One exhibition. A thousand artists. No curator.

Bitmapping is an exhibition, an experiment in democratic art, a multi-authored visual narrative, and a game. It offers anyone with a camera-phone the opportunity to contribute to a unique, organically evolving body of work - a consensual roadmap of perspectives and close-ups on the fabric of modern life.

Participants are invited to sign up to the project by text and, once joined, will receive a single image at an unspecified point during the exhibition period. They will then get 2 hours to respond with an image of their own; their response is then passed to the next participant in line, and so on, in a growing lattice of image-strings, to be hung in real time.

Organisers Sarah Eyre and Deyan Raykov devised the project as a response to the creative potential new technology like MMS messaging has begun to provide, with regards to accessing and participating in contemporary art. Bitmapping takes the idea of democracy in art to its logical conclusion, turning the traditional art experience on its head; each exhibition that results from the project will feature over 500 artists on its walls. The philosophy that everyone can be an artist and have a valid voice in the artistic experience, is being given more than lip-service here. Participants from all walks of life are invited to take part, giving them, for two hours, the singular responsibility of being an artist. Everyone plays the same game, everyone has the same amount of time to respond.
As an experience, participating in the challenge mirrors a childhood game such as ‘Pass it on’, or the surreal parlour room pleasures of ‘Consequences’ where the links between images are only understood individually, by each player in question.