The exhibit, called Eyewitness, shows how tools such as digital cameras, smart phones and social media have affected journalism and political activism. Examples include works by the UK’s Forensic Architecture, India’s CAMP and Belgian conceptual artist Dries Depoorter. The new exhibit aims to showcase both the strengths and dangers of new technology in creating change.
A gallery press release has stressed how the show will offer different perspectives:
“Each work deconstructs selected events, times and places, offering us a range of eyewitness perspectives, interpretations and testimony.”
Eyewitness includes both an in-person exhibit, viewable by appointment, and an online component, including photographs and videos. The display follows in the footsteps of past exhibits at the New Media Gallery, which have often been organized along thematic lines instead of by artist or periods, with titles like “Assembley”, “Cartooney”, “The Scary” and “Dominion”.
Exhibits like this provide room for new artists to experiment in media ranging from film to graphic design and computer programming. The gallery also hosts the NMG Lab, which provides educational programs dealing with art and technology.
Eyewitness opened at the New Media Gallery in New Westminster on February 5, and it will run until March 30.