The Institute Infinitely Small Things
Recent performances and exhibitions at Western Front, Vancouver, Canada; De Stadsgalerij Heerlen, Heerlen, Netherlands; Gallery 400, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; PURE: Art, Medicine, Technology, Allston, MA; Transmodern Age Festival, Baltimore, MD; Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA; ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany; Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, MA; Space 200, Boston Cyberarts Festival, Boston, MA; Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Center, Toronto, Canada; DCKT Contemporary, New York, NY; and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA.
As a performance collective The Institute for Infinitely Small Things investigates the nature of public space through a mixture of pseudo-social research and street theater. Dressed in white lab coats, they conduct their “research” throughout such public arenas as streets, museums, and parks in an effort to intervene in the operations of everyday life. These often absurdist performances are designed to make visible the “infinitely small” or unnoticed corporate or political agendas at work in our daily lives.
Few events in recent history have affected public spaces more so than the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 . While an uncontested tragic event, the attacks also ushered in a culture of fear and anxiety. Regular security checks, blockaded open plazas, and racial profiling have permeated our public lives to sometimes unquestioned degrees. To underscore and chart this cultural shift, Institute members, carrying oversized “unmarked packages,” talked to residents on the streets of Chicago about their feelings towards national security. Meanwhile, their interactive publication, The New American Dictionary is a collection of over 50 terms that have emerged in the past seven years. The meaning of words like Islamofascist and Freedom Fries are left open for the viewer to define, highlighting the manipulation of language in a post-9/11 security culture.
-Dina Deitsch, Assistant Curator
_________________________________________________________________
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things conducts creative, participatory research that aims to temporarily transform public spaces dominated by corporate and political agendas. Using performance and conversation, we investigate social and political "tiny things." These have included corporate ads, street names, and post-9/11 security terminology. The Institute markets dissent through its research reports in the form of maps, books and videos. This interdisciplinary group has a varied and open membership which ranges from 5 - 20 members at any given time. Our members include artists, accountants, landscape architects, programmers, filmmakers, MBAs, hula hoopers and historians.
The Institute includes or has included: Adriana Rios, Amber Day, Anna Lovecchio, Catherine D’Ignazio, David Raymond, Heather Ring, Heloisa Escudero, Jaimes Mayhew, James Bailey, James Manning, Julia Scher, Katharine Urbati, Lindsay Kelley, Lucky Leone, Matilda Sabal, Max Sabal, Mike Hall, Nathaniel Katz, Nicole Siggins, Rachelle Beaudoin, Ranbir Sidhu, Rob Sabal, Savić Rasović, Shannon Coyle, Toby Kim Lee, and Yoritaka Sakakura.
-The Institute for Infinitely Small Things
Image: The Institute for Infinitely Small Things, The New American Dictionary, 2006, 50 books, 9" x 6" (each), Lent by Artist
Gallery Performance:Everything is in Order
DeCordova Annual artists The Institute for Infinitely Small Things will perform this work
Museum Galleries, 12 – 2 pm
Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, June 15
Free with Campus admission
