ReGeneration

“ Cities bear some similarity with other complex biological systems that are sustained by resource distribution networks, such as the circulatory or vascular systems. But there also are fundamental differences that make cities uniquely human: social interactions and the concentration of economic and cultural activities in larger cities lead to an acceleration of time – and greater rates of innovation.” Santa Fe Institute

The New York Hall of Science, in conjunction with Northern Lights.mn, presents ReGeneration, a summer-long exhibition debuting in 2012 with related programming in and around NYSCI. In total, ReGeneration will engage 14 artists or artist groups in creating and presenting work that explores the connection of cultural vitality to immigration, urbanization, and sustainability through the intersection of art, technology and science.

Cultural Vitality

Systems that release energy are exothermic; processes that require external sources of energy to function are endothermic. ReGeneration is conceptually based on a metaphor in which New York City is an endothermic system that requires the continual infusion of energy in the form of immigration. In the context of ReGeneration, artists are the catalyst by which this energy is captured and used to generate a culturally vital urban environment.

Immigration

Historically, immigration has been one of New York City’s greatest sources of vitality and energy. This continues today and will help define the City’s future. NYSCI invites artists to Queens, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, to work with and draw from the surrounding communities, not just as an audience but also as active agents who co-create catalytic works of art that convert the energy of this community toward a sustainable cultural vitality.

Urbanization

The sustainability of cities is a challenge with global significance, as urbanization is among the most substantial social trends of the past half century. Policy makers and people on the street recognize that the cultural vitality of the world’s rapidly expanding cities will be a major factor in urban sustainability. ReGeneration will invite artists to explore this phenomenon not only in New York City but globally.

Sustainability

One of New York City’s great challenges is creating a sustainable system in which people (energy inputs) thrive, in which the City remains an attractive destination for new immigrants and diverse cultures are supported (dynamic outputs). By sustainability, however, we mean more than reducing energy and waste, we mean creating communities where social indicators such as education, health, and security demonstrate that people are living lives that are workable and result in a durable cultural vitality.

Art, Science and Technology

Engaging NYSCI visitors and local residents in the sustainability of their own communities requires a multi-faceted approach. The artists participating in ReGeneration will connect with this audience through active participation, aesthetic beauty, technology, culturally shared symbols and vocabulary.

Open Call for Projects

Deadline for Open Call extended to May 16.

Proposals for ReGeneration can be for gallery installations or public projects on the grounds of NYSCI or in surrounding areas for the duration of the exhibition or for one-week modules exploring a particular concept or idea. Six of the projects will be juried based on this open call, three for installations and three for workshop modules. Collaborations are encouraged but should be confirmed with a letter of support in the application. More information here.

Team

Steve Dietz, Artistic Director

Steve Dietz is a serial platform creator. He is the Founder, President, and Artistic Director of Northern.Lights.mn. He was the Founding Director of the  01SJ Biennial in 2006 and served as Artistic Director again in 2008 and 2010. He is the former Curator of New Media at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he founded the New Media Initiatives department in 1996, the online art Gallery 9 and digital art study collection.

Amanda Parkes, Assistant Curator

Amanda Parkes is a media designer, technologist & curator interested in how digital technologies and smart materials can facilitate a more intuitive connection to natural phenomena and biological systems. She currently teaches at NYU ITP and the Columbia University Department of Architecture. She is the curator and producer of Seamless, the Computational Couture runway show series and consults on high tech textiles and fashion. Amanda has developed exhibits at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the Science Museum in London and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. She holds a PhD in Tangible Media from the MIT Media lab and was named one of Mass High Tech’s ‘Women to Watch’ in technology for 2008.

Eric Siegel, Director & Chief Content Officer, NYSCI

Eric Siegel, director and chief content officer leads the education, program, exhibition development, science, and technology functions at NYSCI. He led the planning and institutional fundraising for the $92 million expansion completed in 2004, as well as directing the development of 4 major exhibitions. He directed two recently completed exhibitions ShadowPLAY and Rocket Park Mini Golf, and is leading the development of two major exhibitions that will open in 2014. Siegel has been in senior roles in art and science museums for over 25 years and has published extensively in the museum field. He is a lifelong musician who has composed music for network and cable television, and currently performs actively on guitar and piano. He teaches actively as a member of the graduate faculty of the New York University Museums Studies and Interactive Telecommunications programs.

Partners

NYSCI is New York City’s hands-on science center and a national leader in the creative use of technology and art to connect visitors with complex topics such as network science, molecular biology, evolution, and astrobiology.  ReGeneration was initiated by NYSCI as an effort to expand the vocabulary for engaging the public in contemporary science.

Northern Lights.mn is a roving, collaborative, interactive media-oriented, art agency from the Twin Cities for the world. It presents innovative art in the public sphere, both physical and virtual, focusing on artists creatively using technology, both old and new, to engender new relations between audience and artwork and more broadly between citizenry and their built environment.

Support

The Rockefeller Foundation supports work that expands opportunity and strengthens resilience to social, economic, health and environmental challenges—affirming its pioneering philanthropic mission since 1913 to promote the well-being of humanity.