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Nov. 29, 2006 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT‘eBayaday’: U-M curators transform auction Web site into art galleryANN ARBOR, Mich.—Exploring the relationship between art and commerce, three curators at the University of Michigan have found a way to transform one of the most popular Internet destinations into an unusual, yet timely venue for art. "eBayaday," a provocative exhibit that combines conceptual art, humor and plenty of questions about communications in the information age, is a month-long serial exhibit, beginning 9 a.m. Dec. 1. Each day, an artist's work will be featured on the Web site. The artist-generated auctions test the limits of the eBay marketplace as a site for the exchange of goods and money—at times, offering the opportunity for reflection, an unexpected conversation, a moment of beauty, or a re-examination of how things are and should be valued. The exhibition is curated by U-M School of Art & Design associate professor Rebekah Modrak, Art & Design graduate student Zack Denfeld and U-M-Dearborn, School of Management, associate professor Aaron Ahuvia. Other artists have used eBay for exhibitions, but eBayaday may be the first exhibition curated specifically for the site, and the first with its own Web site: www.ebayaday.com The concept for the exhibit began when Modrak challenged students in her Artist as Entrepreneur class to find alternative venues along with diverse audiences and unusual contexts. "We employ eBay as an art gallery, using the same conventional curatorial practices as any group exhibition-- thinking thematically, considering timing, scheduling and other curatorial issues," Modrak said. "The hope is that the artists' interventions will stimulate conversation, and make the world's online marketplace a richer marketplace for ideas." Participating artists include conceptual artist Robin Kahn; visual, performance/theater artist William Pope L; Found Magazine editor/publisher Davy Rothbart; and public artist Ellen Harvey. Along with each featured artist's work and biography will be a link to the eBay auction. The Web site, the www.ebayaday.com, will also feature an archive of all listings that are currently live or ended, and correspondence between artists and buyers/browsers. In February, the results of the online experience will be featured in an exhibition at the School of Art & Design’s Ann Arbor gallery, WORK. The exhibition will include documentation of each artist's listing, and disposition of each item. A book on the exhibit, including essays by the curators will be published. A podcast interview with curators Rebekah Modrak and Aaron Ahuvia will be posted on Dec. 4 at: www.umich.edu/news.
Contact: Frank Provenzano
Or Related Categories: Art |
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