Recent News

Thursday night! BUREAU Artist in Residence Danielle Abrams curates a night of performance at New Orleans’ threepalms after a tip that it’s the hottest place to be plus there’s a tiki bar! In her own words: “I’ll be performing my new piece ‘Shades of Gras.’ Think Elia Kazan’s Pinky meets Brad Pitt for a plaçage arrangement on a 300 year-old float, but only after getting some red beans and rice and a blessing from Tremé‘s eponymous Uncle Lionel Batiste! I’m so proud to be on deck with a crew of immensely talented Bostonites—artists Angela M. Counts, Ryan Leitner and Robert Fieseler, author of the newly released book Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation. It’s free, it’s outside, it’s the most adorable patio you could imagine, great food, good drink, people who smile at you, excellent vibes!”

Left: Cloud operator shredding a customer’s money, BUREAU of CHANGE’s black cloud Micro Ichi interface at Yami NYC 2, Nov. 2016. Right: Rhizome and exonemo’s micro-edition of the Internet Yami Ichi at NADA, March 2018. Rhizome transforms BUREAU’s Micro Ichi New Orleans concept, a performative intervention emphasizing collective ownership and anti-commercialism, into a boutique of internet-inspired wares at NADA art fair in New York City.   In 2015, BUREAU popped up in the neutral ground of the New Orleans’ St. Claude gallery district to hawk our internet-ish things. Organized and produced with Caroline Sinders, we staged a “micro” version of the Internet Yami-Ichi, a global underground art event created by IDPW. The following year, BUREAU travelled to the Knockdown Center for the Yami in NYC 2, the biggest meetup of Internet Yami-Ichi venders from New York and around the world, and vended from from our handcrafted black cloud interface embellished in glitter, silver and gold.   Rhizome and exonemo, an artist duo behind IDPW gatherings, commercialized the concept originated in New Orleans for the 2018 New Art Dealers Association art fair in New York City. “While the Internet Yami-Ichi is usually vast in size,” writes Rhizome’s Laura Studabaker, “Rhizome’s edition–like...

BUREAU’s Scott Sullivan presented in the “live arts magazine,” Antenna::Signals, Issue 007, at Paper Machine in New Orleans on January 24, 2018. In celebration of the opening of Antenna’s Paper Machine print center, Signals presentations and performances examine the theme Papers. Papers explored the myriad uses of paper – a medium at once literal and symbolic, malleable and dogmatic, portable and burdensome – to translate and regulate life. The event will explore the connotations of the theme from a number of specific angles, including immigration papers, the Green book (guide to safe road tripping for African Americans in Jim Crow America), Storyville blue books (catalogues for New Orleans’ famed red light district), and rolling and hemp papers.   BUREAU’s Scott Sullivan, an international law and foreign affairs professor at LSU and occasional artist under the pseudonym Ulay Deux, presented on several document-performance works, including the CIA’s experiment in training cats and Osama bin Laden’s English language bookshelf confiscated by the U.S. government at the time of his killing.   Presenters and performances included: Katrina Andry Pamela D. Arceneaux Vanessa Centeno Ulay Deux (Scott Sullivan) Rick Kasini Kadour John Lawrence Lydia Y. Nichols Bob Snead Dave Sobel Rodrigo Toscano   ABOUT...

BUREAU of CHANGE, with Prospect New Orleans, presents two installations in P.S.4 at Urban Sidewalk Installation Space (US|IS), 441 Gravier Street at Magazine Street. The exhibitions opened November 18, 2017 and continued for the duration of Prospect and beyond. Wombs Are the World closed on May 8, 2018 and BUREAU of CHANGE: Social Services is ongoing. BUREAU of CHANGE: Social Services (P.S. Prospect) Conceived in conversation with Prospect New Orleans, BUREAU of CHANGE will present a new installation in our evolving series Social Services.   Set against a backdrop of simmering international criticism of art festivals and biennials, layers of text will pose questions about the role of artists and their institutions—small to large, shoestring to rich, obscure to “famous”—as mediators or arbiters of history, culture and conflict.   Seen from the street, the newest version of Social Services aims to turn topsy turvy who we consider artists, art stars and prospects.   By design and resulting from its interactive, participatory qualities, BUREAU of CHANGE: Social Services is an ongoing project. It has exhibited at US/IS continuously since October 2014. Nikomia Henry debuts her first solo exhibition at Prospect New Orleans BUREAU of CHANGE delivers a fresh face to P.S.4 with Wombs...

BUREAU of CHANGE is proud to present Reverberations, a series of lectures, workshops and performances on local acts and global impacts. Organized by BUREAU founder Margot Herster, in collaboration with the LSU Law Center and Ogden Honors College, the series brings together socially engaged practitioners in law, journalism and art to present recent work. Reverberations is a a three-part series, taking place at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on March 29, April 3 and April 7, 2017. Past Due: Costs and Consequences of Charging for Justice Mathilde Laisne (Vera Institute) & Jennifer Hull (Orleans Public Defenders) Wednesday, March 29, 2017; 3:30 PM LSU Law Center, Room 106 Every year, government agencies in New Orleans collect millions of dollars in the form of bail, fines and fees from people involved in the criminal justice system and, by extension, from their families. Millions more are transferred from the pockets and bank accounts of residents to for-profit bail bond agents. Some view these costs as a necessary way to offset the expense of operating the criminal justice system. But because many “users” of the system have very low incomes or none at all, there is growing concern that charging for justice amounts to a criminalization of...

Somebody to lean on by Hannah North Sometimes, memories have a way of coming out through your sub-conscious. As I started writing this blog on distressing content we all seem to experience through social media, I began with the line “every human on this planet has experienced pain and sorrow.” A colleague pointed out to me that these words echo the opening lyrics to a song that was important to me in a time that seemed simple yet was so impactful to my childhood. I grew up in a family of addicts, which could seem like a tragedy to those who know my story. However, it opened me up to a supportive community that I would have never had otherwise. I spent the majority of my childhood in Alateen, a program for children affected by addiction. It felt like everyone in the program was always there when I needed advice, a friend or just someone to talk to. At the end of my favorite convention we would sing a farewell song. We grabbed hands, the music started, and we sang together, In those moments, I knew it was true. I would always have somebody to lean on. Through addiction, war,...

Image credit: BUREAU of CHANGE: Amazing Grace (ft. Barack Obama), 2016. Video installation. Rebecca Lee Reynolds describes BUREAU’s “Amazing Grace” in relation to U.S. history and 2016’s whirling images of tragedy, scandal, political maneuverings, and reimaginations of iconic symbols of civil and human conflict: “This past year has provided plenty of material: Alton Sterling and the cops killed in Baton Rouge, the Confederate Monuments being voted for removal, the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the approaching end of Obama’s presidency, Hillary vs. Bernie, the rise of Trump.”   Download Article: Louisiana Art 2016 by Rebecca Lee Reynolds in New Orleans Art Review, Winter 2017 Please upgrade your browser

BUREAU of CHANGE & PhotoNOLA Festival of Photography Present:   BUREAU of CHANGE: Social Services (Revelry) Viewable daily, 24/7 Street Dance Party December 10, 7PM to 9PM Urban Sidewalk Installation Space (US|IS) 441 Gravier Street at Magazine New Orleans, LA  70130 New Orleans, Louisiana – BUREAU of CHANGE, in partnership with the PhotoNOLA Festival of Photography, is proud to announce the newest version of the ongoing interactive installation, BUREAU of CHANGE: Social Services. To experience how New Orleans does “revelry,” we invite you to our public art space, Urban Sidewalk Installation Space, during PhotoNOLA, the annual festival of photography produced by the New Orleans Photo Alliance.   On Saturday, December 10 from 7PM to 9PM, BUREAU of CHANGE is hosting a pop-up happening on the street in the form of an impromptu sidewalk party. Please come for drinks, music and street dancing. By design and resulting from its interactive, participatory qualities, BUREAU of CHANGE: Social Services is an ongoing and evolving project. It has exhibited continuously since October 2014. Previous versions of the installation focused on pain, trauma, violence and bystander effects.   BUREAU of CHANGE: Social Services is an interactive intervention. It reframes internet-sourced images and reflects the interplay between...

BUREAU of CHANGE brought our Micro Internet Yami Ichi, in a black cloud-inspired interface, to the Internet Yami-ichi NY 2 on November 6, 2016 at the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York. Our goal was to spread light to the people on the beautiful dangers of the internet. BUREAU analytics show that that we reached that goal. We broke the internet, ate the misfortunes, cut the money, blocked the popups and didn’t give a f–k. It wasn’t all beats and bruises though, as we also sold scented retweet hearts. And after all, the people really needed them; we sold out. At the BUREAU of CHANGE cloud interface, there was a lighthearted yet comical feel about it all. It was like window shopping, and Yami-ichi shoppers were scared but those who engaged with our black cloud market discovered so much more than tangible products. One thing we sold was a wish. Participants inserted a dollar into the cloud to get amazing things. Gloved hands reached out of the cloud then pixelated the USD with shredder scissors and returned it to it’s owner. Some people were concerned about the legality of destroying the dollar. We anticipated this, so we had attorney services on...

BUREAU of CHANGE was invited to show a selection of our work at NOLATech Weeks’ 4th Silicon Bayou Startup Showcase on October 14, 2016.   BUREAU of CHANGE showcased video and animation projects, as well as some of research and technology-based works from our flatfiles. We engaged in a lot of conversations about community problems and solutions related to our most recent video, Amazing Grace featuring President Barack Obama. Amazing Grace is a rap gospel that memorializes black lives lost to killings motivated by racism and addresses the role of social media in the Black Lives Matter movement.   We also exchanged ideas about economic stimulus disappointments and prospects of the tech industry in Louisiana related to our 2013 animated documentary, *EDUCATION NOT GUARANTEED. The video, created by Louisiana State University faculty, students and alums details student cost of financial and curricular fraud in higher education, in particular unfulfilled promises of the digital media program within the context of Governor Jindal’s economic and workforce development initiatives and the national education crisis.   Conceived as a science fair-style networking event, the showcase was a great way to share what the BUREAU of CHANGE has been working on and make connections with...

Liberate Tate: “Insides/Outsides” and “A How-to-Guide” Liberate Tate: “Insides/Outsides” WHEN: Tuesday, October 18, 2016, 6pm – 8pm WHERE: Pelican Bomb Gallery X, 1612 O.C. Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70113 Free and open to the public; drinks and snacks will be served Presented by BUREAU of CHANGE and hosted by Pelican Bomb   BUREAU of CHANGE presents Liberate Tate: “Insides/Outsides“ a performance lecture on creative disobedience by the U.K. artist collective Liberate Tate on Tuesday, October 19 from 6pm to 8pm at Pelican Bomb Gallery X. Come to hear Liberate Tate share the strategies, tactics and experiences of making unsanctioned live art in the Tate galleries—one of the largest and most influential art institutions in the U.K.—for the past six years. Liberate Tate performances have included spilling oil like substances in museum galleries, installing a 16.5m wind turbine blade in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall, occupying the gallery overnight in a durational performance transcribing texts in charcoal onto the floor, and giving permanent climate tattoos. Liberate Tate’s practice has been at the forefront of a new wave of non-binary art-activism, blending creative collaborative practice with strategic campaigning goals and their performances have registered a global presence in the news and online....

Image credit: Installation view, BUREAU of CHANGE, Amazing Grace (ft. Barack Obama), in Louisiana Contemporary at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 2016 (left); Old Glory Holes and Pussy Riot by Dan Tague (right) John D’Addario talks to curator Bill Arning, Director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston about top picks, including BUREAU’s Amazing Grace, for Louisiana Contemporary, which A’ddario defines as “the Southern-inflected version of New York City’s Whitney Biennial: an opportunity to examine the currents of the regional art scene through the lens of a particular curatorial eye.”         Download Article: CONTEMPORARY VISION: Social issues at the forefront of annual Ogden show by John D’Addario, The Advocate, August 24, 2016 Please upgrade your browser  

August 6–September 18, 2016 Ogden Museum of Southern Art 925 Camp St, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 Opening White Linen Night, Julia Street Block Party, August 6, 6-9PM Hours: 10AM-5PM every day but Tuesday Free to Louisiana residents on Thursdays from 10AM-5PM   BUREAU of CHANGE invites you to the New Orleans debut of our latest work, Amazing Grace featuring Barack Obama, at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in the exhibition Louisiana Contemporary.   Amazing Grace featuring Barack Obama is a rap gospel media installation that memorializes Black lives lost to racially influenced violence and voices reactions among the living.   Soundtrack | Drawing from White House archives, the beat and chorus samples the President’s voice as he sings “Amazing Grace” for the eulogy of Pastor Clementa Pinckney, one of nine Black women and men murdered in 2015 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, South Carolina.  Rap lyrics and jazzy gospel vocals by a New Orleans musician and his mother bring home emotions from Cleveland to Charleston to Baton Rouge, as well as the impact of viral witness video of police shootings in Black Lives Matter activism.   Visuals |  A Black man costumed as the Statue of Liberty walks New Orleans’ streets, passing Confederate monuments, several of which City Council deemed a...

Image Credit: PUBLIC MOVEMENT’S DEBRIEFING SESSION I, 2012, AT THE TRIBECA GRAND, NEW YORK, AS PART OF “THE UNGOVERNABLES” AT THE NEW MUSEUM, NEW YORK. COURTESY THE ARTISTS. Panel Discussion: “Imagined Communities and the Nation State” APRIL 2, 2016 @ 3:30PM TULANE UNIVERSITY WOLDENBERG ART CENTER NEW ORLEANS LA 70118   In conjunction with “False Flags” at Pelican Bomb Gallery X, curator Noah Simblist leds a panel discussion about contemporary notions of nationalism and the representation of imagined communities in the Middle East and the Americas. Panelists included Ruti Sela and Maayan Amir from the Tel Aviv-based Exterritory Project, an interdisciplinary initiative that encourages both the theoretical and practical exploration of ideas concerning extraterritoriality, and Alhena Katsof and Nir Shauloff from Public Movement, a performative research body based in Tel Aviv, which investigates and stages political actions in public spaces. Both Exterritory Project and Public Movement have work on view in “False Flags” at X.   The artists were joined by Scott Sullivan (BUREAU of CHANGE/Louisiana State University Law Center) and Tabitha Mustafa (New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee).   Scott Sullivan is a supporting founder of BUREAU of CHANGE and regular contributor to BUREAU projects as mentor and facilitator of discourse in our studio on human...

Image Credit: BUREAU of CHANGE, Public Records: Nothing But the Truth, 2013. Photo by Daniela Carillo. Material Art Fair: Nurturing art, consolidating talent by Daniela Carillo – February 17, 2016 – Mexico City (Translated from Spanish by Google) Material Art Fair has established itself as one of the most important emerging art fairs of our country, held from 4 to 7 February 2016 in Mexico City. Dedicated to exhibit art pieces of 64 Mexican and foreign galleries from 15 different countries: Japan, the United States, Colombia, UK, etc. Some of the galleries present in this edition were: East Hamptom Shed, East Hampton; Eitoeiko, Tokyo; Alter Space, San Francisco; New Galerie, Paris; Seventeen, London; Yautepec, Mexico City among others. For four days these galleries showed immersed in a maze of stands—a singular but original way to transport from one side to another place, but alternative, fresh and inclusive trends being swallowed up by the creativity of the “side B” art. The event offered an extensive art scene; three are noteworthy: Galería Breve, directed by Begoña Irazabal and Jorge Rosano, which had his first appearance in MAF, emerged as a “pop up gallery” performing brief statements Saturday of each month, hence its name. Today’s main...

A Review of art week in Mexico Yunuen Diaz – February 9, 2016 – Mexico City (Translated from Spanish using Google) “While Zona MACO fair is aimed at international collectors and consolidated capital, other spaces have decided to to expand our vision of art. For this piece, I will review other fairs and cultural events that took place in the week of contemporary art.   Material Art Fair. Located in the building of Expo Reforma, this fair opens its doors for the third time, the best yet. The spirit of the show seems to be placed in an intermediate space between art exhibition and festival with hundreds of young people walking through the labyrinthine spaces, floating between pieces of bright colors, music and scintillating pop atmosphere. The fair takes us for a moment to a different Mexico, as if a little piece of Manhattan had been implemented for a few days in our city. Many of the exhibiting galleries came from our American neighbor, perhaps because of the proximity or the need also there, as elsewhere, to open new markets. As the dollar swings dangerously on the edge of twenty pesos per dollar, a trip to our exotic land is attractive...

BUREAU of CHANGE exhibited at Material Art Fair, organized by Daniela Elbahara and Brett Schultz with Isa Natalia Castilla, February 4 – 7, 2016 at Expo Reforma in Mexico City. Running alongside Zona Maco, Material is the only exhibition of contemporary art in Mexico dedicated to emerging practices. BUREAU presented our newest work, Amazing Grace ft. President Barack Obama, a gospel-rap video. We also exhibited selected works from our flat files. Amazing Grace ft Barack Obama interweaves performance of a black man costumed as the Statue of Liberty who walks New Orleans streets around Confederate monuments the city slated for removal after the June 2015 massacre of black churchgoers in Charleston, SC. Drawing from government archives, it’s beat and chorus samples President Obama’s voice singing Amazing Grace for the eulogy of Pastor Clementa Pinckney, one of nine killed at the church. New Orleans native K.G. wrote the lyrics, which he performs with jazz-gospel vocals by his mother. They bring home the emotions of Charleston, tensions around police shootings, and the role of viral witness videos in Black Lives Matter activism. On Saturday, February 6th, BUREAU founder Margot Herster moderated a conversation in the Material Salon on interdisciplinary collaboration in education-centric practice with artist Steven Pedeaux and Professor Scott Sullivan. Material 2016 included a rigorous selection of 64 galleries,...

What you will see in Material Art Fair 2016 Mexico City – February 3, 2016 – The Art Fair that begins February 4 presents painting, sculpture and photographic works. Still from the video installation Amazing Grace (BUREAU of CHANGE)

  BUREAU of CHANGE brought an participatory intervention to New York in coordination with the Creative Time Summit NYC: The Curriculum at the Boys and Girls High School campus in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn on November 14 and 15, 2015.   Continuing the dialogue started at the Summit held at the Venice Biennale in August, the New York Summit was dedicated to education and other ways knowledge is disseminated and obtained. The Curriculum NYC focused on the effects of specific education policies in the United States. Creative Time programming explored the relationship between knowledge and geopolitics, pedagogical art practices, omissions in contemporary curricula, and political issues such as the re-segregation of public schools and student debt.   Throughout the weekend, covert BUREAU of CHANGE agents handed out Cheat Sheet in hallways, under desktops and via trades for their notes to lucky Summit attendees at Boys and Girls High School who could also count on us for freshly sharpened pencils. In designing Cheat Sheet, BUREAU crowdsourced personal stories of education blunders and disasters documented on YouTube, which we presented alongside quotes from academic research and journalism indicative of systemic dysfunction in global education and need for radical reform. In return, we received copies of notes on the The Curriculum complete...

theartblog featured a great rundown of the Micro Ichi, the New Orleans version of the global “internet-ish” flea market Internet Yami-Ichi, organized by Caroline Sinders, BUREAU of CHANGE & IDPW.org and featuring BUREAU artists and collaborators. Please upgrade your browser

“I have just endured one of the largest trolling attacks in history. And I have just been blessed with the most astonishing human responses to that attack.” – Ellen Pao #THANKYOUELLENPAO It’s in every company’s interest to tackle the low-level, pervasive sexism that undermines performance, holds back talent and prevents them from getting the very best out of their workforce. So rather than prompting women to fight harder, or warning others not to come forward, the Ellen Pao case should be a wake-up call for employers to “lean in” instead.

BUREAU of CHANGE founder, Margot Herster, discussed her work on digital media education as a social, political and economic practice at Harvard Innovation Lab in a workshop on innovation in visual communication organized by Sarah and Max Schorr. For the workshop, Margot presented BUREAU’s apprenticeship model, examples of our creative and interdisciplinary collaborations, and accomplishments as related to shortfalls of digital media educational institutions and state funded programs in Louisiana. Each panelist gave brief presentations focusing on some aspects of their own work, while also posing discussion questions for the group. An open conversation followed the presentations.    VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN THE LANDSCAPE OF NEW MEDIA: A WORKSHOP FOR DEVELOPING ART, RESEARCH, AND INNOVATION   Jonathan Harris, Digital Artist Margot Herster, Artist, Educator, Founder of Bureau of Change Sepandar Kamvar, LG Career Development Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Gregor Hochmuth, Engineer and Artist Max Schorr, Founder of GOOD Inc. Sarah Schorr, Photographer and PhD Fellow in Media Studies, Aarhus Universitet  

BUREAU of CHANGE presented an original interactive installation in conjuncton with Southern Rep’s BOUDIN: The New Orleans Music Project, which ran from April 18–May 17 at the Ashé Power House Theater. For the commission, BUREAU founder and teaching artist Margot Herster directed FIELD TELEPHONE: THE OPENING ACT with talented young artists: Steven Pedeaux, digital cultures writer, researcher, producer, BFA LSU Digital Art; Kareem Henry, pastor, songwriter, computer science student at ITT; and K.G., rap musician, drafting and design student at ITT    

The 24/7 Part of Prospect.3SEEN on the STREET BY JOHN D’ADDARIO | SPECIAL TO THE ADVOCATE “But it’s a piece by the New Orleans-based Bureau of Change that likely will find its way into the most Instagram feeds. Against a selfie-ready expanse of mirrors, the words “We Are What We See” invite viewers to consider a list of provocative statements regarding the role of images in social media — and by extension, our own roles in creating them. It’s the kind of self-reflective art that depends on the active participation of a viewer for its meaning. And like the best street art on the P.3+ menu this season, it’s definitely worth making the time to seek out.” Read the full story at The Advocate

NOVEMBER 15, 2014 / 10:00AM – 4:00PM Local, artist-centered organizations unite to connect New Orleans to the sixth annual Creative Time Summit. Join Pelican Bomb, BUREAU OF CHANGE, and Press Street for a day of presentations on the role of art in public life streamed from the 2014 Creative Time Summit in Stockholm. In addition to video talks from some of the world’s leading artists, activists, writers, and curators, local panelists will join in the discussion live. Highlights of the day include: 11:30 – 1:30 PM : LIVING TOGETHER & NATIONALISMS The recent European elections have demonstrated that nationalism remains a galvanizing force whose presence seems to only increase with the growth of interconnected labor forces. Identification with the state, particularly through lines of heritage, history, and racial identification, serves as a rallying cry across the international arena. “Living Together,” live lecture (30 min): Dr. Lorenzo Zucca, international legal philosopher, Kings College, London “Nationalisms,” streamed panel discussion (90 min): Ram Manikkalingam (moderator)
; Jonas Hassen Khemiri
; Mariam Ghani
; Jonas Dahlberg; Elisa Santos of Temporary Occupations
; Jonas Staal
; Matt Lucero and Tuan Andrew Nguyen of the Propeller Group 1:30 – 3:30 PM : DATA SHADOWS & ART IN THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE...

“The Case for New Constitutions” Considers Radical Constitutional Reform in the U.S. and Abroad   Following a welcome reception, the event kicks off with the 5 p.m. screening of Blueberry Soup, a documentary by Eileen Jerrett chronicling the aftermath of Iceland’s financial collapse that led to re-writing of the nation’s constitution. The film is a deeply touching account of an eclectic group of individuals reinventing democracy, using 21st century media such as Facebook and Twitter.   At 6:30 pm, guest speaker Professor Sanford Levinson of University of Texas School of Law will present arguments for a new Constitutional Convention in the United States and challenge the idea that fundamental governmental principles should remain static over time. A leading critic of the U.S. Constitution and excessive presidential power, Professor Levinson will draw from the extensive research behind his recent book, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It).   The Case for New Constitutions: A Film Event with Guest Speaker Professor Sanford Levinson   March 27, 2014, LSU Law Center, McKernan Auditorium 4:30 Welcome reception with food and drink 5:00 Film screening: Blueberry Soup, directed by Eileen Jerrett (80 min) 6:30 Guest Speaker:...

BUREAU of CHANGE Meets with North Korea December 12, 2013 – January 11, 2014 Opening: Saturday, Dec 14, 6-9pm Closing Ceremony: January, 11, 2014, 6-9pm BUREAU of CHANGE Public Information Office 638 Clouet Street, New Orleans, LA 70117 Set against the backdrop of a model communist apartment designed from online images of North Korean homes, BUREAU of CHANGE invites the public to our media installation of a November 2013 theater of diplomacy between BUREAU administrators of ideas and acting North Korea officials. Through the semblance of a seemingly impossible exchange, we staged a meeting with North Korean leaders in attempt to transform parasitic attitudes under different cultural spells into ones that thrive by a symbiotic arrangement. Our office will be open for the duration of PhotoNOLA with a special exhibition of imaginary records of our creative negotiations with the United States’ last remaining Cold War enemy. Script by Amanda Bourgeois and Scott Sullivan Objects by Justin Stroemple, Steven Pedeaux, Amanda Bourgeois and Kenzie Franco Installation design by Kenzie Franco and Margot Herster Also featuring Pacy the Cat  

  Field Telephone {theaterofwar} You’ve seen it, you’ve told someone else about it, you may even have knocked on the BUREAU of CHANGE Public Information Office door and asked to learn more, spread stories or become arbiter of the word, or cried quietly inside once you realized what the people who made their own death videos were trying to tell you. Collectively you engaged in a serious game of telephone, from Syria to Washington through the streets of New Orleans. If you want a more official curatorial statement, see above.

NOLA Tech Week Tuesday, October 8, 2013 6:30pm – 7:30pm   BUREAU of CHANGE founder and director Margot Herster and international international law scholar Scott Sullivan present dynamic research on the relationship between visual data, propaganda and their effects on law and policy through analysis of “unofficial” citizen-generated content and “official” state and news media speech in the Arab Spring’s migration to YouTube. Image: Video still from Field Telephone {theaterofwar} 13 videos curated by the U.S. Intelligence Community depicting chemical weapons deaths in Syria on August 21, 2013, a public intervention by BUREAU of CHANGE

Image credit: Michael Alford, “Even in Death We Are All Still the Same,” 2013, cremated remains, glass jars, body tags, light box Exhibitions   10AM – 5PM Friday – Sun Oct 18-20 in the galley: OPERATION HIGHER EDUCATION Tracks BUREAU of CHANGE’s history from its origins as a state-funded university research project to a private enterprise through artifacts of our interdisciplinary, inter-generational digital media laboratory for bureaucratic intervention and innovation.   in conference: CONDITIONS OF MY RELEASE new works by Michael Alford with a memorial by Justin M. Stroemple   on the street: theaterofwar FIELD TELEPHONE BUREAU of CHANGE’s sound-powered teleportation device requires human voices to convert visual data from Syria’s battleground into public directives.   Workshops 12:00PM Sat Oct 19 theaterofwar CHOW TIME BUREAU of CHANGE founder Margot Herster and international law scholar Scott Sullivan present research on the relationship between visual data, propaganda and legal norms through analysis of Syria’s “unofficial” citizen-generated content and “official” state and news media speech.   1:30PM Sat Oct 19 theaterofwar GAME CHANGER Hands-on tech workshop with a digital media professional. Experience the newest techniques to mine the internet for explosive data and generate political interventions.   Drink from our newest venture: Silver...

Join BUREAU of CHANGE and CREATIVE TIME for a hyper-local and hyper-global event on the role of artist in shaping cities and public life.   LIVE Q&As WITH PRESENTERS ———————————————— Your responses and questions  shared at over 65 sites around the world, from Melbourne to Kathmandu! ///Friday, Oct 25 (with Gregory Sholette & Rick Lowe) 2:45 – 3:30 PM ///Saturday, Oct 26 (with Kelly Anderson, Chido Govera, Lara Almarcegui & Michael Premo) 11:25 – 12:45 PM View Larger Map

BUREAU of CHANGE’s HERE/HOME project is exhibiting in the collective exhibition, TANK DRAMA: Deliberations from The Wet Grave, curated by Jan Gilbert. Artists working in a multiplicity of art forms—theater, writing, visual art, film, music, dance, and more—are brought together under the umbrella of The VESTIGES Project to present their work in the Lupin Foundation Gallery, along with scheduled events in the Freeport-McMoRan Theater and additional off-site venues. These greatly varied works have evolved over the course of the past eight years, many winding their way through several iterations in different locales. The artists and works often traveled to cities with a high concentration of New Orleanians in diaspora, such as Houston and Atlanta. Others reached out to people and places with parallel coastal experiences and concerns. Some works passionately address issues such as global warming, public health, racism, and economic inequities, while others gently touch upon modes of peaceful escape, meanderings of memento mori, and metaphors and tools for intimate community healing and rebuilding. Assembled together, these works are a potent representation of just some of the creative networks documenting, remembering, and re-visioning post-Katrina New Orleans. The ongoing efforts to think through the past while establishing fresh connections propels us toward...

Duke University’s Center for Advanced Hindsight acquired work from BUREAU of CHANGE’s Taking Care of Trees project for it’s collection. Dan Ariely, behavioral economist, founder of the Center and also a popular TED talker and NYT best-selling author, explains the social implications BUREAU’s work:   “In this project, the artists challenge the buyers of the art with a self-control exercise. With a purchase, the buyers not only receive a piece of beautiful art, but they get to contribute to the earth by raising a tree. But with this comes accountability, as the artists require ongoing proof that the tree is alive and well. But, how long will the warm glow last? Will the exchange be as rewarding after four or five years? Long after the art has been lost or broken, the buyer may feel less enthusiastic about caring for their seedling as the initial joy of goodwill fades and the responsibility sets in.” MORE ON TED: Dan Ariely shows how and why human brains are predictably irrational  

BUREAU of CHANGE hosted a launch party and screening of our short documentary *EDUCATION NOT GUARANTEED on Friday, April 19 from 7PM to 10PM at 421 N Third St. in downtown Baton Rouge. Sparked by illegal student fee practices and misappropriation of digital media education funds at Louisiana State University, *EDUCATION NOT GUARANTEED reveals new information on how financial improprieties reflect a broader “academic environment where administrators and faculty feel free to indulge their fears and egos over their responsibility to students.” The documentary, which was created by LSU School of Art alumni and faculty, follows the journey of a student whose trust in the university dissipates as he witnesses how his education is sacrificed due to others’ corruption and deceit. As a gesture of Restitution to Students whose fee money was misappropriated for faculty iPads and other perks, BUREAU of CHANGE awarded surplus projectors, scanners and other equipment from the state of Louisiana to LSU students and alumni who attend the premiere. Free BUREAU of CHANGE t-shirts were available throughout the evening for all attendees.

CLICK HERE FOR (DIS)ORDER SOCIAL (DIS)ORDER SHEDS LIGHT ON TECHNOLOGY’S ROLE IN ART AND COMMUNICATION BY KASHA LISHMAN POSTED SEP 5, 2012   Have you ever strolled around LSU’s campus? Walked the mall? Sat at a party? Chances are that most people are nose-deep in iPhones and Androids, surfing the web or “creeping” Facebook. These days, you can tweet your favorite celebrity, and if you’re lucky they’ll tweet back. Read a blog, and you can gain knowledge that you’d never learn on the news or on television. Social networking is allowing information to be thrown at the public in new and inventive ways. People have a vast array of knowledge at their fingertips all day, every day. Margot Herster and Derick Ostrenko, both faculty in LSU’s School of Art and part of the AVATAR initiative, took notice and created Social (Dis)order, an interactive art exhibit to be held at the Glassell Gallery. Despite the recent hurricane, the exhibit is scheduled to open Sept. 5 and features unique and contemporary works with which visitors can interact. The month-long event focuses on how social networking sites like Facebook influence current social constructs, and the featured artists create works that play on the...

BUREAU of CHANGE is pleased to announce Social(dis)Order at the Glassell Gallery at the Shaw Center of the Arts, Louisiana State University. The exhibition is on view August 30-October 7 with a public reception on Friday, September 21, 6-8pm. Social(dis)order brings together creative works that explore the power technology enabled social networks have over traditional social constructs. Curated by BUREAU founder and LSU Digital Art and AVATAR faculty Margot Herster with Derick Ostrenko and assistant curator Lydia Dorsey, Social(dis)Order opens the LSU School of Art’s 2012-2013 programming, Tipping the Edge. The current state of digital media provides rapidly diversifying public platforms where social expression is used as a device for authority and influence. Social(dis)Order presents artists and artworks that engage the balances and imbalances, freedoms and controls, and comforts and discomforts that accompany social change. Social(dis)Order transforms the gallery into a media-rich exploratory social space and invites visitors to participate. The exhibition features seven interactive and participatory works by international artists whose creative practice explores the underlying motivations of the ubiquitous networks that keep people connected. Natalie Bookchin‘s video projection, My Meds from the series Testament, assembles a chorus of medicated video bloggers and contemplates the intimacy and anonymity of mass communication enabled by websites like Youtube. Take...