Exhibition by leading environmental artist-activist Natalie Jeremijenko opens Jan. 25
Connecticut College presents xHIBITION, a show by artist, engineer and environmental activist Natalie Jeremijenko, one of the country's leading practitioners at the crossroads of speculative art, technology and the ecology, from Jan. 25 to March 4 at the Cummings Arts Center Galleries. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.– 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 – 4 p.m.
xHIBITION is a collaborative space, full of prototypes, devices, and plans for action in our shared environmental commons. Projects range from waste-powered, tree-based cloud storage, to hacked, contaminant-sensing robotic dogs, from a suspended urban farm to zipline-based rapid transit and more. All of these are conceived as propositional, open “prescriptions” from Natalie Jeremijenko’s xDesign Environmental Health Clinic at NYU, where she is director. Together, the projects outline a collaborative plan harnessing existing human expertise and structural resources on campus to radically reimagine and redesign public infrastructure.
The exhibition is a component of the College’s Ammerman Center for Arts & Technology 15th biennial arts and technology symposium, “Open All Ports,” which will take place from Feb. 25 - 27. The symposium brings artists and researchers together to share ideas and present new works, research and performances, all addressing one or more forms of fusion between technology and the arts.
xHIBITION is an invitation for the college to take on a role of intellectual leadership in addressing what Jeremijenko calls the “space race of the 21st century,” redesigning our relationship to natural systems to improve human and environmental health, said Andrea Wollensak, director of the Ammerman Center.
Jeremijenko will also give an artist's talk and keynote address at the symposium on Feb. 26 at 9:30 a.m. in Evans Hall.
One of America's brightest digital pioneers, Natalie Jeremijenko has been named one of the Top 100 young innovators by the MIT Technology Review, and one of the Top 40 most influential designers by I.D. Magazine. She now directs the xDesign Environmental Health Clinic at NYU, and is the former Director of Yale's Engineering Design Studio. Her experimental design—hence xDesign—explores the opportunities new technologies present for social change. It centers on structures of participation in the production of knowledge, information, and the political and social possibilities—and limitations—of information and emerging technologies. Much of it involves biochemistry, physics, neuroscience and precision engineering, and almost all of it is carried out through public experiments.
Connecticut College’s Ammerman Center for Arts & Technology will hold the 15th biennial arts and technology symposium, “Open All Ports,” from Feb. 25 - 27. The symposium brings artists and researchers together to share ideas and present new works, research and performances, all addressing one or more forms of fusion between technology and the arts. Featured events include new works commissioned by the Ammerman Center, paper presentations, panels, interactive installations at the Hygienic Art Gallery, Experimental Music Performance at the Spark Makerspace, multimedia concerts, and live media performances.
The Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology gathers faculty and students who study and contribute to the symbiotic relationship between technology and the arts. Through interdisciplinary collaborations and individual work, students and faculty not only promote proficiency in working with technology, but also deepen the understanding of the meaning and role of technology within the larger context of the liberal arts.
January 22, 2016