Eva and Franco Mattes

Eva and Franco Mattes
Born	1976 (age 40–41) Italy
Known for	Conceptual Art, New Media Art
Website	0100101110101101.org

Eva and Franco Mattes (both born in Italy in 1976) are a duo of artists based in New York City. Since meeting in Berlin in 1994, they have never separated. Operating under the pseudonym 0100101110101101.org, they are counted among the pioneers of the Net Art movement and are renowned for their subversion of public media. They produce art involving the ethical and political issues arising from the inception of the Internet. The work investigates the fabrication of situations, where fact and fiction merge into one. They are based in Brooklyn, New York, but also travel frequently throughout Europe and the United States.

From 1995–97, the Mattes toured the world’s most important museums in Europe and the United States, and stole 50 fragments from well-known works by artists such as Duchamp, Kandinsky, Beuys, and Rauschenberg. This work, titled "Stolen Pieces", exhibited the stolen fragments in glass cabinets: a porcelain piece of Duchamp's urinal, skin from an Alberto Burri painting, etc. They have manipulated video games, internet technologies and street advertising to reveal truths concealed by contemporary society. Their media facades were believable enough to elicit embarrassing reactions from governments, the public, and the art world. In addition, they have orchestrated several unpredictable mass performances, staged outside art spaces, and involved unwitting audiences in scenarios that mingle truth and falsehood to the point of being indistinguishable. Their off-the-wall performances—for which they have been sued multiple times—include affixing fake architectural heritage plaques (An Ordinary Building, 2006), rolling out a media campaign for a non-existent action movie (United We Stand, 2005 ) and even convincing the people of Vienna that Nike had purchased the city’s historic Karlsplatz and was about to rename it “Nikeplatz” (Nike Ground, 2003 ).

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