From June 4th to July 4th, The Grey Space embarks on a large-scale experiment entitled Perpetual Beta. In close collaboration with a group of makers and the public, a new form of presentation is explored based on the principles of open source. The result is an exhibition of work-in-progress, where the public is invited to take a look, participate and contribute.

The makers involved have in common that they all critically embrace technology: interactive design studio Moniker, design studio for interactive media RNDR and artist Carolien Teunisse, who forms an occasional duo together with designer Sabrina Verhage.

Collective Works designed the exhibition, created a modular support structure – in collaboration with Refunc architects – and developed their project ‘From 1.50 to 1.20’.

The online counterpart of the project will take place at perpetualbeta.online – an environment made in Common.Garden (developed by Constant Dullaart) – a virtual space where you can meet others and in which all documentation and events of Perpetual Beta are recorded and broadcasted by the OUTLINE collective.

–> 4 June to 4 July – Exhibition
See the projects emerge online and in The Grey Space. You can join our online space at perpetualbeta.online from the 4th of June, the physical exhibition space is open from the 9th of June.

–> 4 June – Opening Event with Sanne Bloemink and Arif Kornweitz
Introduction of the makers of Perpetual Beta and guest lectures by journalist and writer Sanne Bloemink and artificial intelligence and media philosophy researcher Arif Kornweitz moderated by Marijke Cobbenhagen. Join online or experience the program on our outdoor terrace with headphones on in a silent symposium.

–> 11 June – Maker Event #1 with Carolien Teunisse and Sabrina Verhage
Explore the city centre of The Hague with urban gardener Victor van Pieterson. Carolien and Sabrina will demonstrate their work-in-progress. Dinner optional.

–> 18 June – Maker Event #2 with Moniker
Roel Wouters and Luna Maurer from studio Moniker will share their creative process and dive deeper into dialogues and the specific role they play in their film Identity Training Facility in collaboration with Abke Haring and Vincent Rietveld, actors connected to theatre collective De Warme Winkel. Dinner optional.

–> 25 June – Maker Event #3 with RNDR
A meeting of minds in the realm of philosophy, neurobiology, design and artificial intelligence with philosopher and biologist Ellen ter Gast and RNDR co-founder Jeroen Barendse. Dinner optional.

–> 3 July – Closing Event with Constant Dullaart
Enjoy the festive final weekend of the Perpetual Beta exhibition, a guest lecture by artist Constant Dullaart and presentations by Luna Maurer & Roel Wouters (Moniker), Jeroen Barendse (RNDR), Carolien Teunisse and Sabrina Verhage. Dinner optional.

–> 3 July – Moving Downstairs
A special edition of the music and performance program Moving Downstairs dedicated to the Perpetual Beta project. Live coding performances by Noémi Biró, Timo Hoogland, Jonathan Reus, Carolien Teunisse, Sabrina Verhage and eerie_ear. The program is co-curated by iii, Creative Coding Utrecht and Netherlands Coding Live. Dinner optional.

Perpetual Beta can be visited online anytime from 4 June onwards via perpetualbeta.online and the exhibition at The Grey Space is open to the public between 9 June – 4 July on these days and hours:

–> Wednesday to Friday, 16:00-22:00
–> Saturday, 12:00-22:00
–> Sunday, 12:00-18:00

The makers will be present on the following days:
–> Wednesdays, Carolien Teunisse and Sabrina Verhage
–> Thursdays, RNDR
–> Fridays, Moniker

Children under the age of 13 get free entrance. Find more information about the events and tickets on the event pages.

–> Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and during some of the events The Grey Space serves dinner.
–> Dinner between 18:30-21:00, cafe and terrace open 16:00-22:00.
–> Payment at the bar (pin only).
–> Students get 20% discount on the drink menu.
–> Reservations: via reservations@thegreyspace.net or a DM on Facebook or Instagram. Please mention your name, the amount of guests, the date and which dish you would like.

Open source – a term used mainly for software development – means that the source code is open and transparent and can be used by anyone to improve, distribute and build on. Beta is another term from the IT world and stands for the test version that you improve upon in collaboration with users to develop subsequent versions, ultimately resulting in the alpha release. Perpetual Beta refers to an endless state of beta, a process in which continuous, flexible experimentation takes place and in which the users involved automatically become co-developers.

We would like to thank our partners: Common.Garden, OUTLINE, o, o, radio, The Hague Contemporary, We Are Public, iii, Creative Coding Utrecht, Netherlands Coding Live (NL_CL).

Perpetual Beta is made possible by: Creative Industries Fund NL and The City of The Hague.