Listening Post and Hole in Space at Montpellier's New Centre La Panacée

Montpellier has inaugurated La Panacée, a new centre dedicated to contemporary cultures, under director Franck Bauchard. Its first season is themed 'Vous avez un message' (You have a message). The inaugural exhibition 'Conversations électriques' features 231 LED displays in Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin's 'Listening Post' (2001), which streams real-time forum and chat messages. The show also includes Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz's 1980 performance 'Hole in Space', which linked New York's Lincoln Center with Los Angeles' Century City shopping mall via satellite for three evenings. Matthias Gommel's 'Delayed' (2002) invites participation with microphones and headphones that introduce a few seconds' delay. The exhibition, running from June 22 to December 15, 2013, explores how artists from John Cage to Yoko Ono have repurposed communication technologies. Documentation of ephemeral works becomes art itself as technologies become obsolete.