01SJ BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL ART & TECHNOLOGY FESTIVAL TRANSFORMS SAN JOSE INTO CITY OF THE FUTURE WITH EYE-POPPING ART, EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES
Media Contacts: Meghan Horrigan, mhorrigan@sanjose.org, 408.499.1345 Wendy Norris, wendy@norriscommunications.biz, 415.307.3853
01SJ BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL ART & TECHNOLOGY FESTIVAL TRANSFORMS SAN JOSE INTO CITY OF THE FUTURE WITH EYE-POPPING ART,
EXHIBITIONS, AND PERFORMANCES
Some Installations and Exhibitions are Free
San Jose, CA, Sept. 16, 2010–San Jose is undergoing a major transformation as the 01SJ Biennial – a festival where art meets technology – gets ready to launch tonight, running through Sunday the 20th. Hundreds of jaw-dropping, tech influenced exhibitions and installations are popping up all over town -- from South Hall to City Hall, from Dirdon Station along the San Fernando Corridor to the public library, and from the new San Jose airport expansion to Santana Row and many of these are free to the public.
“The 01SJ Biennial mirrors the creativity and innovation which made Silicon Valley famous,” said Joel Slayton, executive director of ZERO1, a nonprofit arts organization and producers of the 01SJ Biennial. “To make the Biennial accessible to everyone, we’ve created both ticketed and free events, with our many cultural partners, throughout downtown and beyond to celebrate this heritage. We also had the pleasure to work with the San José Office of Cultural Affairs Public Art Program (OCA), who commissioned five temporary, site-specific public artworks installed along the San Fernando Corridor that will be accessible during the 01SJ Biennial and through October 2010.”
All of the 01SJ Biennial exhibitions, performances, film screening, art installations and more are accessible to the public with the purchase of multi-day passes ($45) to the four-day festival. There will also be 01SJ Biennial events on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which are free to the public. . “There’s no other event that truly speaks to the spirit of Silicon Valley like 01SJ Biennial, and there’s no other event like it in the world,” said Dan Fenton, CEO of Team San Jose. “With so much free public art and ticketed 01SJ Biennial events throughout the community, this is an incredible value for amazing art you won’t see anywhere else.”
Some of the 01SJ Biennial free and ticketed exhibitions, events, installations, and performances include:
Opening Ceremonies, Thursday, September 16; 7pm – 8:15pm, San Jose City Hall Plaza (FREE)
In addition to live performances, catch the spectacle created when ZER01 unveils The LAB at Rockwell Group’s Plug-in-Play interactive projection onto City Hall’s 18-story tower. By taking a number of objects –some existing and some placed – in San Jose City Hall Plaza and connecting them to the building via oversized theatrical plugs, a new type of environment where social interactions, citizenship, and personal activities is created resulting in a representation of the vitality and complexity of our urban environments.
AbsoluteZER0, Friday, September 17; 5pm – midnight, SoFA District (FREE)
http://01sj.org/2010/events/absolutezer0/
AbsoluteZER0 is a vibrant street festival where the public can engage with art, music, science, and technology in new and compelling ways outside on city streets. AbsoluteZER0 celebrates the creativity and technological virtuosity that are the hallmarks of Silicon Valley and will offer an exciting lineup of art projects, performance, music, and hands-on family activities by over 100 01SJ Biennial artists.
The event is free and open to the public and is presented in collaboration with MACLA, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art.
Green Prix, Saturday, September 18, 11am – 5pm, SoFA District (FREE)
http://01sj.org/2010/events/green-prix/
The Green Prix is a parade and all day festival that surrounds sustainable, ecological friendly, and fun modes of transportation—artful “eco-motion.” It is open for EVERYONE: artists, designers, families, schools, and anyone else who has or wants to create a new mode of sustainable transportation. It is your opportunity to create, participate in, and cheer on innovative projects related to eco-themed transportation. So break out your banana-bikes, self-propelled jet packs, soapboxes, and solar cars to come out and strut your stuff in front of a cheering audience. The Green Prix Parade will begin at 11:00 am on Saturday, September 18th. Then the Green Prix Festival will fill South 1st Street with “green” creations, parade projects, family oriented do-it-yourself workshops, open doors to local galleries and music performances. Check out the Parade Route.
Play Me I’m Yours, Luke Jerram (FREE)
http://www.streetpianos.com/
01SJ Biennial artists, Jerram’s ‘Play Me I’m Yours’ project temporarily places 20 tuned and ready to play pianos throughout the city in a variety of public outdoor locations. The pianos will remain in their public locations throughout the 01SJ (September 16–19). Some of the pianos can be found in locations such as the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, Children’s Discovery Center, Mexican Heritage Plaza and Santana Row.
Zoe Keating, Saturday, September 18, 10pm, South Hall (check final time online/01SJ Biennial passes needed)
http://01sj.org/2010/performance/into-the-trees/
Composition for the ears meets composition for the eyes in an organic, evolving world of sight and sound. Zoë Keating will create a lush soundscape of live, layered cello, which Robert Hodgin will translate into light. FREE with admission to South Hall or Biennial General Admission ticket.
Offscript, Christopher Baker, Santana Row (FREE)
An interactive projection façade located high above the Santana Row shopping district in San Jose. Participants will be asked to submit their thoughts using social media technologies alongside live SMS and voice-based interaction. Participants will be asked to respond to statements and questions and responses will manifest as playful creatures on the building façade.
Out of the Garage Into the World, multiple days, South Hall (01SJ Biennial passes needed)
http://01sj.org/art/out-of-the-garage/
The 01SJ has invited independent artists, designers, architects, engineers, programmers, and corporate and academic research programs to publicly work in San Jose’s 80,000 square foot South Hall to create projects for exhibition, performance, provocation, and interaction all based on the Biennial them – Build Your Own World. From a drive-in movie theater created with salvaged cars, to an aerial zipline over temporary wetlands, South Hall is filled with surprises for all ages.
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About Team San Jose (TSJ): Team San Jose, Inc. is an innovative partnership unifying the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau, hotels, arts, labor and venues to deliver an exceptional visitor experience and serve as the gateway to San Jose as a destination. Our company manages the San Jose Convention Center and Arts and Entertainment venues including the California Theatre, the Center for the Performing Arts, Montgomery Theater, Parkside Hall, San Jose Civic and South Hall. For more information about San Jose and Team San Jose, please visit the new www.sanjose.org.
About ZER01: The Art and Technology Network
ZER01, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to inspire creativity at the intersection of art, technology, and digital culture, is a platform for the exploration and presentation of work dealing with the critical issues of our time by some of the most creative minds in the world. And, as a result, is Silicon Valley’s best bet for creating a global cultural relevance for the region that mirrors the creativity and innovation for which Silicon Valley is recognized. ZER01 is the producing organization for 01SJ Biennial, North America’s newest and largest multi-disciplinary, multi-venue event of visual and performing arts, the moving image, public art, and interactive digital media. By creating pathways for both artists and technologists to come together in collaboration and act as catalysts for further technological and artistic advances, ZER01 fulfills a self-proclaimed mission, to stimulate corporate and public interest in the possibilities afforded by intersecting the arts and technology. For more information visit www.zero1.org.
