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The artists in the exhibition, Given Enough Eyeballs, explore, in varying degrees, concepts of open-access and sharing, individual versus community, and ownership and appropriation, as it relates to the idea of open source software, software that is free to use and free to be adopted any way the user sees fit.
The title of this exhibition refers to Eric S. Raymond's essay, The Cathedral and the Bazaar*, which details two different types of software engineering methods, one where source code development is restricted to a select group of developers and the other, created over the internet in full public view. In the essay, Raymond states that "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow", which he terms Linus' law and which means the more widely available the source code is for public testing, scrutiny, and experimentation, the more rapidly all forms of bugs will be discovered.
While open source is a term often applied to software, code and intellectual property under a strict set of rules, this philosophy/way of working is applicable to a wide range of objects and activities. Wikipedia, a web-based, free content encyclopedia is one of the more famous examples. This exhibition, curated by Annette Monnier, takes the idea of open source software and applies it to art and artists' practice. Using both traditional and new media, including online applications and specially created software, the artists in the show approach a problem/task, collaboratively, and find a common way to "work it out."
A.J. Bocchino (New York) uses headlines from the New York Times to create a color-coded "quick read" of news and history.
Ramsey Arnaoot (Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Institute for Advanced Study) develops software using open source tools and methods in which the final result is a program meant to be manipulated.
Yoshi Sodeoka (New York), on the web at www.c505.com, creates new artworks by mashing old ones together.
Kendall Bruns (Cincinnati), uses a podcast and You Tube channel to broadcast his projects, making something as regular as a haircut a global effort.
Joe DiGiuseppe (Philadelphia, Flux Space) investigates viewer interaction within a system.
Curated by Annette Monnier.
*Cathedral and the Bazaar is available free on the web at www.catb.org
The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery hours:
Monday-Saturday
9:00am - 5:00pm
Free to Public/Wheelchair Access |
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