7x7.no

What It Is

7x7 (Seven on Seven) is not a design tool or SaaS product in the traditional sense. Instead, it is an experimental cross-disciplinary initiative launched in 2010 by Rhizome, the digital art organization affiliated with the New Museum in New York. Its core format is highly distinctive: seven leading contemporary artists are paired one-on-one with seven visionary technologists and challenged to create a new artwork, product prototype, or anything else they can imagine within a limited timeframe.

Core Dimension Analysis

In terms of tool/service type, it is a cross-disciplinary innovation event and digital art content platform. Its core function is to foster deep collisions between art and technology, with outcomes presented through online premieres—such as the 2020 Stavanger edition’s seven 40-minute livestreamed episodes—and offline exhibitions. Collaboration is the soul of the project; in 2020, due to the pandemic, it further explored remote interdisciplinary collaboration models. Its resource library scale consists of an archive of pairings accumulated since 2010. As for export and compatibility and licensing and copyright, these are not applicable because this is not a software product, though the resulting digital art prototypes are highly inspiring.

Pricing

The project is funded by organizations such as the Arts Council Norway and Deutsche Bank. Online premieres are free to the public. It is nonprofit in nature and has no commercial pricing model.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths lie in its unmatched experimental spirit and deep cross-disciplinary approach. The participant lineup is impressive, including figures such as Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang and the well-known digital art duo JODI, and it is backed by the authority and resources of Rhizome and the New Museum. Its limitations are that it is not a productivity tool and cannot be directly used for everyday design work. In addition, updates depend on the annual event cycle, so the frequency is relatively low.

Who It’s For

This project is well suited to digital artists, creative coders, interaction designers, and interdisciplinary researchers looking for inspiration at the intersection of emerging technology and contemporary culture.

Access from China

The website is hosted in Norway (.no domain), and there are no clear signs of blocking. However, video streaming may be affected by local network conditions, so its access status is assessed as unknown.