Proboscis

Private Reveries, Public Spaces

Private Reveries, Public Spaces is a unique series of artist commissions within Proboscis's new research program, SoMa - Social Matrices, which is based on a think-tank model. This program is a collaborative effort between Proboscis, the Royal College of Art's School of Communications and the London School of Economics. Private Reveries, Public Spaces  consists of a series of prototypes for public artworks using converging media technologies. Proboscis has initially asked 15 artists to propose works, and three has been fully realized. The three chosen prototypes were shown at a one-day seminar at the London School of Economics and included in a publication featuring all 15 proposed artworks.

The idea is to encourage creative projects without imposing limitations. While some prototypes may never be completed because of a lack of available technology, funding or time, the ideas will remain. A finished artwork is therefore not the goal of the project, and the curators feel that this open-ended model could stimulate extremely significant ideas. Organizers also hope to make the technology industry more aware of artists' and designers' potential to widen the scope of possibilities for these new communication technologies beyond the conventional commercial or entertainment roles they have played thus far.