The Oil of the 21st Century

Artistic directors: Jan Gerber, Sebastian Lütgert, Diana McCarty
Artists: Rasmus Fleischer (SE), Jon Johansen (USA), Paul Keller (NL), Steve Kurtz (USA), Lawrenve Linang (IN), Courtney Love (USA), Eva Mattes (IT), Kobe Matthys (BE), Ariane Müller, Monica Narula (IN), Florian Schneider, Shuddhabrata Sengupta (IN), Wolfang Staehle (USA), Palle Torsson (SE) and others
Venues: Berlin: Bootlab, Telegrafenamt; Amsterdam: De Waag; New York: The Thing, Delhi: Sarai
Schedule: January - December 2007


"Intellectual property is the oil of the 21st century" (Mark Getty). While the price of crude oil is the standard topic in the news nowadays, the public is only vaguely aware of the debate surrounding intellectual property - although it directly impacts large areas of our lives, from artistic and cultural production to patent issues in the biotechnology sector. Though currently discussed by experts, this project aimed to take the debate to the general public in a congress in Berlin and discussion events in Amsterdam, New York and Delhi. Artistic works helped to transfer the issue to the public sphere. For instance, "public archives" will allow Internet users access to free artworks through computer terminals set up in city parks in Berlin and New York.