This project is inspired, in part, by the increasing level of scholarship and activity in the field of Microhistory, paired with an increasing level of established journalistic bias and partisan scholarship embedded in modern media. While there is no acceptable or inclusive definition, Microhistory can be understood as a relatively new branch in the study of history, common since 1970, that focuses on narrow magnified examinations of specific places, decades, or ethnic groups as opposed to larger, broader studies over time. My strategy utilizes anthropological and archaeological methodology, appropriates common research modalities and presents visual archives to selectively insert particular and eccentric information into a dialogue based on the discrepancies between truth and myth concerning the past and recent present. The Samuel Gray Society project consists of the creation of an educational foundation whose mission is to preserve the people and culture of 18th century colonial America through the life and legacy of Samuel Gray, the first man killed in the Boston Massacre. Currently, I am the founder, president and sole member of this organization. This project involves two significant undertakings. The first is the creation of the Sam Gray Society website, (www.samgraysociety.org) which is currently underway. The second is the creation of artifacts housed in the SGS visual archives. The archives, which are the most significant educational contribution of the SGS, are comprised of four fields of research: 1. Material culture of the 18th century 2. Technology of the 18th century 3. The SGS Scrimshaw collection 4. The SGS paper collection The process I employ produces objects that have very specific references to the past by incorporating traditional techniques, but remain visibly awkward or identifable as imposters, causing the attentive viewer to question their juxtaposition. These objects are then broken, disfigured or buried to facilitate an aging process. Subsequently, I reclaim them in situ, conserve and archive them, ultimately presenting fictitious antiquities that examine authenticity under the umbrella of scholarship. They are presented in a respectful, encyclopedic manner that supports thoughtful questions regarding contemporary cultural or historical analysis. Almost nothing is known about the life of Samuel Gray, and like a poet or playwright, I intend to insert my narrative where none currently exists. In this way, history is what I make of it--a ripe mixture of historical fact and tenuous hypothesis.

Thin, clear domes form the boundaries of an iconic starscape, silently inviting the user to manipulate a containing and categorizing structure within an endless cosmic flow.

Heard is an interactive artwork exploring cultural and social views through sophisticated tracking technology in virtual as well as physical space. This work explores ideas around online social networking environments and how the proliferation of these spaces effect the way by which people relate and interact with one another. The artwork invites audiences to wear a wireless digital headpiece and ‘become’ one of the characters they see on screen. They then physically explore the installation space as well as a virtual environment, which is projected onto the wall in front of them. As they walk around the space, they listen to the musings of the character they have chosen to ‘become’: a little girl, an elderly lady or a young doctor. These characters (through a pre-recorded script created by writers each assuming one of the characters) reflect upon their ideals, values, hopes and dreams. The whimsical exchange between characters is based on everyday moments and activities. When there is more than one person in the space, a conversation between characters is triggered when people approach one another. This conversation can be heard through the headpieces as well as seen in text that appears on the projected screen. Brood Box 8 Rankins Lane Melbourne / off lt Bourke Street between Queen + Elizabeth Street Mobile 0412 495 899 / info@broodbox.com.au Open / Monday to Saturday 7am-5pm / Closed Sundays all other times by appointment only Fri 12/02/2010 - Opening Night from 6pm Sat 13/02/2010 - Gallery Open Sun 14/02/2010 - Gallery Closed Mon 15/02/2010 - Gallery Open Tue 16/02/2010 - Gallery Open www.broodbox.com.au

ThingPit \’th`ing\ p`1t\ Noun An entity, an idea, or a quality perceived, known, or thought to have its own existence. a. The real or concrete substance of an entity. b. A natural or artificial hole or cavity in the ground. c. A natural hollow or depression in the body or an organ. d. The single central kernel or stone of certain fruits Verb (often foll. by against)to match in opposition, esp. as antagonists: a. a concealed danger or difficulty b. guerilla projection made in opposition to a static view of our surroundings c. a re-presentation of a coming together / an envirotron of differentiation d. the commonly overlooked exultation in between ORIGIN Old English (also in the senses “meeting” and “matter, concern”)

under Heaven 02 A "fata morgana" under a viaduct in Amsterdam. complete with palmtrees, bananatrees and a waterfall. The viaduct under the A10 highway between Bos & Lommer and Geuzenveld houses a space of more than 2500 square meters. A strong fence is placed around the whole area. For the next 5 years artist Leonard van Munster [1972] will use this abandoned space as his exhibition area and will make the passer-by part of a dynamic public artwork.

Jean Delouvroy and Hans Verhaegen started there collaboration with the audiovisual installation ‘Deus Digitalis’ (2009). Deus Digitalis' was integrated in the characteristic context of the Orpheus Institute's concert hall (Gent, Belgium). The basic elements consist of computer-steered animation of the recognizable distinctive human pattern by Hans Verhaegen and the inventive composed sound layers by Jean Delouvroy.

Ballentine the bird is a digital drawing about 20,000 pixels tall and 30,000 pixels wide (roughly 20x30 feet @72ppi). She was drawn using one-pixel wide scribble lines colored red, yellow, blue, white, and black. Because she is so big, I've used the OpenLayers mapping API (similar to Google Maps) to allow zoom and scrolling features. The concept behind the drawing is based on the idea that digital images can be infinite in size. Drawing her entirely of one-pixel wide lines (labor-intensive) is an attempt on my part to undermine the idea that drawing on the computer is merely a shortcut. She was drawn in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet.

The Marfa Ring project is an experiment in colonizing the virtual geography of the small town of Marfa, Texas by creating a "Web Ring" of sites about it. Due to the Ring's interlinking, Google search results are skewed in favor of our sites (which vary in levels of veracity and intent) as opposed to Marfa's legitimate web presence. Because of the extensive work "remodeling" Marfa's online, visitors' interactions with Marfa are ostensibly colored by their web-based preconceptions, as engineered by us. The project is a digital homage to Donald Judd.

Produce your own customized Artistic License in a matter of minutes using your web browser. Instead of biometrics and radio frequency ID chips, Artistic License embraces freedom, collaboration, sharing, and imagination as keys to a more appealing modernity. Your Artistic License doesn't require you to look like yourself, and it does not impose factual restrictions. Nonetheless it has the truthiness coveted by authority. /// Artistic License was conceived primarily as a form of net.art that is experienced by people around the world through their browsers. During some exhibition events, however, it is possible to produce laminated licenses directly in the gallery space, as occurred in September 2009 in Hartford, Connecticut. /// Although in many respects it's fun, Artistic License encourages card-holders to swipe across the borders of technology and identity. The greater socio-political context for this work includes privacy and personal liberty issues. Emerging identification technologies like biometrics, RFID transmitters, facial recognition software, GPS devices, microvideo, and nanotechnology have already disrupted basic life ways. The continuing changes have affected freedom of behavior and identity, constraining the imagination in the name of a security that is never truly achieved. Artistic License entertains the possibility that imagination, rather than restriction and control, is the key to avoiding the dystopian misadventures that are coming into focus. /// While interactive art has been online for decades, basic assumptions about the division of labor between the artist and the spectator haven't changed substantially. Artistic License targets this issue ironically, using the co-creation of ID cards - artistic licenses - as the engine for an open-ended series. The results are somewhat unpredictable. The various contributions are performative, rebellious, naive, sophisticated, vulgar, etc. What distinguishes one license from the next is a matter of personal choice. So spectators, take advantage of your new empowerment: apply artistic license by "departing from convention or from factual accuracy ... to achieve a desired effect." Choose from among these rationales for participation or invent your own: * Leverage artifice to offset erosion of freedoms. // * Recoup time honored forms of play. // * Engage the joy of distortion, omission and irony. // * Gain free admission to arts friendly establishments. // * Incite the envy and respect of some peers. // * Contribute to expansion of the creative commons. // * Exploit offer for a free product.