."
In an article in Chelsea Now, Kelly Kingman writes "Eyebeam is not your conventional gallery. In [the 2007 exhibition] “Source Code,” the first of three exhibits commemorating Eyebeam’s 10th anniversary on the frontier of the digital world. The work here represents artists, programmers, hackers, activists, youth — the kind of people Eyebeam welcomes into its creative laboratories, where innovators of all stripes come to come test their ideas. ...
While Eyebeam definitely “celebrates the hack,” as its website states, the research groups that are constantly in progress go beyond culture jamming. “A lot of the work here is process-based, it’s work in progress.” says Amanda McDonald Crowley
[Executive Director of Eyebeam since October 2005]. “We’re quite happy to show we’re not a neat gallery environment but a place where people are making work and there’s a lot of activity going on.”"
While Eyebeam’s physical space has had many incarnations, including satellite offices in Soho
and Dumbo
, 540 W. 21st St. in Chelsea
– its current location – was where the organization’s most successful ongoing educational program, “Digital Day Camp”, began in 1998. The program, the first of its kind, is free to the approximately 15-20 students accepted each year. The students, which include many from inner-city areas, go through a highly developed course of study focused on new media art
training in classes taught and influenced by the residents and fellows in the building.
Other early programming included the online conference RE:PLAY in 1999, co-sponsored by Parsons The New School for Design
and Eyebeam.
In 2000, Eyebeam announced an architectural competition to construct a space in Chelsea
devoted to the dialog between art and technology. In January, 2001, 13 architectural firms were invited to submit proposals, which led to the exhibition “Open Source Architecture: Building Eyebeam. In March, 2002, Eyebeam named the design firm Diller + Scofidio
’s “Olympic class” blue and white ribbon design the winner of the competition.
In 2005, Eyebeam renovated its 18000 square feet (1,672.3 m²) facility in Chelsea, New York, making it the largest of its type in the United States, having ultimately shelved plans to build a new museum in favor of focusing on supporting research & development, production, education and public programs for artists, hackers, designers, engineers, graffiti artists, creative technologists and the general public. Among its most popular recent projects are reBlog, a RSS feed aggregator and publisher, and the Graffiti Research Lab
(or GRL). The GRL is a program devoted to equipping graffiti artists and activists with modern technology to continue their work. GRL is responsible for projects in a handful of cities around the world and are the creators of L.A.S.E.R. Tag, a projection graffiti system, and "LED Throwies" - magnetic light-emitting diodes which can adhere to metallic surfaces when thrown.
As of June 2011
The following people have also worked with or at Eyebeam in New York:
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Their stated purpose is to promote the creative use of new technologies by funding artwork, education and exhibitions. The founders were John S. Johnson III, David S. Johnson (unrelated) and Roderic R. Richardson.
According 2002 New York Times coverage of Eyebeam: "A handful of institutions -- among them the Ars Electronic Center
Ars Electronica Center
The Ars Electronica Center is a center for electronic arts run by Ars Electronica situated in Linz, Austria, at the northern side of the Danube opposite the city hall of Linz. It has been built on the right side of the Nibelungenbrücke....
in Linz, Austria; the V2 Institute for the Unstable Media
V2 Institute for the Unstable Media
V2_, Institute for the Unstable Media, or simply V2_, is an interdisciplinary center for art and media technology in Rotterdam, the Netherlands...
in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany -- explore aspects of new-media development. But one devoted to teaching, exhibiting and producing the newest of the new in media art does not exist in the United States. 'It's an historical opportunity,' said John S. Johnson, 35, co-founder of Eyebeam and an heir of the Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
family."
In an article in Chelsea Now, Kelly Kingman writes "Eyebeam is not your conventional gallery. In [the 2007 exhibition] “Source Code,” the first of three exhibits commemorating Eyebeam’s 10th anniversary on the frontier of the digital world. The work here represents artists, programmers, hackers, activists, youth — the kind of people Eyebeam welcomes into its creative laboratories, where innovators of all stripes come to come test their ideas. ...
While Eyebeam definitely “celebrates the hack,” as its website states, the research groups that are constantly in progress go beyond culture jamming. “A lot of the work here is process-based, it’s work in progress.” says Amanda McDonald Crowley
Amanda McDonald Crowley
Amanda McDonald Crowley is a New York-based Australian art and technology, and curator and facilitator who has created programs and events of new media art, contemporary art and transdisciplinary work...
[Executive Director of Eyebeam since October 2005]. “We’re quite happy to show we’re not a neat gallery environment but a place where people are making work and there’s a lot of activity going on.”"
History
According to a profile of Eyebeam in New York Magazine, John S. Johnson, a filmmaker and philanthropist who also founded the non-profit organizations the Filmmakers Collaborative, May68, and Screenwriters Colony, Eyebeam was inspired by his father, sculptor John Seward Johnson’s sculpture atelier: “The lightbulb went off when I was thinking about digital issues in film during the summer of ’96 and I realized that digital artists just don’t have the resources that traditional sculptors do.”While Eyebeam’s physical space has had many incarnations, including satellite offices in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
and Dumbo
Dumbo
Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
, 540 W. 21st St. in Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
– its current location – was where the organization’s most successful ongoing educational program, “Digital Day Camp”, began in 1998. The program, the first of its kind, is free to the approximately 15-20 students accepted each year. The students, which include many from inner-city areas, go through a highly developed course of study focused on new media art
New media art
New media art is a genre that encompasses artworks created with new media technologies, including digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, Internet art, interactive art, computer robotics, and art as biotechnology...
training in classes taught and influenced by the residents and fellows in the building.
Other early programming included the online conference RE:PLAY in 1999, co-sponsored by Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
and Eyebeam.
In 2000, Eyebeam announced an architectural competition to construct a space in Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
devoted to the dialog between art and technology. In January, 2001, 13 architectural firms were invited to submit proposals, which led to the exhibition “Open Source Architecture: Building Eyebeam. In March, 2002, Eyebeam named the design firm Diller + Scofidio
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is a New York City-based interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Originally founded by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio in 1979, the firm is particularly well known for its interdisciplinary approach to...
’s “Olympic class” blue and white ribbon design the winner of the competition.
In 2005, Eyebeam renovated its 18000 square feet (1,672.3 m²) facility in Chelsea, New York, making it the largest of its type in the United States, having ultimately shelved plans to build a new museum in favor of focusing on supporting research & development, production, education and public programs for artists, hackers, designers, engineers, graffiti artists, creative technologists and the general public. Among its most popular recent projects are reBlog, a RSS feed aggregator and publisher, and the Graffiti Research Lab
Graffiti Research Lab
Graffiti Research Lab, founded by Evan Roth and James Powderly during their fellowships at the Eyebeam OpenLab, is an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. The members of the group experiment in a lab and in...
(or GRL). The GRL is a program devoted to equipping graffiti artists and activists with modern technology to continue their work. GRL is responsible for projects in a handful of cities around the world and are the creators of L.A.S.E.R. Tag, a projection graffiti system, and "LED Throwies" - magnetic light-emitting diodes which can adhere to metallic surfaces when thrown.
Current Fellows
- Aaron Meyers
- Brooke Singer
- Fran IlichFran IlichFran Ilich is a Mexican writer and media artist who principally works on the theory and practice of narrative media. During the early 1990s he co-founded the Contra-Cultura collective and was involved in the independent media scene in Tijuana -- mainly the cyberpunk scene -- where he was known to...
- Jacob CiocciJacob CiocciJacob Ciocci is an American visual artist, performance artist and musician. Along with sister Jessica Ciocci and friend Ben Jones, he is one of the three remaining founding members of Paper Rad, an artist collective based in both Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Providence, Rhode Island...
- Kaho Abe
- Nova Jiang
- Taeyoon Choi
As of June 2011
Past Fellows
- Ayah BdeirAyah BdeirAyah Bdeir is an interactive artist and engineer. With an upbringing between Lebanon and Canada, Bdeir uses experimental media and technology to look at deliberate and subconscious representations of Arab identity...
(2008–2010) - Jon Cohrs (2010-2011)
- Jeff CrouseJeff CrouseJeff Crouse is an American artist and hacker/creative technologist who works with live data feeds from the internet to make art works.-Background:...
(2007-2010) - Michael MandibergMichael MandibergMichael Mandiberg is an artist, programmer, designer and educator. His work spans web applications about environmental impact, to conceptual performances about subjectivity, to laser cut lampshades for compact fluorescent lightbulbs....
(2008–2010) - Steve LambertSteve Lambert (artist)Steve Lambert is an American artist who works with issues of advertising and the use of public space. He is a founder of , an artist-run initiative which critiques advertising through artistic interventions, and of the which creates exhibitions by painting over outdoor advertisements and hanging...
(2007–2010) - Jessica Banks (2007–2008)
- David Jimison (2007–2008)
- Friedrich Kirschner (2007–2008)
- Zachary LiebermanZachary LiebermanZachary Lieberman is an American artist and computer programmer. His art work focuses around computer graphics, human-computer interaction, and computer vision....
(2007–2008) - Addie WagenknechtAddie WagenknechtAddie Wagenknecht is an American artist living in New York City and Austria. Her work deals primarily with generative art, architecture, industrial design, sustainable design, new media and open source software and hardware.-History:...
(2007–2008) who founded NOR /D - Geraldine Juarez (2006–2008)
- Benton-C Bainbridge (2006–2007)
- Jonah Brucker-Cohen (2006–2007)
- James PowderlyJames PowderlyJames Powderly is an artist and engineer whose work has focused on creating tools for graffiti artists and political activists, designing robots and promoting open source culture.- Biography :...
(2005–2007) who founded Graffiti Research LabGraffiti Research LabGraffiti Research Lab, founded by Evan Roth and James Powderly during their fellowships at the Eyebeam OpenLab, is an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. The members of the group experiment in a lab and in... - Evan RothEvan RothEvan Roth is an artist whose work focuses on tools of empowerment, open source and popular culture. He has previously released work under the name "fi5e".-Biography:...
(2005–2007) who founded Graffiti Research LabGraffiti Research LabGraffiti Research Lab, founded by Evan Roth and James Powderly during their fellowships at the Eyebeam OpenLab, is an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. The members of the group experiment in a lab and in... - Ben Engebreth (2005–2006)
- Limor FriedLimor FriedLimor Fried, aka ladyada, is an American electrical engineer and owner of the electronics hobbyist company, Adafruit Industries. She is influential in the open-source hardware scene, having participated in the first Open Source Hardware Summit and the drafting of the Open Source Hardware...
(2005–2006) - Theo WatsonTheo WatsonTheo Watson is a British artist and programmer. His art work includes interactive video, large-scale public projections, computer vision projects, and interactive sound recordings...
(2005–2006) - Rob O'Neill (2001–2002)
Past Residents
- Cory ArcangelCory ArcangelCory Arcangel is a Brooklyn, New York artist who makes work in many different media, including drawing, music, video, performance,, and video game modifications, for which he is perhaps best known...
- Julian BleeckerJulian BleeckerJulian Bleecker is an artist and technologist with a history developing innovative mobile research projects.Bleecker holds a Ph.D. from the History of Consciousness Program at University of California, Santa Cruz...
(Spring 2003) - Jennifer Broutin
- Jem CohenJem CohenJem Alan Cohen is an award-winning New York City-based filmmaker known for his observational portraits of urban landscapes, blending of media formats and collaborations with music artists. He is the recipient of the Independent Spirit Award and many first place awards for feature filmmaking...
- Yury Gitman
- G. H. HovagimyanG. H. HovagimyanG. H. Hovagimyan is an experimental cross media, new media and performance artist who lives and works in New York City. He was born 1950 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1972, He received a B.F.A. from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and received an M.A. from New York...
- Golan LevinGolan LevinGolan Levin is an American new media artist, composer, performer and engineer interested in developing artifacts and events which explore supple new modes of reactive expression.-Biography:...
(2002) - Zach Lieberman (2002)
- Tony MartinTony MartinAnthony or Tony Martin may refer to:Education*Tony Martin , professor at Wellesley College known for racial controversies in the early 1990s.*Donald A...
- Jennifer & Kevin McCoyJennifer & Kevin McCoyJennifer and Kevin McCoy are a Brooklyn, New York-based married couple who make art together. They work with interactive media, film, performance and installation to explore personal experience in relation with new technology, the mass media, and global commerce...
- MTAAMTAAMTAA is a Brooklyn, New York-based conceptual and new media art duo composed of M.River and T.Whid . The two artists founded MTAA in 1996...
- Dan O'SullivanDan O'SullivanDaniel James O'Sullivan is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA.A 6′10″ , 250 lb center, O'Sullivan attended Fordham University...
- Randy Sarafan
- Carolee SchneemannCarolee SchneemannCarolee Schneemann is an American visual artist, known for her discourses on the body, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. from Bard College and an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois. Her work is primarily characterized by research into visual traditions, taboos, and the body of the...
- Zack Booth Simpson
- Peter Sinclair (sound artist)Peter Sinclair (sound artist)Peter Sinclair is an English-born sound artist who lives and works in Marseille, France. Sinclair is a professor of sound art at the École Supérieure d'Art d'Aix-en-Provence....
- Michelle Kempner and James PowderlyJames PowderlyJames Powderly is an artist and engineer whose work has focused on creating tools for graffiti artists and political activists, designing robots and promoting open source culture.- Biography :...
as Robot Clothes - Bill Dolson (2005)
- Joseph DeLappe (2008)
- Taeyoon Choi (2008)
- Joe WinterJoe WinterJoe Winter is a British educationist and poet who is renowned for translating poets Rabindranath Tagore and Jibanananda Das.-Biography:He was born in London in 1943 and educated, amongst others, at Exeter College, Oxford. He taught English in secondary schools in London from 1967 to 1994. Taking...
(2008) - Dan Torop (2008)
- Andrew Gryf Paterson
- Jamie Allen (2008)
- Joo Youn Paek
- Stefan Hechenberger
- Adrienne Wortzel
- Andrea Polli
- Christina Kral
- Hans-Christoph Steiner
- Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga
Past Commissioned Artists
- Isaac JulienIsaac JulienIsaac Julien is an installation artist and filmmaker.-Biography:Julien graduated from St Martin's School of Art in 1985, where he studied painting and fine art film...
- Christian MarclayChristian MarclayChristian Marclay is a Swiss-American visual artist and composer.Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film...
- Trevor PaglenTrevor PaglenTrevor Paglen is an American artist, geographer, and author.He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a PhD in geography from the University of California at Berkeley, where he currently works as a researcher.Paglen is the author of three books...
- Fred WilsonFred WilsonFred Wilson is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae....
- Yucef MerhiYucef MerhiYucef Merhi is a Venezuelan artist, poet and computer programmer, based in New York.-Life and work:Yucef Merhi was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He studied at Universidad Central de Venezuela and New School University.. His artistic practice began in the mid 80s...
- Mariko MoriMariko MoriMariko Mori is a Japanese video and photographic artist. While studying at Bunka Fashion College, she worked as a fashion model in the late 1980s. This strongly influenced her early works, such as Play with Me, in which she takes control of her role in the image, becoming an exotic, alien...
- Shirin NeshatShirin NeshatShirin Neshat شیرین نشاط is an Iranian visual artist who lives in New York. She is known primarily for her work in film, video and photography.-Background:Neshat's parents were upper middle-class...
- Christian JankowskiChristian JankowskiChristian Jankowski is a contemporary multimedia artist who largely works with video, installation and photography.He has created a number of television interventions...
- Preemptive Media
- Liisa Roberts
- Media Shed MongrelMongrelMongrel refers to mixed ancestry:* In botany, a mongrel may refer to the offspring of varieties of a species which was in contrast to a hybrid* Among pets, one whose parentage is of unknown or mixed breeds as opposed to purebred...
Co-op Artists
- Anthony McCallAnthony McCallAnthony McCall is a British-born American Avant-Garde artist, specializing in cinema/projected film.thumb|Anthony McCall at Gallery Zander , Cologne...
- Piero GoliaPiero GoliaPiero Golia was born in Naples, Italy in 1974.Since 2002 he has lived and worked in Los Angeles, California.His work has been shown in major galleries and museums in Europe and the United States and featured in numerous exhibitions including Gold Standards at P.S.1 in New York and Uncertain States...
- Pierre HuyghePierre HuyghePierre Huyghe is a French artist who works in a variety of media from film and video to public interventions. He won the Hugo Boss Prize from the Guggenheim Museum in 2002.-Biography:...
- Brian AlfredBrian AlfredBrian Alfred is a painter in Brooklyn, New York, who specialises in depictions of banal, urban spaces. Alfred is represented by Haunch of Venison New York/London/Zurich/Berlin, Studio La Citta Verona, and SCAI the Bathhouse Tokyo...
- d-fuse
The following people have also worked with or at Eyebeam in New York:
- Cheryl
- Jason KottkeJason KottkeJason Kottke is an American blogger and former web designer currently living in New York City. He designed the Silkscreen typeface and has won a Lifetime Achievement Award as a blogger...
- The Yes MenThe Yes MenThe Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and network of supporters created by Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos. Through actions of tactical media, The Yes Men primarily aim to raise awareness about what they consider problematic social issues. To date, the duo has produced two films: The Yes Men...
- Tom Igoe