Tourists and Travelers: New commissioned works by artists Taeyoon Choi and Joseph DeLappe :: June 21 - July 19, 2008 :: Opening Reception: June 21; 6 pm (Also on June 21: Eyebeam’s annual Open Studios, 3-6 PM) :: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St. (btw 10th and 11th Aves.)

Tourists and Travelers features an unlikely pair of projects that reflect the artists’ interests in journeys across real and virtual spaces: a Second Life avatar modeled on Mahatma Gandhi and a tourist-chasing, robotic duck. Choi, from Seoul, Korea, and DeLappe, from Reno, Nevada, both traveled to New York City for their residencies as recipients of Eyebeam’s inaugural Commission for Resident Artists.

Taeyoon Choi’s electro-mechanical bird Camerautomata Charlie: Image Digesting Robotic Duck is unleashed in tourist-heavy habitats, such as New York City’s Central Park, to roam and snap-and then defecate-photos of its own. Born of a hacked digital camera, printer and vacuum cleaner, Camerautomata Charlie and its flock will be on display at Eyebeam alongside digital prints, drawings, and video documentation of interventions in public spaces.

Joseph DeLappe will present documentation, artifacts and new works derived from The Salt Satyagraha Online-Gandhi’s Salt March in Second Life, his 240-mile reenactment of the walk in real life and in cyberspace. Over the course of 26 days in the spring of 2008, DeLappe walked the entire distance on a customized treadmill at Eyebeam, which was programmed to control his online Gandhi avatar in Second Life. A centerpiece of the Tourist and Travelers exhibition is a monumental cardboard replica-the same height, in fact, as Michelangelo’s sculpture of David-created from a 3-D model of the Gandhi avatar. Large format prints, stop-action animations, and video from the performance piece will also be on view.

On June 21 Eyebeam will also hold its annual Open Studios, from 3-6PM. During Open Studios, Eyebeam resident and fellow artists welcome the public into their working environments and showcase recent projects. Artists participating in the 2008 Open Studios include: Ayah Bdeir, Jeff Crouse, Geraldine Juarez, David Jimison, Friedrich Kirschner, Steve Lambert, Zachary Lieberman, JooYoun Paek, Dan Torop, Addie Wagenknecht, Joe Winter and Eyebeam student residents Tahj Banks and Glenroy Moore.

Documentation and projects by Jamie Allen, Jessica Banks, Michael Mandiberg and Andrew Paterson will also be on view.

Eyebeam’s programs for artists and technologists support the creative research, production and presentation of initiatives that query art, technology and culture. The Commission for Resident Artists is a period of concentration and immersion in artistic investigation, daring research or experimental production of visionary expression, applications and projects. The 2008 Commission, underwritten by Dewar’s, was awarded to one American and one international artist; the award included a stipend as well as additional support for travel and accommodation.

Founded in 1997, Eyebeam is an art and technology center that provides a fertile context and state-of-the-art tools for digital experimentation. It is a lively incubator of creativity and thought, where artists and technologists actively engage with the larger culture, addressing the issues and concerns of our time. Eyebeam challenges convention, celebrates the hack, educates the next generation, encourages collaboration, freely offers its output to the community, and invites the public to share in a spirit of openness: open source, open content and open distribution.

Eyebeam’s current programs are made possible through the generous support of The Atlantic Foundation, The Pacific Foundation, the Johnson Art and Education Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, Dewar’s, Deep Green Living, ConEdison, Datagram, Electric Artists Inc.; public funds from New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and many generous individuals.

Location: 540 W. 21st Street between 10th & 11th Avenues
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm
Bookstore: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm
Admission: All events are free to the public with a suggested donation unless otherwise noted.