Living inside the grid

A grid is an abstract, simple mathematical structure ordered by ninety-degree angles and regularly spaced columns and rows. A grid is also the cities we live and work in, the buildings that tower over us, the electricity and fiber-optic networks that sustain our energy and information needs. We do, as the title of this thematic catalogue suggests, "live inside the grid." The pervasive grid-based visual and information systems that have come to increasingly define contemporary life are explored here by 24 international artists, for whom the grid is something very different than the motif it was for 20th century artists. Artists include Absalon, Jennifer Bolande, Jose Damasceno, Do-Ho Su, Luisa Lambri, Langlands & Bell, Mark Lombardi, Rita McBride, N55 and Danica Phelps. Organized around three critical positions, Living Inside the Grid considers the grid in architecture and urban space; interlocking cultural, linguistic and economic grids; and soft grids.