On View at the Laband Art Gallery
Loyola Marymount University
January 23 – March 20, 2016
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 23, 2-5pm
Talks by Brewster Kahle, Founder of Internet Archive
and Artist Nuala Creed
Loyola Marymount University’s Laband Art Gallery and the William H. Hannon Library are collaborating on a new exhibit, From Clay to the Cloud: The Internet Archive and our Digital Legacy, which runs January 23- March 20, 2016.
From Clay to The Cloud explores the human impetus to preserve our knowledge, our memory, and our cultural heritage. Twenty years ago, the Internet Archive took on the challenge of creating a digital repository—a 21st-century Library of Alexandria—where swaths of our lives from the Internet and other sources will be stored for generations to come. In order to be useful, this unfathomably vast collection of data (over 20 petabytes and growing) needs to be explored and activated by humans who seek to tell stories and make sense of it. The exhibition looks at past and present archival practices and asks what are we saving, how will others be able to access it, and what will our cultural legacy be for the future?
Ancient clay cuneiforms will be on view as well as artist Nuala Creed’s ceramic statues depicting the people who are building the Internet Archive–crucial reminders of the human involvement in this digital library. Hands-on displays will offer visitors the opportunity to dive into the vast “storerooms” of the Internet Archive. A wall of monitors will convey both the unfathomable vastness of the archive and shine a spotlight on different specific aspects of the archive (pulling needles out of the haystack). A listening stationing made up of music from the Internet Archive’s collection can be perused in comfortable chairs. A gaming station will offer visitors the 3 opportunity to play a handful of video games archived on the Internet Archive. These games span the history and evolution of video gaming from Pong to PacMan to today. There will also be an 3-D Occulus Rift demonstration station
During the course of the exhibition, Laband and Hannon staff will be using a Table Top Scribe—the Internet Archive’s new state-of-the-art book scanner–in the gallery to digitally archive rare materials from the library’s special collections and Laband exhibition catalogues
Exhibition-Related Programs: (all events are free)
Opening Reception & Talk: Nuala Creed & Brewster Kahle
Saturday, January 23, 2-5pm ◊ Artist’s Talk 2:00-3:00pm ◊ Reception 3:00-5:00pm
Murphy Recital Hall and Laband Art Gallery
Internet Archive Founder Brewster Kahle and artist Nuala Creed offer insight into the archive and Creed’s unique artistic commission. The talk will be followed by a free reception. The talk is co-organized by the Laband Art Gallery and KaleidoLA: The Speaker Series of the Department of Art and Art History.
Ask An Archivist Panel
Wednesday. February 10, 5:30-7:00 pm
Von der Ahe Suite 322, William H. Hannon Library
Archivists representing diverse archives from across Southern California will discuss the relationship between researchers and archivists in the digital age.
DIY Archiving Workshop & Exhibition Tour
Saturday. February 13, 9:30am-12:30pm
Von der Ahe Suite 322, William H. Hannon Library
Learn how to best preserve your treasured documents, images, and objects, both print and digital. The workshop will be followed by a tour of the exhibition with curator Carolyn Peter.
Conversation: Gaming, Its Past and Its Future, Tracy Fullerton & Tom Klein
Tuesday, March 8, 7pm LMU Von der Ahe Building, Room 190
USC Game Designer/Professor Tracy Fullerton and LMU Animation Professor Tom Klein will discuss how traditions of analog and digital game design inform the creative process of current video game development. This program is co-organized with the School of Film and Television.
Talk: The Dark Side: Your Personal Archive, Data Collection, & Privacy
Date and Time TBD
TBD Location
Other types of archiving and data collection are occurring on a daily basis around our shopping, browsing, and physical location. Where is this information going and how do citizens protect their privacy in a digital age? This program is co-organized with the Department of Communication Studies.
Free Little Libraries
Dotted across LMU’s campus are Free Little Libraries where you can take a book and/or leave a book.
Stop by the Laband or the Hannon Library for a map and go on a treasure hunt to locate them all. For More Information For current program and exhibition information,
call 310-338-2880 or visit http://cfa.lmu.edu/laband.
Gallery Information
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Admission: Admission is free.
Parking is available on campus for a charge on the weekdays and for free on the weekends.