Brian Eno's 77m Paintings Debuts in the U.S.

Venice, Milan and London have all enjoyed live installations of Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings, and finally, it's here in the US and A! For the next previous three evenings, folks got up close and personal with the work of the legendary musician/producer/artist at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Utilizing an army of Macs and apps like Photoshop, Eno and a programmer created generative software that remixes – and broadcasts onto 35 monitors and a few a 12.5 x 45-ft. screen – images created by the man over the last two decades. The Underwire will be was on hand Sunday evening for a good portion of the five-hour extravaganza. Some highlights after the jump...

The final night of 77m Paintings' North American debut was a decidedly San Franciscan affair. The work was exhibited in a large, dark hall adorned with a few large bean bag chairs and carpet up front. Several bodies were reclining on the hardwood floors all around; and a handful of folks were clearly listening to the ambient soundtrack more than they were gawking at the images, which is a shame, because everything meshed beautifully. The most challenging aspect about the work is just where to look. The changes are so subtle – and the screen so immense – that at any given time it is easy to get 'lost' in one section and miss what's happening elsewhere.

Two highlights:

*In the lobby: one guy proudly showing off his iPhone to a small crowd

*Inside the exhibit: Hearing someone off to the side talking somewhat loudly and looking over to discover it was the man himself, Brian Eno (!). He was pointing to the screen and explaining things to a few of his associates. Minus his chatting, the room remained relatively silent for the hour we spent inside, which is pretty incredible, considering there was booze at the event.

As he told the SF Chronicle:

"A lot of people sitting very quietly, completely lost in this thing – it's an amazing thing to see. I've really never seen this kind of viewer behavior, where the thing that's going on is terribly slow, there's not much happening, and there are no big surprises or anything. It completely contradicts the common assumption that people's attention spans are getting shorter. I think the opposite is the case, actually. I think people are really ready for very long, still experiences in a way that they haven't ever been before, or for a very long time, anyway."

*DISCLOSURE: The event is being was presented by the Long Now Foundation. Board member Kevin Kelly publishes Cool Tools, the blog I edit when I'm not under the wire.