Talk to Me

The exhibition features a wide range of objects from all over the world—from interfaces and products to diagrams, visualizations, and furniture by designers, students, and scientists—all designed in the past few years or currently under development. It is organized by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, and Kate Carmody, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art.

All objects contain information that goes well beyond their immediate use or appearance. In some cases, objects like cell phones and computers exist to provide people with access to complex systems and networks, behaving as gateways and interpreters. Whether openly and actively, or in subtler, more subliminal ways, objects talk to people—and designers write the initial script on which the dialogue will be improvised and developed. Talk to Me focuses on objects and concepts that involve direct interaction, such as interfaces for ATM ’s, check-in kiosks, and emergency dispatch centers; visualization design rendering complex data about cities and nations; communication devices and other products that translate and deliver information; expressive and talkative objects; and projects that establish a practical, emotional, or even sensual connection between their users and entities such as cities, companies, governmental institutions—as well as other people. Projects in current development form the bulk of the exhibition. A diverse array of examples are included in the exhibition—from computer and machine interfaces to websites, video games, products, concepts, and tools, as well as installations.

Among the works in the exhibition are: Kacie Kinzer’s Tweenbots—little cardboard robots that roam New York City asking for assistance from passersby; the Eyewriter—created by a team of graffiti artists and hackers including Zach Lieberman, James Powderly, Evan Roth, Chris Sugrue, and Theo Watson—a pair of standard glasses equipped with eye-tracking technology and custom-developed software, which allows a graffiti artist (Tony Quan) stricken with ALS to draw again using his eyes; The Prayer Companion, created by the Interaction Research Studio at Goldsmiths University London, a T-shaped device that subtly scrolls global information across its face in order to inform an order of cloistered nuns based in Northern England of world issues that could benefit from their prayers; and Walking Papers, a project by San Francisco-based design and technology studio Stamen that allows anyone, without complex GPS equipment or technical knowledge, to map on a local scale with pen and paper, and via QR codes, their recorded information can be entered into the global wiki-style online database of OpenStreetMap (wiki.openstreetmap.org).

The curators are documenting the process of organizing Talk to Me from its early stages through its opening in July 2011 on an online journal, which can be found at www.moma.org/talktome. The site features the projects they are currently studying and the ones they have already selected, relevant references, and feedback and suggestions from designers and writers. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication, public programs, and a website.