Image:Electric Cars, courtesy of the C0 2 E – Race
AUTOTOPIA: Cars for a Better Tomorrow a project of SEA (Social Environmental Aesthetics) April 8 – 30, 2011 Special Reception and Electric Car showcase:Featuring electric cars in Exit Art’s Main Gallery 475 Tenth Ave
New York, NY 10018 Saturday, April 23, 2011 / 12-6pm
In celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd , Exit Art are celebrating the electric car through an exhibition that documents its erratic history + an electric car showcase.
AUTOTOPIA: CARS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW, a project of SEA (Social Environmental Aesthetics), focuses on the history of the electric car in connection with political and environmental factors that have revolutionized the methods and technologies of transit.
The first electric car, made over 100 years ago, was invented soon after the combustion engine vehicle (the kind of engines we use today) was developed as a new way of powering automobiles. Today, electric cars must be seen as serious alternatives to the gasoline powered-vehicles that are depleting fossil fuel supplies, polluting the environment, and exacerbating our dependence on foreign oil. Cars are now being designed to enhance our lives – through the integration of digital communication systems – and improve our future, by providing a solution to our energy crisis . Wireless Internet allows vehicles to connect and share data on traffic patterns, intelligently coordinating movements and keeping drivers connected to social networks . The reinvention of the automobile, and the infrastructures that make it possible, will not be easy – but it will be essential.
This exhibition coincides with Earth Day, and is organized concurrently with the CO2 E-Race, the culminating event of New York City’s Earth Day celebration.
For more information on Earth Day New York, visit www.earthdayny.org.
Initiated in 2008, the CO2 E-Race (A Race for Climate Awareness) increases public awareness of global climate changes using CO2-friendly cars as a way to spread the message. The New York E-Race is a parade of electric cars through the streets of Manhattan; connected to GPS devices, their route can be tracked online and on the Toshiba jumbo screen in Times Square. The “E” shape formed by the parade draws attention to Earth Day and the electric car as the future of transportation, encouraging the public to “erase” climate change. For more information on the CO2 E-Race, visit www.co2erace.org/
Organized by Herb Tam, Associate Curator and Lauren Rosati, Assistant Curator.
EXIT ART 475 Tenth Avenue (at 36th Street), New York, NY 10018
www.exitart.org
