Coinciding with the exhibition Land Art for a New Generation, which opens at Showroom MAMA on June 17, 2011, artist Aram Bartholl will give a "Dead Drops" master class in Rotterdam on June 29. The master class is a collaboration between MAMA and V2_, and part of an online residency partnership between Showroom Mama and Kunstverein Hamburg. See www.onlineresidency.com.
The term "Dead drops" refers to places where spies leave information behind to be picked up by others; a method often used among spies during the Cold War. In Aram Bartholl's version of the dead drop, USB memory sticks are installed in public locations for anyone to upload or download information. By doing so, an anonymous, offline, peer-to-peer network for the exchange of digital information is created. More information about the project and current Dead Drop locations is available at www.deaddrops.com.
Aram Bartholl (b. Bremen, 1972) studied architecture at Berlin University of the Arts, graduating in 2001 with the final project Bits on Location. His interests include the debates around copyright and developments on the Internet. For several years, he's been collecting impressions related to topics including street art and privacy on his blog. His art concerns the relationship between the digital and the physical and investigates the degree to which the digital is woven into our everyday lives.
Master class
Aram Bartholl will open the master class with a presentation on the Dead Drops project, followed by a discussion with the participants. Subsequently, participants will divide into small groups to make their own Dead Drops, motivating their designs in short presentations. The Dead Drops will then be installed in the public space of Rotterdam.
Interested?
The master class will take place at V2_ (Eendrachtsstraat 10, Rotterdam) on June 29, starting at 10h, and includes a small lunch. The fee for participation is €10. Capacity is limited to the first 20 participants signing up. To sign up, please email Susan Callaars your name, address, email address and telephone number. susan [at] showroommama.nl