April 2004

The cinderblock warehouses along the West Side Highway of Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood give way to minimalist facades fronting immaculate white art galleries containing, for example, Richard Serra's massive, coiled oil tanker hulls.

They represent, among other things, the mighty foundation of official art. In such a formulaic setting the concept of a digital art-incubator had some residents turning up their noses when it first moved into the former parking garage. But the residents of 540 West 21st Street, a well connected arts and technology organization, have made good on their address.

It comes as no surprise to find that Macs® play a prevalent role in the work created here. Participants in its Artist-In-Residence program are allotted 500 square feet of studio space and access to equipment and expertise typically only accessible to media industry professionals. This plug-and-play utopia was founded by filmmaker John S. Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune.

Last summer's residency culminated in Beta Launch, an exhibition turning the dark, cavernous space into a hybrid movie theater, videogame arcade, and gallery. Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman created an interactive abstraction, "Messa di Voce," using custom interactive visualization software that allowed gallery-goers to produce and manipulate graphics with their voices and shadows.