Artists Space

The New Normal

April 26 – June 21, 2008

The New Normal brings together thirteen artworks that explore the increasing exposure of the private sphere to public view, whether voluntary or involuntary. Each of the works shown was completed after October 2001, when Vice President Cheney described new government surveillance measures after 9/11 as “the new normalcy.” At the same time, as telephones were tapped and airline passengers were searched, many of us willingly began to document and share aspects of our own lives online, for convenience or community.

Artists: Sophie Calle, Mohamed Camara, Hasan Elahi, Eyebeam R & D/ Jonah Peretti and Michael Frumin, Kota Ezawa, Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher, Guthrie Lonergan, Jill Magid, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Trevor Paglen, Corinna Schnitt, Thomson & Craighead, Sharif Waked

A bedroom scene set up in the middle of an open room. There is a beige rug, with a chrome lamp and matching bed frame. The bed has blue sheets with a dark blue comforter cover and a red blanket. There is a wooden chair facing in, and a brown table with assorted bottles on top. On the far side of the bed is a coffee machine, microwave, and television. In the background, various framed images are hung on white gallery walls.
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A bedroom scene set up in the middle of an open room. There is a beige rug, with a chrome lamp and matching bed frame. The bed has blue sheets with a dark blue comforter cover and a red blanket. There is a wooden chair facing in, and a brown table with assorted bottles on top. On the far side of the bed is a coffee machine, microwave, and television. In the background, various framed images are hung on white gallery walls.]

Opening Reception
April 25, 6 - 8 pm

Personal information has become a readily available raw material. In response to this shift, many of the artists featured in The New Normal have used other people’s private information and images—home videos, financial data, leaked documents—as the basis of their work. By doing so, they offer disconcerting glimpses into the lives of neighbors, strangers, and celebrities, while making visible the social and aesthetic conventions that lie behind these disclosures.

Other artists in the exhibition adopt self-disclosure as a strategy, one that seemingly conflicts with the need for privacy. These artists willingly reveal their own bodies, their consumer habits, and their domestic spaces. For some of them, this reflects the social desire to build intimacy; for others, it is framed as a gesture of defiance in response to the intrusiveness of surveillance.

Taken as a whole, the works in The New Normal suggest that access to private information is a currency whose circulation is growing and evolving. We may find this exchange both frightening and fascinating, but we are inescapably complicit in its perpetuation.

A white gallery wall with several components. On the floor, there is a television with a cracked screen. Above that, a protruding shelf holds several booklets. There is a framed image with white text written on a black background, in the style of subway text, with the F and J train symbols below. Next to that, there is a standing white plinth with a glass covered top, housing a single tiny object. On the far righthand side, there are three framed photographs. One is a single image of a person wearing a blue shirt divided into two frames, and the other a hand holding out a holstered gun.
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A white gallery wall with several components. On the floor, there is a television with a cracked screen. Above that, a protruding shelf holds several booklets. There is a framed image with white text written on a black background, in the style of subway text, with the F and J train symbols below. Next to that, there is a standing white plinth with a glass covered top, housing a single tiny object. On the far righthand side, there are three framed photographs. One is a single image of a person wearing a blue shirt divided into two frames, and the other a hand holding out a holstered gun.]
A bedroom scene set up in the middle of an open room. There is a beige rug, with a chrome lamp and matching bed frame. The bed has blue sheets with a dark blue comforter cover and a red blanket. There is a wooden chair facing in, and a brown table with assorted bottles on top. On the far side of the bed is a coffee machine, microwave, and television. In the background, various framed images are hung on white gallery walls.
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A bedroom scene set up in the middle of an open room. There is a beige rug, with a chrome lamp and matching bed frame. The bed has blue sheets with a dark blue comforter cover and a red blanket. There is a wooden chair facing in, and a brown table with assorted bottles on top. On the far side of the bed is a coffee machine, microwave, and television. In the background, various framed images are hung on white gallery walls.]
A gallery wall with six framed images of passport copies. On the right side of the images, a television stands on a white plinth, showing a black and white image. On the left side, wall text lists the exhibition title and artists.
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A gallery wall with six framed images of passport copies. On the right side of the images, a television stands on a white plinth, showing a black and white image. On the left side, wall text lists the exhibition title and artists.]
A bedroom scene set up in the middle of an open room, seen between two white poles. There is a beige rug, with a chrome lamp and matching bed frame. The bed has blue sheets with a dark blue comforter cover and a red blanket. There is a wooden chair facing in, and a brown table with assorted bottles on top. On the far side of the bed is a coffee machine, microwave, and television. In the background, various framed images are hung on white gallery walls.
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A bedroom scene set up in the middle of an open room, seen between two white poles. There is a beige rug, with a chrome lamp and matching bed frame. The bed has blue sheets with a dark blue comforter cover and a red blanket. There is a wooden chair facing in, and a brown table with assorted bottles on top. On the far side of the bed is a coffee machine, microwave, and television. In the background, various framed images are hung on white gallery walls.]
A room with white walls, with two windows on the back wall with shades pulled halfway down. The wall to the left of the windows has three framed photographs, and a white plinth with a glass top. In front of the windows, a television on a low table faces sideways toward a low black couch. On the far right side, a protruding corner of a wall has white text projected on it reading "cupholder mount vaio."
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A room with white walls, with two windows on the back wall with shades pulled halfway down. The wall to the left of the windows has three framed photographs, and a white plinth with a glass top. In front of the windows, a television on a low table faces sideways toward a low black couch. On the far right side, a protruding corner of a wall has white text projected on it reading "cupholder mount vaio."]
A dark room with a screen projection showing an image of a man with a partially cut out button down shirt. The sleeves and top button are intact, with the chest and torso bare except for three elastic strips spaced out spanning the torso.
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A dark room with a screen projection showing an image of a man with a partially cut out button down shirt. The sleeves and top button are intact, with the chest and torso bare except for three elastic strips spaced out spanning the torso.]
20 photographs arranged in 5 rows of 4 on a white wall. The photos show various shots taken under beds. There is descriptive wall text to the right of the photos.
The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [20 photographs arranged in 5 rows of 4 on a white wall. The photos show various shots taken under beds. There is descriptive wall text to the right of the photos.]

Coburn, Tyler. "Private Lives." Rhizome. May 8, 2008. Online.

Debatty, Regine. "The New Normal." We Make Money, Not Art. June 2, 2008. Online.

    A large screen in a dark room, showing an image of a pair of bare legs from the knees down.
    The New Normal. Installation view, Artists Space, 2008. Photo: Adam Reich. [A large screen in a dark room, showing an image of a pair of bare legs from the knees down.]