Nothing Happens: a performance in 3 acts

Nothing Happens, a project by Nurit Bar-Shai + Rich Miller, Yishay Schwerd and Zach Lieberman, is a networked online performance in three acts. In this event viewer's clicks effect a cardboard box to move in small increments across a shelf. This advances the scene forward until the box tips over. When this happens, the performance is over.
In addition, each change is recorded as a snapshot-image, creating not only an archive of the work, but a collective creative result: a stop-motion-animation sequence, in which viewers can browse through the entire history of the performance both during it and after its conclusion. [+info]


Act 1 [box] will be performed live from New York
as part of The 2007 [11th] Japan Media Arts Festival at The National Art Center, Tokyo
from February 6 - February 17, 2008
The work can be seen and interacted with online at: turbulence.org/Works/nothingHappens

Please join us for the opening, Tuesday, February 5, 2008 3:00 pm [Tokyo]
New York (1:00 am) | London (8:00 am) | Tel-Aviv (10:00 am)
and make it happen!



Artist Bios:

Nurit Bar-Shai main interest lies in exploring tensions between the mundane and the uncanny in everyday life. Emanating from her profound creative roots in fine arts, Bar-Shai employs video and new technologies to explore fundamental questions of presentation and representation, to reframe the familiar and turn audiences into foreigners in their own ontological domains. http://nuritbarshai.com

Rich Miller is a sculptor and a recent graduate of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. His creative energies are focused on making electro-mechanical pieces that humor him, as well as designing and fabricating innovative and dynamic children's museum interactives and furniture. He lives and works in Astoria, NY.

Yishay Schwerd is a software engineer who specializes in communication, telephony and internet. Co-founder and VP R&D of MuseStorm, which provides an advanced content syndication service for publishers, content owners and media companies, enabling them to distribute their content in new and exciting ways. Yishay is located at Tel-Aviv, Israel. http://www.musestorm.com

Zachary Lieberman's work uses technology in a playful and enigmatic way to explore the nature of communication and the delicate boundary between the visible and the invisible. He creates performances, installations, and on-line works that investigate gestural input, augmentation of the body, and kinetic response. http://thesystemis.com/


Credits:

Nothing Happens, a performance in three acts, is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with funding from The Greenwall Foundation.
With the support of The Japan Media Arts Festival Executive Committee (Agency for Cultural Affairs / The National Art Center, Tokyo / CG-ARTS Society)

Nothing Happens would like to thank: Helen Thorington, Jo-Anne Green, Machiko Kusahara, Maiko Wakui, Maya Nago, and all the The Japan Media Arts Festival team!, to Yoni Maron, the Schwerd's, M&P.BS! and to all the dear people who did their best to help find support for this event!


Additional Credits:

Nothing Happens was previously performed on September 6th - October 14, 2007
at the OK Center, as part of the CyberArts 2007, Prix Ars Electonica Exhibition with funding from the OK Center, Ars Electonica and the Israeli Cultural Foreign Ministry.

And on October 15th - November 4th, 2006 at 3rd Ward Gallery with the generous support of the Interactive Telecommunication Program, New York University and 3rd Ward Gallery.

Nothing Happens would also like to deeply thank:
Aviva, Micha, Iddo & Itai, Maria Richa & Marisol, Riquita, Ori & Noam, Robert Schmitz-Michels, Aleksey Vaynshteyn from flashnifties.com, Martina Rauschmayer, Dagmar Schink, Martin Sturm, Georg Seyfried, Florian Keclik, Franz Quirchtmayr and all the OK Center production team(!) Helen Thorington, Jo-Anne Green, John Schimmel, Yossi Blatt, Angela Gnagni, Gilad Lotan, Samuel Herzlinger, Dana Orland, Jeremy Lovitt, Jason Goodman and Arielle Fenton for making this happen. With special thanks to: M&P.BS and Wolfgang Holler for their dedicated help and support for the Sept. 2007 performance!

Helen Thorington, Jo-Anne Green, Dana Orland, Jeremy Lovitt, Jason Goodman, Daniel Vera, Golan Moati, John Schimmel, Tom Igoe, Clay Shirky, Red Burns, Tirtza Even, Shawn Van Every, Rolf Levenbach, Gary Schober, ITP community and Noa Turel(!) for the Oct. 2006 performance!