Inspired by economic theorist Jeremy Rifkin’s book, The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism, this exhibition considers artwork made since 1990 to the present which reflect economic transition. “The capitalist era is passing...not quickly, but inevitably. A new economic paradigm – the Collaborative Commons – is rising in its wake that will transform our way of life. We are already witnessing the emergence of a hybrid economy, part capitalist market and part Collaborative Commons.

The two economic systems often work in tandem and sometimes compete. They are finding synergies along each other’s perimeters, where they can add value to one another, while benefiting themselves. At other times, they are deeply adversarial, each attempting to absorb or replace the other.” Jeremy Rifkin, excerpt from The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism, 2014 Whether we subscribe to Rifkin’s conceit, we can acknowledge the existence of tensions and shifts in our economic framework.

When major advancements in energy and communications collide, an Industrial Revolution arises. The exhaustion of fossil fuels and the advent of renewable energy in tandem with the application of the Internet, and now the Internet of Things, have propagated since the late 80s a Third Industrial Revolution. In turn, this development has brought on massive changes in every sector of society that are accelerating at unprecedented speed. How have artists been working in both form and content to reflect these vicissitudes in the world around us?

The exhibition Open Source looks at a selection of artists, most of them working since 1990, who have utilized new technologies, embraced a reimagined future, confronted ecological issues, sifted through cyborgs and post humanism, commented on the economy, and mined the overall psychological impact and flux of our cultural moment.

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