About Eyebeam Research Groups

14 members

Education and participation have always been at the heart of Eyebeam programming. Building on the work of our Education Lab (active from 1997 to 2006) we continue to favor participation over skills based learning and integrate education into most of what we do.

Education covers areas as diverse as our cornerstone Youth Programs to Skillshare programs for the public as well as internally among our residents, fellows and staff, and results in the diversity of projects and programs.

4 members (4)

The Game Design Research Group is a examines the what and why of Game Design through critical discussion, collaborations, presentation of works in progress, and public events.

5 members

Building on the work of the Open Lab and its predecessor the R&D Lab, the Open Culture Research Group explores the history of craft traditions, free software, open source, creative commons, and other models of shared, open culture.  

Part of an Open Culture is the culture of sharing, so we have organized a series of skillshares about a range of issues: From how to share your wifi safely, to how to best advocate for open licensing among artists and visual makers. There is also a distinct interest in understanding the possible interaction between open licenses and forms of distribution, be that an art gallery, a furniture manufacturer, or a type foundry.

One of our current research threads focuses on design methodologies toward social change and critical intervention. Follow the Open Culture research blog as it develops.

5 members (5)

As part of X-Lab, Eyebeam Resident Tahir Hemphill has organized a Rap Research Group. The group - made up of enthusiasts, historians, creative technologists, cultural critics, linguists, teachers, MC's and academics - will meet to discuss various topics.

The Research Group will meet every other Wednesday at 7PM beginning December 1.

• December 1: Masculinity w/ Sam Han - On the Looming Crisis of Masculinity in Hip Hop…and why it’s a good thing [http://is.gd/h5u8V]
• December 15: Religion w/ Reverend Sekou - Is Hip-Hop Just a Euphemism for a New Religion?
• December 29: Migratory Aesthetics w/ Zuhirah Khaldun - The Blueprint: A Working Model for International Hip-Hop
• January 12: Cultural Analysis w/ Tahir Hemphill - The (Im)possibility of Quantifying Art & Metaphor in Rap
• January 26: Feminism. TBD

2 members

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2 members

The Sound Research Group is a working group to focus on the what and why of sound art through critical discussion, collaborations, presentation of works in progress, and public events. 

33 members

The Eyebeam Sustainability Research Group - Food in the City is comprised of individuals from within the Eyebeam family as well as creative practioners from in around New York City.  The immediate goal is to propose a better understanding of what our Food System IS rather than what is WAS or COULD BE.

The motivations include:

•Reclamation of the term "sustainable" from mainstream media and corporate culture outlets where it's been exploited, diminished and twisted far away from its original definition and intention.

•Widening of the discussion of our Food Systems to include environmental issues such as fracking, water sources, soil contamination, global warming, Superfund sites, animal cruelty and labor (immigrant) exploitation.

•Inclusion of artists, designers, technologists, scientists, biologists, engineers, farmers, food producers, journalists and academics to broaden the discourse and hopefully move toward some valuable and applicable models of discussion and action in a variety of different forms.

•Development of new terms and platforms that help to negotiate, explain and improve upon our very fucked up Food System and all the attendant problems that branch out from it.  But also to widen the dialogue to include people beyond those who are privileged and in the "know" and can't afford the time or the money it takes to negotiate this incredibly obfuscated, misleading and confusing landscape.

Possible Outcomes:

•An unconference  that demonstrates the kind of work (both scholarly and practice based) that is already being done by members of the group as well as research group outcomes.   

•Workshop models that can be taken "on the road"  as a way of testing out the research outcomes of the group. Use the workshop models as a continuing legacy for the group  to maintain a presence as well as keep the dialogue current and "alive".

•An exhibition that explicitly addresses these issues in an innovative and non-mimetic fashion.

Plan of Action:

•Meetings every three weeks to  initially carve out the group of committed individuals, determine specific goals, devise a schedule and appointment of duties to fulfill the goals in the most timely and efficient manner possible.

•Commit to a shared, ongoing reading list of articles and / or essays that will inform and inspire the meetings as well as form the explicit and articulated goals of the  group.

7 members (1)

9 members