The New Museum at 231 Bowery, Ground Floor
July 28–31 & August 4–7
12–5 PM
WHAT: Public Beta, NEW INC’s second annual end-of-year showcase
Public Beta takes its name from the world of rapid prototyping in software development and the ethos of the tech mantra “release early, release often,” Public Beta offers NEW INC’s members a lab-like environment in which to test their ideas and present their work, developed over the past twelve months, to the broader public. Over the course of two weekends, the rotating showcase will present new products, virtual reality experiences, installations, and performances that have been incubating this past year.
WHO: NEW INC, the New Museum’s non-profit incubator for art, design, and technology, is a testing ground for new ideas. It brings together forward-thinking artists, fashion designers, musicians, virtual reality filmmakers, product designers, software developers, architects, and more to develop creative projects and businesses that respond to our present moment and point the way toward the future. A collaborative, interdisciplinary program for individual practitioners and new businesses alike, NEW INC incubates the growth and development of projects that blur the lines between culture and commerce.
WEEK 1 (July 28–31)
“VIRTUALITIES” & “THE CRITICAL MARKETPLACE”
VIRTUALITIES
The artists, filmmakers, designers, and storytellers whose work is presented in the Virtualities section exploit virtual reality’s ability to immerse viewers in a different world—instantly transporting them to far-flung places.
VR works include:
GIANT—Trapped in an active war zone, two parents struggle to distract their young daughter by inventing a fantastical tale. Inspired by real events, Giant is an immersive virtual reality experience that transports the viewer into the family’s makeshift basement shelter. The parents’ fairy tale intensifies as bomb blasts draw closer and closer.
HUBBLE CANTATA—Viewers will have the opportunity to float within the imagery from the Hubble Telescope. Eliza McNitt previews this new project for the first time at the NEW INC showcase. It will premiere during the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival, presented by VisionIntoArt/National Sawdust, on Aug 6, as a multidimensional view into space paired with a live performance, opening the world of Virtual Reality to 6k people for free. Note Kickstarter campaign.
AFRIPEDIA – DANCE BATTLE 360°—Stocktown Films and House of Real present the world’s first 360-degree virtual reality-video dance-battle experience, showcasing the best urban street dancers from Dakar, Senegal, in an interactive online experience in which audiences can immerse themselves in the movement, the music, and the city itself.
N=7—Rachel Rossin presents a virtual reality simulation that translates the structure of side-scrolling game play into an immersive experience. In a Dante-esque underworld, the viewer enters a domain of hacked architectural and video game imagery, collaged with algorithms generated from paintings, corporate signage, browser logos, and clippings from scenic destinations. Note: Rachel Rossin is the virtual reality fellow at NEW INC, and her work is part of a First Look commission by Rhizome and the New Museum.
HYPER.ZONE—This demonstration showcases six gaming levels in a multiplatform virtual space. It features art, fashion, furniture, and performances by artists Matty Bovan, Brady Gunnell, Maxime Guyon, Sigrid Lauren, Alexandra Marzella, Pinar & Viola, Brendan Smith, Morey Talmor, and others.
NOTHING TO SEE—Nothing to See by Charles Sainty is a virtual reality installation and sculptural series centered around user-uploaded videos of wrecked vehicles on video-sharing sites. This project is an investigation of our relationship to those tragic images and our desire to define that which defies our understanding. What do we gain from this act of looking? What do we see?
SELECTIONS FROM SENSORIUM WORKS—Sensorium Works presents its recent work, including Laurie Anderson—Times Square, filmed for the Midnight Moment program in Times Square; São Paul—Urban Graffiti, which highlights the relationship between the city and the artistic practice of Mauro; and The Heart Of Brooklyn—Turner Cody, a performance of “Deep In The Heart Of Brooklyn.”
THE CRITICAL MARKETPLACE
From subtly critical gestures to objects enabled by new design and manufacturing processes, the products on display in the Critical Marketplace demonstrate how artists and designers are using the market to test and spread their ideas about the world.
Products include:
SHOP:MOBILE—Telfar Clemens presents a mobile shop that attempts to create a shop-able context for his work outside of the designer boutiques to which his work is most often bound, but where it is perhaps least often understood. SHOP:MOBILE is a highly mobile shop architecture that will house both a curated selection of garments by Clemens and a loop of his video work.
ANTIBOT WEAR—In response to the ubiquity of surveillance cameras in public space today, artist unit exonemo has created a customizable apparel line as a source of offline free speech. The web service utilizes machine-unreadable captcha typeface—typically used to exclude bot programs from online log-ins—to allow users to generate their own wearable designs. The project has been produced in collaboration with incubator member Print All Over Me.
THE COUNTERPOINTER—The Counterpointer by Luisa Pereira is a synthesizer that generates three-voice harmonies in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach. For an alto melody created by the user, it produces bass and soprano voices based on the rules of eighteenth-century counterpoint. It is the first device in The Well–Sequenced Synthesizer, a series exploring new ways of interacting with music through computation and interactive design.
BHOLD—Bhold aims to change how we manufacture and produce goods by prioritizing efficiency and sustainability. It is the first to bring the concept of digital beta testing to physical products in a scalable model, through the Bhold Labs program. The company’s goal is to thoughtfully design objects for the widest audience.
FLIRTING GOBLETS—Flirting Goblets by HE+HU is a series of kinetic products designed to facilitate social interaction. A feathered device is connected to each goblet, serving as an avatar for a person to gently touch the world. The feathers are controlled by sensors that interact with one another, helping people break the ice by using an absurd approach.
CONTINUUM—Continuum by Patrick Delorey is a line of self-generating, limited-edition jewelry. Digital animations of each piece unfold indefinitely—moments from these animations are identified, extracted, and materialized by additive manufacturing. Each resulting piece is unlike any other that has come before, or any that will come after.
EXTENSION PILLARS—The fountain was once a staple of town squares: a life-sustaining public amenity adorned, perhaps, by marble statuary befitting its central role. Today, cell phones have an equivalent importance. Pinkhouse’s Extension Pillars re-envision the charging station for these devices to complement their importance, creating an essential utility—and a proverbial watering hole.
ATHA—Atha presents pieces from Michelle Cherian’s most recent trip to Nepal and stories from the road—about the artisans, crafts, and places that have inspired her work.
WEEK 2 (August 4–7)
“VARIATIONS / INSTALLATIONS”
This section features a wide range of performances and installations that strive to reconnect us with our senses, our bodies, and the natural world—yet, all the while, they rely on technologically mediated methods such as futuristic wearable devices, bio-feedback and motion sensors, and augmented reality or sound-enhanced meditation techniques.
AGALINIS DREAMS—Combining multichannel video and live performance, Agalinis Dreams by Miriam Simun invites audiences to participate in a multisensory ritual experience to commemorate the impending extinction of the Agalinis Acuta, a tiny grasslands flower and the only endangered plant species in New York. Viewers are invited to don wearable sculptures that deliver scents during this intimate performance.
DEFINING REALITIES—This study and an installation explores both kinetic movement and organic growth. Through the use of digitally fabricated sculptures, VOLVOXLABS (VVOX) has created a façade representing different ecosystems. The physical structures gain life through movement with the aid of small motors, which animate the structure while conveying the idea of an evolving environment.
FUTURE PAST NEWS—Super 8 film found in a flea market depicting governments in chaos and an impending war seems like it could easily be today’s news, but it’s from 1937. What will happen in fifty years, when someone finds documentation of our news? This augmented reality app by Karolina Ziulkoski and Andrea Wolf switches the view between 1937 and present, showing how history repeats itself and how we forget.
HEARTMONIC—Heartmonic by Lisa Park is an experimental performance piece that uses heart rate sensors to create sonification of participants’ heartbeats. Each participant will generate the sound of a different instrument and, following instructions from a conductor, will be guided into creating a symphony based on their synched heartbeats. This collaborative experience will build an emotional bond.
SOUNDBATH—Created by MJ Caselden, Soundbath is an exploration of energy flow and vibration, and their impact on mood and consciousness. Using a series of custom sound-generating sculptures, Caselden envelops the audience in a wash of sound, in which they can lie back and experience vibrations moving across a listening space.
TOTEMS—Totems by Parc Office are a series of haptic products for human computer interaction. They challenge traditional methods of input and output by atomizing them into space. Instead of the typical screen-dominated devices of today, Totems are a family of small, simple, and beautiful objects that each perform a specific function.
UNTITLED—In collaboration with Satellite Labs and VVOX, Carlo Van de Roer uses new technology to expand on his interest in the relationship between in-camera imaging technology and our perception of time and place. Van de Roer created patented technology that enables the use of moving light sources within the frozen world of high speed imaging.
WEATHER HAS BEEN NICE—Weather has been nice by Andrea Wolf is a series of generative video installations in which found vintage postcards are broken down into their elements. Creating an immersive audiovisual experience, the large-scale projections of ever-changing landscapes will be complemented by a recording of the sound pieces, embedded within beanbags created with incubator member Print All Over Me.
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Courtesy the New Museum
