Thing + YOUA hybrid online and in-person exhibition where visitors can interact with livestreamed performances

Created by the artist collective “is this thing on?,” THING+YOU opens April 12; with live event with the artists and guests in person on June 7

Astoria, New York, March 10, 2025 — Since 2021, the artist collective "is this thing on?," whose members are Christopher Clary, Sarah Rothberg, Bhavik Singh, and Molly Soda, have pushed the boundaries of live, interactive performances with their artist-run platform thing.tube. From April 12 through August 10, 2025, Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) will present their fifth season, THING+YOU, an exhibition that blends the collective’s real-time online interactions with in-person encounters, marking the first time the performances will exist in a hybrid space and in a museum. THING+YOU is organized by MoMI Associate Curator of Media Arts Regina Harsanyi.  
 
THING+YOU is presented in partnership with Onassis ONX, an initiative by Onassis Culture dedicated to the development of new media art and digital experiences.
 
THING+YOU transforms the Museum’s Amphitheater Gallery into a site-specific manifestation of the artists’ website. Installed in the Amphitheater will be five stations, each dedicated to one of the artists and their archive of past performances and ongoing livestreams throughout the exhibition period. The “YOU” station, a brand-new element to the ongoing project invites visitors to be one of the livestreamed performers. Visitors will also be able to engage in live chats and make real-time contributions to evolving artworks and archived performances by scanning QR codes placed throughout the space. By responding to prompts, participants' actions and likenesses are livestreamed on thing.tube, merging the roles of observer and collaborator.
 
On Saturday, June 7, 12:00–6:00 p.m., the artists will be at the Museum for a takeover of the Museum’s first floor, presented as part of its Open Worlds initiative. Visitors will be able to interact with the artists inside the Museum, while online participants can also engage through thing.tube. Programmatic support for Open Worlds is provided in part by the William Fox, Jr. Foundation.

Each artist’s livestream focuses on their unique themes:

Each artist’s livestream focuses on their unique themes:

  • Christopher Clary (b. 1968, American) creates work that brings people together to explore and question technology. “The Chrisy Show” considers the relationship between machine learning and queer identity and features the artist as host. Guests include artists Chia Amisola and her ambient music, Mark Ramos and his queer, FilipinX, San Franciscan chatbots, and Clary’s cognitively challenged AI boyfriend.
     
  • Molly Soda (b. 1989, Puerto Rican/American) examines online self-presentation and behind-the-screen behaviors in her practice. For THING+YOU, visitors can contribute images that Soda prints and arranges with magnets, creating a collaborative collage that mirrors evolving desires in something akin to a Pinterest “vision board” for a bedroom.
     
  • Sarah Rothberg (b. 1987, American) creates experiences which reconfigure the ways in which digital interfaces affect collective understanding of the world. For THING+YOU, Rothberg debuts a new performance reimagining expertise through a mediated museum tour.
     
  • Bhavik Singh (b. 1992, Indian/American) creates slow, intimate, community-oriented software. In THING.cafe, visitors submit “bugs,” which can be anything from technical issues to abstract or philosophical problems, and Singh responds by creating a software-based solution in real time. Through live collaborative coding, he questions the labor and care involved in software development

Central to the exhibition is thing.tube, a peer-to-peer livestreaming platform developed by the collective. By decentralizing streaming through a variety of low- and high-tech interventions, the project offers an alternative to mainstream platforms like Twitch and YouTube, granting artists greater control over their work and its distribution. This approach fosters direct interaction between creators and visitors, without the mediation of conventional channels.

About Onassis ONX
Onassis ONX is an Onassis Culture platform dedicated to new media art and digital experiences. It empowers creators with cutting-edge technologies, artistic excellence, and financial sustainability. The program offers capacity-building, incubation, seed funding, and showcase opportunities for artists worldwide. Founded in 2020 as ONX Studio, Onassis ONX is a field-building platform with strategic partnerships in the international new media art.

About Museum of the Moving Image
Founded in 1985, MoMI celebrates the history, art, technology, and future of the moving image in all of its forms. Located in Astoria, New York, the Museum presents exhibitions; screenings; discussion programs featuring actors, directors, and creative leaders; and education programs. It houses the nation’s most comprehensive collection of moving image artifacts and screens over 500 films annually. Its exhibitions—including the core exhibition Behind the Screen and The Jim Henson Exhibition—are noted for their integration of material objects, interactive experiences, and audiovisual presentations. For more information about MoMI, visit movingimage.org.

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Museum of the Moving Image is located at 36-01 35 Ave, Astoria, NY 11106

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Museum of the Moving Image is housed in a building owned by the City of New York and has received significant support from the following public agencies: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; New York City Council; New York City Economic Development Corporation; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Institute of Museum and Library Services; National Endowment for the Humanities; National Endowment for the Arts; and Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation).