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Collection by Miyoko Ohtake

01SJ Biennial: Build Your Own World

This past weekend marked the third 01SJ Biennial, held in San Jose, California. "The Silicon Valley is such a capitol of innovation, technology, and people thinking creatively that we wanted to create a festival highlighting that intersection of art and technology," says Jaime Austin, the festival's assistant curator. Exhibits, sculptures, and performances took over venues across the city but the center of it all was in the San Jose Convention Center's South Hall. This year's theme, Build Your Own World, lead to the naming of the hall's title: Out of the Garage, Into the World. "We tried to make the world's largest garage," Austin says "because so many Silicon Valley companies started in garages." Over 30 artists moved into the space on September 4, preparing their creations (fully while on view to the public) before the biennial began on September 16. "The goal is to have people engage with the projects," Austin says.

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The "Flinestonification of the office," as Nowacek calls it, requires "crawling, scrambling, kneeling, and readjusting." As a result, she and her staff--who worked on the pile of dirt for the full two weeks--found that moving around throughout the day and being engaged in their activities and space meant they made and needed coffee far less often than when working in their office.
The "Flinestonification of the office," as Nowacek calls it, requires "crawling, scrambling, kneeling, and readjusting." As a result, she and her staff--who worked on the pile of dirt for the full two weeks--found that moving around throughout the day and being engaged in their activities and space meant they made and needed coffee far less often than when working in their office.
All Raise This Barn, West, a project by MTAA, proposes how to build a community when a quintessential community-building event--barn raising--no longer occurs. Here, the artists polled people online to decide how the barn would be built, asking what color it should be and even "Should this barn be a barn?".
All Raise This Barn, West, a project by MTAA, proposes how to build a community when a quintessential community-building event--barn raising--no longer occurs. Here, the artists polled people online to decide how the barn would be built, asking what color it should be and even "Should this barn be a barn?".
TechShop, Inc built a temporary workspace in the center of the South Hall to provide artists the tools needed to build their exhibits. TechShop is a member-based workshop with locations in Menlo Park, California, and Durham, North Carolina, with shops opening in Detroit, Michigan, and San Francisco and San Jose, California.
TechShop, Inc built a temporary workspace in the center of the South Hall to provide artists the tools needed to build their exhibits. TechShop is a member-based workshop with locations in Menlo Park, California, and Durham, North Carolina, with shops opening in Detroit, Michigan, and San Francisco and San Jose, California.
Mexican artist collective DreamAddictive, founded by Leslie Garcia and Carmen Gonzalez, created OpenSolarCircuits for the biennial. Powered by solar energy, each box produces a different sound, that changes when one moves closer to or further from the sensor.
Mexican artist collective DreamAddictive, founded by Leslie Garcia and Carmen Gonzalez, created OpenSolarCircuits for the biennial. Powered by solar energy, each box produces a different sound, that changes when one moves closer to or further from the sensor.
The project encourages "social interactions," Garcia says, "because you have to control the piece in a group."
The project encourages "social interactions," Garcia says, "because you have to control the piece in a group."
Examining the ways in which art and technology intersect, Victoria Scott and Scott Kildall created the Gift Horse: a 13-foot-tall Trojan Horse filled with models of Trojan Horse computer viruses.
Examining the ways in which art and technology intersect, Victoria Scott and Scott Kildall created the Gift Horse: a 13-foot-tall Trojan Horse filled with models of Trojan Horse computer viruses.
Visitors were encouraged to create models of computer viruses such as the ILOVEYOU virus or Koobface Facebook virus, as well as physical illnesses such as smallpox or H1N1. The Gift Horse was filled with the models, paraded to the San Jose Museum of Art, and had its belly split open, allowing the viruses to spill to the floor, for public exhibition.
Visitors were encouraged to create models of computer viruses such as the ILOVEYOU virus or Koobface Facebook virus, as well as physical illnesses such as smallpox or H1N1. The Gift Horse was filled with the models, paraded to the San Jose Museum of Art, and had its belly split open, allowing the viruses to spill to the floor, for public exhibition.
In Name Your Price, artists from the University of California, Santa Cruz' Digital Arts and New Media program asked visitors what influenced their clothing decisions and showed ways to reuse garments, such as cutting sweaters into lengths and weaving them into a rug, as shown here.
In Name Your Price, artists from the University of California, Santa Cruz' Digital Arts and New Media program asked visitors what influenced their clothing decisions and showed ways to reuse garments, such as cutting sweaters into lengths and weaving them into a rug, as shown here.
At the far end of South Hall, Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark created the Empire Drive-In. The duo built a functioning movie theater using entirely salvaged materials, from the 25 cars from a junk yard (wired so sound came through the FM radios) to the wood used to hold up the screen. Throughout the festival, it served as the theater for daytime screenings and evening events.
At the far end of South Hall, Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark created the Empire Drive-In. The duo built a functioning movie theater using entirely salvaged materials, from the 25 cars from a junk yard (wired so sound came through the FM radios) to the wood used to hold up the screen. Throughout the festival, it served as the theater for daytime screenings and evening events.
In 2006, Monica Haller created the War Veteran's Book Workshop to help those affected by the Iraq War share their stories. Over the course of ten days at the biennial, she worked with five veterans to create five soft-bound, print-on-demand memoirs.
In 2006, Monica Haller created the War Veteran's Book Workshop to help those affected by the Iraq War share their stories. Over the course of ten days at the biennial, she worked with five veterans to create five soft-bound, print-on-demand memoirs.
During the main weekend, Haller opened the pages of the books and the process of making a War Veteran's Book in a small library she created in the South Hall.
During the main weekend, Haller opened the pages of the books and the process of making a War Veteran's Book in a small library she created in the South Hall.
Artist Nova Jiang created Archipelago, a series of "mobile desert islands" (they can all be ridden around by the hidden bikes underneath). Jiang invited visitors to ask a question on a piece of paper, put it into a recycled bottle, and slip it into a hole in each island. Each paper was marked with an ID code for the writer to enter at urban-archipelago.net to retrieve answers from the site's readers.
Artist Nova Jiang created Archipelago, a series of "mobile desert islands" (they can all be ridden around by the hidden bikes underneath). Jiang invited visitors to ask a question on a piece of paper, put it into a recycled bottle, and slip it into a hole in each island. Each paper was marked with an ID code for the writer to enter at urban-archipelago.net to retrieve answers from the site's readers.
For solarCircus, Tiffany Holmes invited attendees to participate in workshops in which they were encouraged to hack solar-powered hobby kits to "make a miniature kinetic city," she says. "The goal is to promote environmental stewardship.
For solarCircus, Tiffany Holmes invited attendees to participate in workshops in which they were encouraged to hack solar-powered hobby kits to "make a miniature kinetic city," she says. "The goal is to promote environmental stewardship.
During the weekend parade, Holmes carted around the mini solar city on a wagon, letting the little creations whiz and flap behind her.
During the weekend parade, Holmes carted around the mini solar city on a wagon, letting the little creations whiz and flap behind her.