Touring Eyebeam

This August, I was fortunate enough to have a paid flight to Massachusetts AND place to stay (thanks to Ben Sheldon!) for the recent NAMAC Conference - which was a blast!  Thanks NAMAC!   While in Boston, I also decided to visit New York for friends and research for We Operate Best Together. 

On first arrival to New York, I stopped in to visit and get a tour of the lovely Eyebeam space in Chelsea.  I had a great 'after-hours' tour from Emma Lloyd, Director of Technology at Eyebeam.  Not only does she handle and structure all technical software and hardware support for the 18,000 square foot facility, she also manages all technical needs for their fablab AND their woodshop - from one technologist to another, my hats off to her! I got to see some of the amazing workspaces and interview Emma on some of the way Eyebeam works.

I was particularly interested in their highly-competitive artist residencies and fellowships.  Key things Eyebeam looks for in recruiting artists for their space are:

1. Newness: is this a new and upcoming artist?  How far along are they in their career?  Is there a need for them to develop their art?
2. Ability to contribute: as Eyebeam is pretty communal, reviewers ask: How will this artist be able to 'give back' to Eyebeam?  You could be an amazing artist, but having something to give back to Eyebeam (teaching, workshops, volunteering) boosts reviewers' confidence in selecting you.

Residencies and Fellowships
Another part of being a resident or fellow at Eyebeam is in the very 'open' nature of one's work there.  While applicants can outline a project they hope to finish while having access to Eyebeam's space, veering away from one's original project is allowable and sometimes, even encouraged - particularly if an impromptu collaboration with another Eyebeam artist is part of the new direction.  To see a space that supports these tenets is inspiring.

Here's a bit more about Eyebeam, taken straight off their site:

Mission

Eyebeam is an art and technology center that provides a fertile context and state-of-the-art tools for digital research and experimentation. It is a lively incubator of creativity and thought, where artists and technologists actively engage with culture, addressing the issues and concerns of our time. Eyebeam challenges convention, celebrates the hack, educates the next generation, encourages collaboration, freely offers its contributions to the community, and invites the public to share in a spirit of openness: open source, open content and open distribution.

Atelier

The atelier model is fundamental to the concept of Eyebeam. The studio/workspace environment, in which the energies of artistic production, education and curatorial practice fuse, provides a unique, stimulating and vital working context for creating art. This tremendous energy, along with the dialogue exchanged between curators, artists and students of various practices and stages of development, can inform and inspire the creation of artworks that may not previously have been imagined or produced.

And feel free to say hi to Emma on Twitter here: @nydakini