DATA AS A CREATIVE VISUAL MEDIUM

Jeff Thompson, Moderator

Panelists: Louisa Armbrust, Tali Hinkis, Siebren Versteeg and Ben Rubin

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2009, 7PM, FREE

HARVESTWORKS DIGITAL MEDIA ARTS CENTER

596 Broadway #602 New York City (at Houston St)

Subway: F/V Broadway/Lafayette, 6 Bleecker, W/R Prince

Harvestworks is pleased to present a special panel discussion that explores the idea of using data as source, material, and inspiration for visual artists. Moderated by Jeff Thompson, the four participating artists, Louisa Armbrust, Tali Hinkis, Siebren Versteeg and Ben Rubin will explore questions about possible trajectories and problems arising from working with data. Of special interest is a second-wave of new media work that is less concerned with a novel visual presentation of data than with a sympathetic way of working that can manifest itself in software, sculpture, prints, quilting, painting, and other media. Each panelist will present their work followed by a question and answer period with the audience.

Jeff Thompson has exhibited and performed his work internationally, most recently at Hunter College, The Weisman Art Museum, White Box Gallery, and Museo Arte Contemporaneo in Argentina. Thompson was awarded the Van Lier Fellowship from Harvestworks in 2008 and is also the co-founder of the Texas Firehouse, an alternative gallery space in Long Island City. He received his MFA from Rutgers University.

Louisa Armbrust makes art about play. Her projects explore the limits of rules and the line between freedom and authority embodied in games and sports. Awards include a full fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center, 2005 Biennial Blow Out Denver, and Honorable Mention at the Rocky Mountain Biennial 2004. Her work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver, the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Studio Aiello Gallery, and Singer Gallery, Denver.

Tali Hinkis is a member of the interdisciplinary artist duo LoVid. LoVid has performed widely at venues including MoMA, PS1, The Kitchen, Roulette, Aurora Picture Show, NY Underground Film Festival, and FACT. LoVid has exhibited installations, videos, and media objects in venues such as The Jewish Museum, The Neuberger Museum, The Butler Institute of American Art, Exit Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, Institute of Contemporary Art (London), and Science Gallery (Ireland).

Siebren Versteeg‘s practice includes interactive paintings, digital prints and sculptures that dissect the interactions of media, intention, and indeterminacy. Versteeg has shown his work internationally including solo exhibitions at the Art Institute of Boston, Max Protetch, Bellwether, and the Wexner Center for the Arts and group exhibitions at the Hirshhorn Museum, Fabric Workshop, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Ben Rubin is a media artist based in New York City. He has been a frequent collaborator with artists and performers including Laurie Anderson, Diller+Scofidio, Ann Hamilton, Arto Lindsay, Steve Reich, and Beryl Korot. Rubin’s installation Listening Post (2002, with statistician Mark Hansen) won the 2004 Golden Nica Prize from Ars Electronica as well as a Webby award in 2003. Mr. Rubin received a B.A. from Brown University in 1987 and an M.S. in visual studies from the MIT Media Lab in 1989. Mr. Rubin teaches at the Yale School of Art, where he was appointed critic in graphic design in 2004.

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Harvestworks is a non-profit arts center in Lower Manhattan. Private funding for our programs has been provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Mary Flagler Charitable Trust, the New York State Music Fund, the James E. Robison Foundation, New York Community Trust, the Carnegie Corporation, the Aaron Copland Fund, the Greenwall Foundation, the Edwards Foundation Arts Fund, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Materials for the Arts, the Experimental TV Center and mediaThe foundation Inc. Public Support is provided by New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs. Thanks to our Friends Circle, Cycling74, Digidesign, Inc. and NHT Pro.