LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.- The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art presents “NANO,” on view through September 6, 2004. NANO explores the intersection between art and nanotechnology through works of art influenced and informed—both visually and conceptually—by nanotechnology (the science of molecules so small that they can no longer be seen but must be experienced through other means, e.g. the sense of touch). NANO presents a participatory environment where technology is not the overt focus but rather the means for investigating many of the influences and implications of science on contemporary culture. Continuing with LACMALab’s “age-free” approach, NANO engages young visitors with a participatory, immersive installation, while also challenging older visitors to consider a number of questions posed by the exhibition. NANO is comprised of multiple installations: at the entrance, images of arriving visitors will be immediately embedded into a virtual structure creating the “Los Angeles Genome.” Just beyond this entry installation, a space where touch, smell, hearing, and an unconscious sense of movement take priority over vision incorporates subtle changes in wall and floor textures. This leads to the “Cell-Space,” an immersive installation at the center of the exhibition, where visitors, projected graphics, and robot avatars together create a spatial “chemistry.” Here, the visitor is in a “molecular” space of ambiguous scale and is allowed to form relationships with various visual, aural, and physical elements as well as with other participants. Smaller installation-alcoves allow for a more intimate “tactoscopic” interaction to take place as well as for direct manipulation of atomic, molecular, and genetic material. Additionally, visitors are able to create personalized “nanobods” via the on-line NANO website. 

This exhibition was produced by LACMALab, a research and development unit of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and SINAPSE (Center for Social Interfaces & Networks, Advanced Programmable Simulations & Environments), University of California, Los Angeles. The exhibition was made possible in part by Union Bank of California and Bert Levy. In-kind support was provided by IBM and KJJZ 88.1 FM. LACMALab is supported in part by the Caryll Mudd Sprague Endowment for the Education of Children. Exhibitions in the Boone Children’s Gallery are made possible in part by the MaryLou and George Boone Children’s Gallery Endowment Fund.

Special Gallery Hours: Exhibitions in the Boone Children’s Gallery close at 5 p.m.