Lots going on at Rhizome HQ these days! See below for some of our upcoming programs.

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▶ New Silent Series - Digital Folklore: A Conversation with Olia Lialina and Dragan Espenschied
Friday, April 15th 2011 at 7pm at the New Museum

How is folk culture defined in the digital age? This is the question that renowned artists Olia Lialina and Dragan Espenschied set out to answer in their new book, Digital Folklore (2010), an anthology that examines an emergent kind of amateur, popular art: the kind made by computer users. The artists write: “Users’ endeavors, like glittering star backgrounds, kittens, and rainbow gradients, are mostly derided as kitsch or in the most extreme cases, postulated as the end of culture itself. In fact this evolving vernacular, created by users for users, is the most important, beautiful and misunderstood language of new media.” At this talk, part of the monthly New Silent Series, Lialina and Espenschied will present their groundbreaking book, and their new definition of contemporary folk art.

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▶ Rhizome's 15th Anniversary Benefit
Thursday, April 21st 2011 at the New Museum. 7pm VIP cocktails, 9pm Afterparty

Join us for Rhizome's 15th Anniversary Benefit on April 21st in the New Museum Skyroom. This year we're honoring our founder Mark Tribe. Get tickets here!

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▶ Rhizome Commissions 2011
Deadline: May 1, 2011

Founded in 2001, the goal of the Rhizome Commissions Program is to support emerging artists by providing grants for the creation of significant works of new media art. By new media art, we mean projects that creatively engage new and networked technologies and works that reflect on the broader social and political impact of these tools and media in a variety of forms. Rhizome defines emerging artist as artists who exhibit great potential yet are not fully recognized within their field. Commissioned works can take the final form of web-based works, works that engage mobile platforms, performance, video, installation or sound art. Projects can be made for the context of the gallery, the public, the web or networked devices. Rhizome Commissions awards generally range from $1,000 to $5,000.

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▶ Seven on Seven
May 14, 2011 at the New Museum

Presented by AOL, Seven on Seven is a major conference that pairs seven leading artists with seven game-changing technologists in teams of two, and challenges them to develop something new --be it an application, social media, artwork, product, or whatever they imagine-- over the course of a single day. The seven teams will work together at locations around the New York City on May 13th, 2011, and unveil their ideas at a one-day event at the New Museum on May 14, 2011. Seven on Seven is organized by Rhizome.

This year's participants are:

ARTISTS:
Michael Bell-Smith
Ricardo Cabello (mr.doob)
Cao Fei
Liz Magic Laser
Zach Lieberman
Rashaad Newsome
Camille Utterback

TECHNOLOGISTS:
Andy Baio
Ben Cerveny
Jeri Ellsworth
Kellan Elliott-McCrea
Bre Pettis
Chris Poole (moot)
Erica Sadun