The New Normal brings together thirteen recent artworks that use private information as raw material and subject matter. The concept of privacy, though widely invoked, is difficult to define. The private sphere encompasses domestic spaces, bodies, thoughts, communications, and behaviors—contexts that are usually rendered inaccessible to the public eye by legal, social, and physical boundaries. The practices that demarcate the private sphere are so much a part of the fabric of everyday life—wearing clothing, politely pretending not to overhear a cell-phone conversation— that they only become noticeable when they shift, making the private sphere visible to the public eye. Privacy, to put it bluntly, captures our attention only when it is under threat. The spread of social technology has affected privacy no less profoundly. With the rise of online commerce, many banks and retailers have developed sophisticated methods of tracking and studying the behavior of consumers, while increased use of the Internet has created new platforms for voluntary self-disclosure, from blogs to MySpace. Each of the works in The New Normal—video, Web sites, sculpture, artist’s books, found objects, and photographs—grants access to the private sphere of the artists themselves, of strangers, and of public officials. Overall, the exhibition creates a sense that access to private information is a kind of currency, the exchange of which is growing and evolving in bewildering ways. We may find it frightening or fascinating, but we are all inescapably complicit in it. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue co-published by iCI and Artists Space, New York, with essays by guest curator Michael Connor, Clay Shirky and Marisa Olson. Panel Discussion at Artists Space, co-organized by iCI and Artists Space Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 6:30 – 8:00 pm A panel discussion will focus on works of art and themes addressed in the exhibition. The participants will include exhibition curator Michael Connor, artists Jill Magid, and Jennifer and Kevin McCoy. The panel will be moderated by Benjamin Weil, director of Artists Space. Artists in exhibition Sophie Calle Mohamed Camara Hasan Elahi Eyebeam R & D/Jonah Peretti and Michael Frumin Kota Ezawa Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher Guthrie Lonergan Jill Magid Jennifer and Kevin McCoy Trevor Paglen Corinna Schnitt Thomson & Craighead Sharif Waked Exhibition Itinerary (to date) Artists Space New York, New York April 25 – June 21, 2008 Huarte Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Huarte, Spain July 4 – September 28, 2008 The Decker Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art Baltimore, Maryland November 6 – December 14, 2008 Canzani Center Gallery, Columbus College of Art & Design Columbus, Ohio February 11 – April 22, 2009 Pomona College Museum of Art Claremont, California August 25 – October 19, 2009 The New Normal is a traveling exhibition co-organized by iCI (Independent Curators International), New York, and Artists Space, New York, and circulated by iCI. The guest curator for the exhibition is Michael Connor. Independent Curators International 799 Broadway, Suite 205 New York, NY 10003 212-254-8200 info@ici-exhibitions.org http://www.ici-exhibitions.org