Automatic Update
June 27 – September 3, 2007
Organized by Barbara London,
Associate Curator, Department of Media
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019-5497
Tel: (212) 708-9431
www.moma.org
Automatic Update features work drawn from technology of the last decade. Employing computers, LCD screens, DVD players, digital video, and user-activated components, works reflect contemporary artists trying their hands at a range of newly invented art forms. Cory Arcangel, Xu Bing, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, and Paul Pfeiffer make comical and sometimes absurd use of recent technologies while offering lighthearted critiques of today’s society.
In the 1990s, artists worked in a range of newly invented art forms, often switching from analog to digital equipment as the technology evolved. They built interactive installations and electronic publishing networks, and they made art for the Internet. Technology advanced so quickly that in some cases the platform upon which an art form depended would disappear while a work was being made. By the year 2000, this quasi-revolutionary aura had dissipated, and media art had settled into the mainstream.
Ms. London says, “The wildness of the dot-com era infused media art with a heady energy. Automatic Update is about the vision of art drawn from technology of the last decade. The show features the work of hackers, programmers, and tinkerer-revisionists from North America, Europe, and Asia.”
The exhibition is on view from June 27 through September 3, 2007, in The Yoshiko and Akio Morita Gallery on the second floor, and is accompanied by a series of related films and videos that will be screened in The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters from July 7 through September 2, 2007.
EXHIBITION WEB SITE:
Visit www.moma.org/automaticupdate for descriptions of works in the exhibition, interviews with the artists, and information about the film program. Designed by Matt Owens of Volumeone, New York, the site also links to an Automatic Update page at del.icio.us/Automatic_Update where visitors may view and share bookmarks pertaining to the show.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS:
Films and Videos for Automatic Update
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, The Museum of Modern Art
July 7 – September 2, 2007
Video artists and film directors, including Laurie Anderson, Pierre Huyghe, Miranda July, Pipilotti Rist, David Cronenberg and Darren Aronofsky, tackle issues of media and technology in the works in this ongoing screening program. Organized by Barbara London with Hanne Mugaas.
For a complete screening schedule, visit MoMA’s Web site at:
www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?id=5228&ref=calendar
PopRally: Paper Rad
The Museum of Modern Art
July 24, 8:00 – 11:00 p.m.
PopRally–a program of events at MoMA and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center for young New Yorkers–presents an evening of live performances, art, and music with Paper Rad, featuring Cory Arcangel. Paper Rad (Jessica Ciocci, Jacob Ciocci, and Ben Jones) playfully combines found TV and Internet footage with original animations, creating utopian, rainbow-filled environments that elicit nostalgia for the throwaway technology and images permeating the last two decades.
Tickets for this event will be available two weeks in advance. Guests will be invited to a special after-hours viewing of the exhibition. For more information or to join the PopRally mailing list, visit moma.org/calendar/poprally
For press inquiries, please contact Meg Blackburn at 212/708-9757 or at meg_blackburn@moma.org
