The Institute for Infinitely Small Things conducts creative, participatory research that aims to temporarily transform public spaces and instigate dialogue about democracy, spatial justice and everyday life. The Institute’s projects use performance, conversation and unexpected interventions to investigate social and political “tiny things”. Based mostly in Boston, MA, the group’s membership is varied and interdisciplinary.
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The Border Crossed Us
The Border Crossed Us is a temporary public art installation by the Institute for Infinitely Small Things that transplants the US-Mexico border fence in southern Arizona to the UMass Amherst campus.
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No One Has Yet Determined What The Body Can Do
On Sunday, October 1 2011 the Institute joined with Occupy Boston in the 6th HONK! Parade to carry signs with two messages: “NO ONE HAS YET DETERMINED WHAT THE BODY CAN DO” and “#OCCUPYBOSTON”.
At 7AM Thursday, October…
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Transgender Bathroom Dedication
Transgender Bathroom Dedication dedicates the men’s room at the MFA Boston to Dean Spade who was arrested in 2002 for using the men’s room in Grand Central Station and dedicates the women’s room at the MFA Boston to Chrissy Pollis…
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Failure Support Group
Is there, actually, a recipe for failure? Are certain methodologies more prone to failure than others? How? What is at stake in acknowledging failure in one’s process, one’s community, or one’s career?
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Digging for Happiness
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things sought happiness through the labor of digging an enormous hole in the front yard of a Cambridge family who volunteered their land for this purposelessness.
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Origami Stimulus Package
The Institute and members of the MIT Origami Club held a party to make origami creations out of the 600-page economic stimulus package. Part of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts at Brandeis University, Waltham MA.
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The Working is the Work
Members of the Institute for Infinitely Small Things took on the role of laborers at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston as part of the programming for the exhibition The World as a Stage. The regular workers went…
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Free Fear from the USA (if you take it)
A reverse shoplifting experiment to bring American fear & insecurity to Canadian bookstores. The Institute for Infinitely Small Things deposited over 40 copies of their self-published “New American Dictionary: Security/Fear Edition” into Vancouver bookstores & educational institutions.
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The City Formerly Known As Cambridge
What would the city look like if we could rename all of our public spaces, right now? The Institute invited members of the public to RENAME places in Cambridge, MA, for the 2008 publication of a map of “The City…
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Unmarked Package
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things toted hundreds of “Unmarked Packages” around Chicago to poll residents about terrorism and fear in public space. The results were published as a video research report.
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Everything is in Order
A performance by the Institute for Infinitely Small Things at the Decordova Museum & Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA. Visitors were greeted with assurances that everything at the suburban museum was just fine and there was nothing to worry about.…
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Transferring Patriotism
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things is selling its patriotism to any interested buyers. Once the sale is made, the full transfer of our patriotism to you will occur in the following way:
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The New American Dictionary: Security/Fear Edition
This book catalogs over 60 terms related to fear and security which have entered American English since 9/11, including new terms (“freedom fries”, “islamofascist”) and old terms which have been redefined (“torture”). The books are available on amazon.com for…
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How do you take your coffee? / Kakvu Piješ Kafu?
A proposal to do five public performances and a video documentary to research the “development” and “modernization” accompanying the rise of the tourism economy in Podgorica, Montenegro, a country on track to be part of the EU.
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Corporate Commands
The Institute for Infinitely Small Things performs corporate commands where they occur in the urban landscape. We try to perform each command as literally as possible. There have been more than 15 performances of corporate commands in the U.S. and…
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57 Things to Do for Free in Harvard Square
The Institute was commissioned to do a work for a public video screen in Harvard Square, an outdoor mall in Cambridge, MA. The resulting work is a video guidebook for tourists in Harvard Square which instructs them in 57 things…