If you know Rhizome, you know they've long maintained a unique place at the intersection of conceptual art, experimental tech, and pure geekdom. TRLab is delighted to be partnering with Rhizome this summer and fall on projects that will support its ongoing mission and dig deeper into the Rhizome archive.

Founded by artist Mark Tribe in 1996 as an email listserv and now based online and in NYC, Rhizome.org is a nonprofit organization and online resource dedicated to the presentation, scholarship, and preservation of digital art and culture. Not only does Rhizome preserve individual artworks and cultural artifacts, by way of the ArtBase, their archive of over 2,000 works of born-digital art, but their preservation team also develops infrastructure, researches new preservation processes, and engages with open-source software projects. In addition, Rhizome actively commissions artists who make work that responds to network culture and digital technologies.

Their name, taken from the botanical term for an underground stem that connects plants in a network, reflects their focus on connectivity to create unique moments in art. Since 2010, Rhizome has organized Seven on Seven (7x7), an event that pairs artists with tech luminaries for collaborative projects. The participants are given a simple assignment to create something new, which is unveiled at a public event. Over the years, 7x7 has given rise to significant projects and conversations. Some partnerships include Ai Weiwei × Jake Appelbaum (2015), Matthew Angelo Harrison x Trevor McFedries (2019) and Sarah Meyohas x Tarun Chitra (2019). Most notably, in 2014, Quantum, the first-ever NFT, was minted publicly at a 7x7 event by Anil Dash and Kevin McCoy.

As Rhizome celebrates its 20th year as an affiliate-in-residence at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, TRLab will partner with Rhizome in shepherding in the next milestone moments in generative art and NFTs, engaging our communities in the conversation along the way.

Stay tuned for more information on what is to come!

About Rhizome

Rhizome champions born-digital art and culture through commissions, exhibitions, scholarship, and digital preservation. Founded by artist Mark Tribe as an email discussion list including some of the first artists to work online, Rhizome has played an integral role in the history of contemporary art engaged with digital technologies and the internet.

Since 2003, Rhizome has been an affiliate in residence at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas. Together, New Museum, Rhizome, and NEW INC, the first museum-led incubator founded by New Museum in 2014, explore the future of contemporary art and technology.

Rhizome is a 501(c)3 organization that relies on grants, partnerships, and contributions from individuals like you. Become a supporter today!

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About TRLab

TRLab fuses Web3 technology with fine art expertise to pioneer the future of collecting. Since its founding in 2021, TRLab has successfully designed and launched NFT collecting experiences with leading digital and traditional artists, including “The Calder Question”, a multi-season educational project developed with the Calder Foundation; “Your Daytime Fireworks,” an interactive collecting journey with contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, which was shortlisted for a 2022 Lumen Prize; and “Vogue Meta-Ocean”, the first digital art collection curated by Vogue editors worldwide. Exploding the Self", a 2021 limited-edition NFT series co-developed with Cai Guo-Qiang, is now represented in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Co-founded by Audrey Ou, CEO, and Xin Li-Cohen, Deputy Chairman at Christie’s, TRLab is backed by partners and investors from both the fine art and tech sectors, including Dragonfly Capital, Pace Verso, and Rockbund Art Museum, one of Asia’s premier contemporary art museums.

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