SAN JOSE, Calif. (April 22, 2009) - ZER01, organizers of 01SJ Biennial, today announced that it had established new headquarters at St. James Place in downtown San Jose. The new offices, located at 152 N. 3rd Street, will provide ZER01 with planning headquarters for year-round programming – including the 01SJ Biennial – a place to host visiting artists and encourage its partners to gather and exchange ideas. Plans for the 3rd 01SJ Biennial, including its date, first-ever theme and curatorial model were also unveiled. The theme for the Biennial, slated for September 16-19, 2010, is Build Your Own World.
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” posited Alan Kay. This idea encapsulates the Build Your Own World theme where: The future is not about what’s next; it’s about what we can build to ensure that what’s next matters. How can we, as resourceful, innovative, and knowledgeable local and global citizens build and participate in a desirable future in the face of global climate change, economic meltdown, political instability, and cultural divisiveness?
The 2010 01SJ Biennial is predicated on the notion that as artists, designers, engineers, architects,marketers, corporations and citizens we have the tools to (re)build the world, conceptually and actually, virtually and physically, poorly and better, aesthetically and pragmatically, in both large and small ways. Under the theme “Build Your Own World,” the 3rd 01SJ Biennial will present a broad range of exemplary work, which not only imagines the future (world) but builds it.
The 3rd 01SJ Biennial will take place September 16-19, 2010, throughout San Jose. It is about how powerful ideas and innovative individuals from around the world can make a difference and come together to build a unique, city-wide platform for creative solutions and public engagement. It is about the inspiration needed to build a world we want to live in and are able to live with.
Also new to this year’s Biennial is a curatorial model whose visual arts team is composed of curators from each of the major cultural organizations participating in the Biennial exhibitions program, including the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Amerciana, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, and Anno Domini. This approach draws on the deep expertise of each organization and demonstrates how the 01SJ Biennial can become a catalyst for the exploration of the intersection of art, technology, and digital culture for multiple audiences. Outside curators and additional partnering organizations will work with ZER01 on aspects of the public art, performance, music, and cinema programming to present an extraordinary and unique global, multidisciplinary event.
“The 2010 Biennial is slated to be the most provocative and relevant Biennial that ZER01 has produced yet,” said Steve Dietz, Artistic Director for ZER01. “Beyond the fact that we’ll be presenting new commissions from some of the world’s most creative artists, the theme will shape a fascinating and revealing exploration of how we as individuals can to chose to use technology, as both producers and consumers, in creative ways that make a difference about the future of our society as a whole. And the collaborative curatorial model and extensive partnerships for the 2010 Biennial make it a true community partnership with global impact.”
In its third iteration, the 01SJ Biennial will further position San Jose and Silicon Valley as an international center for arts and culture. With over 45,000 attendees in 2008 – more than attended either Ars Electronica, the foremost event of its kind, which as has been in existence for 30 years, or Miami Basel, which in its seventh year attracted 40,000 – the 01SJ Biennial is emerging as one of the world’s most significant events of its kind. Its phenomenal growth is due in large part to the fact that it is a mirror of the innovation and spirit that define Silicon Valley and provides a unique perspective to the world and a synchronicity with the region where it exists.
ZER01 HQ Contributors
ZER01’s new offices and their design and build-out were made possible through the generous contributions of Design Response, a nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing the design and construction industries to create or improve Silicon Valley nonprofit facilities at a fraction of market value, and its partners: AP+I Design, Inc., jcaARCHITECTS, TBI Construction and SideMark Contract Furniture. ZER01 also gratefully acknowledges the support of Embarcadero Capital Partners LLC and Orchard Commercial Properties, as well as CADRE Lab for New Media at San Jose State University, a core ZER01 partner.
ABOUT DESIGN RESPONSE
Since its inception in 1992, Design Response has been delivering on its goal of improving environments for nonprofit agencies and schools that serve the most needy in the community as well as the cultural arts. Design Response has completed more than 200 projects for agencies serving the poor, homeless, developmentally disabled, and families and children in crisis throughout Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. Design Response helped make their facilities safe, functional, well designed and, most of all, welcoming. Design Response partners on the ZER01 project include: AP+I Design, Inc., a full-service architectural, planning, and interior design firm; jcaARCHITECTS, a full-service architecture, planning and interiors firm committed to exceptional design and quality in the commercial, civic, and residential sectors and TBI Construction & Construction Management, Inc., a general contractor specializing in teamwork and the negotiated/bid approach to construction. Additional partners on this project include: Allemuir, Dahl Equipment Rentals, Inc.. Dal Tile, Drue Tile Company, Dudley Acoustics, Inc., Heavenly Greens, JEI, Mark Lawrence Interiors, Maharam, Magnum Drywall, One Workplace, Palm, Inc., Preston Homes, Inc., Prouve Furniture, Quality Glass,Inc., Shaw Industries, Inc., SideMark Contract Furniture, Success Factors, Tandus, TISYS Construction, Inc., The Best Electrical Company, Inc., Wilsonart, and Y & D Cabinet Shop.
ABOUT CADRE NEW MEDIA LAB
The CADRE Laboratory for New Media is an interdisciplinary academic and research program dedicated to the experimental use of information technology and art. A theoretical and critical orientation provides a conceptual context in which artistic activities are defined. Faculty and students have participated in the evolution of media technology for over 20 years
ABOUT EMBARCADERO PARTHERS
Embarcadero Capital Partners is a real estate investment and management firm based on the San Francisco peninsula. We invest in dynamic, development-constrained U.S. markets that are known for intellectual capital and a creative business culture. Founded by longtime industry professionals Eric Yopes and John Hamilton, ECP has raised over $600 million of equity capital in three closed-end funds. Investors include leading endowments, foundations, fund-of-fund investors, and family offices.
ABOUT ORCHARD COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES
Orchard Commercial is Silicon Valley’s most comprehensive commercial real estate operations company. We provide property management, leasing, construction, and mechanical services, specializing in high-tech R&D, office, warehouse, and manufacturing facilities.
ABOUT ZER01
ZER01 is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire creativity at the intersection of art, technology, and digital culture. One of the primary enterprises of ZER01 is the 01SJ Biennial, a multi-disciplinary, multi-venue event of visual and performing arts, the moving image, public art, and interactive digital media. ZER01 also produces year-round signature programming leading to the 01SJ Biennial that serves to educate and cultivate audiences, build partnerships, and maintain visibility for the organization through lecture series, artist salons, workshops, and family-oriented special events. To find out more about ZER01, visit: zero1.org.
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