FAQ

What’s NOSO?
NOSO is a real-world platform for temporary disengagement from social networking environments. The NOSO experience offers a unique opportunity to create NO Connections by scheduling NO Events with other NO Friends.

These “NO” events, called NOSOs, take place in designated cafés, parks, libraries, bookstores, and other public spaces. Participants – whose identities remain unknown to one another – agree to arrive at an assigned time and remain alone, quiet and un-connected, while at the same time knowing that another “Friend” is present in the space.

NOSOs are scheduled by users through the NOSO website. They last for a duration of 1 - 30 minutes, after which participants disperse and return to their regular activities.

How do I join?
Simply register on the site, set up your profile and schedule a NOSO. Easy.

Why NOSO?
With the growth of online activity such as blogging, vlogging, podcasting, skyping, texting, IMing, dating, trading, buying, and selling, NOSO offers an oasis to the 21st-century Web 2.0 junkie, an opportunity to reflect on our 24/7 socially-mediated lifestyle.

As renowned researcher Linda Stone points out, we “desire to be a LIVE node on the network….To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter.” NOSO allows us to temporarily turn those connections off, but with a twist – the conceptual twist of negating contemporary modes of social interaction while operating within their language and structure.

Turning recent developments in urban street games and social-networking inside out, NOSO is on the down low – this is neither group play nor a popularity contest. There is no winner or loser, no need for technical or interpersonal skills, and there is no prize. This is an open-ended, one-on-one experience with hints of surveillance, voyeurism and even paranoia, intended to heighten awareness, increase attention and allow for the potential discovery of other NOSO participants in the city.

When and where is NOSO?
NOSO launches in San Fransisco, with temporary NOSO Zones throughout the city and a headquarters at Southern Exposure from March 16 through May 5, 2007. The NOSO HQ features a special NOSO Zone where visitors are invited to drop in, check their networking skills and devices at the door and experience the ambiguous benefits of NOSOcializing.

Southern Exposure
2901 Mission Street @25th Street
San Francisco, CA
MAP

Opening reception: Friday, March 16, 2007, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at SoEx

Artist talk [Glowlab founder Christina Ray and collaborator Kurt Bigenho]: Friday, March 16, 2007, 6:30 pm at SoEx

Additional Locations: Temporary NOSO Zones throughout San Francisco.

Can I get NOSO in my city?
If you’re interested in bringing NOSO to your city, please contact us.

What’s Glowlab?
Founded by Christina Ray, Glowlab is an artist-run production and publishing lab engaging urban public space as the medium for contemporary art and technology projects. It tracks emerging approaches to psychogeography, the exploration of the physical and psychological landscape of cities. Glowlab’s annual Conflux festival, exhibitions, events and bi-monthly web-based magazine support a network of artists, researchers and technologists around the world.

What’s Southern Exposure?
Southern Exposure (SoEx) is a 32-year-old, non-profit, artist-run organization dedicated to presenting diverse, innovative, contemporary art, arts education, and related programs and events in an accessible environment. Southern Exposure reaches out to diverse audiences and serves as a forum and resource center to provide extraordinary support to the Bay Area’s arts and educational communities. Activities range from exhibitions of local, regional, and international visual artists’ work, education programs, and lectures, panel discussions, and performances. Southern Exposure is dedicated to giving artists—whether they are exhibiting, curating, teaching, or learning—an opportunity to realize ideas for projects that may not otherwise find support.

Is this a joke?
It’s more like a riddle.