WHERE THERE’S SMOKE press materials





SEPTEMBER 2nd - DECEMBER 20th, 2025 👉 RYAN LEE GALLERY
    Where There’s Smoke 
    at RLWindow on the High Line

Lance Weiler will stage the latest iteration of his award winning Where There’s Smoke, a narrative collage - blending memoir, participatory art, grief ritual, and emerging technology at the RLWindow from September 2nd - December 20th. 

Where There’s Smoke @ RLWindow is made possible thanks to the support of the Solana Foundation.  

    PLEASE NOTE: The following are mockups




        ABOUT WTS
        Where There’s Smoke is an immersive storytelling project by Lance Weiler that spans exhibitions, virtual experiences and live performances. WTS is a mystery about life, loss and memory. 

        All families have secrets. Skeletons hidden in closets. Things left unsaid.

        In Where There’s Smoke, project creator Lance Weiler unravels the secrets of his enigmatic father — a volunteer firefighter and amateur fire scene photographer — and two devastating fires that struck the Weiler family in the early 1980s. In the final months of his battle with colon cancer, his father invites Lance to interview him, and these conversations reignite 30 years of wondering… were those fires more than tragic accidents?



        See a thread on the evolution of the project.
         

          "The work is both deeply personal and universally resonant, navigating an unfolding enigma of family secrets, mortality, and the impermanence of memory."
         


        "Where There's Smoke is the most ambitious project I've ever undertaken. The work is constantly evolving, and at its core, WTS experiments with generative forms of storytelling and art-making. The aesthetic of the piece leans into the malleability of memory, illustrating how perspective can shift and how one can view the past through a variety of lenses. Each iteration of the project holds a vast history spanning a lifetime, a delicate balance of memories, life, and loss." - Lance Weiler


        HOW IT WORKS

            WTS @ RLWindow consists of the following 

          IN THE WINDOW
          • A large scale narrative collage that evolves over the course of the run 




          • Two live collage performances by Lance Weiler (dates TBD)







          PUBLIC INTERACTION
          • Visitors to the High Line can interact with WTS by texting a number visible within the window. Moderated responses are added to the collage and inscribed onto the blockchain acting as type of digital tombstone.





          BLOCKCHAIN ELEMENTS
          • Inscriptions (moderated text from SMS interaction by visitors to the High Line)
          • 1/1 piece documenting the installation (time lapse collage of RLWindow)
          • Limited Edition Performative Mints captured during live collaging window performance (2 x)



          PHYSICAL ELEMENTS 
          • A series of light box collages 










          WTS at RLWindow is built on a foundation of the following 1. Fire Photos, 2. Exhibition Data, 3. Glitch Art 

          ①②③


          ① FIRE PHOTOS  


          INCLUDED IN THE NARRATIVE COLLAGING FOR WTS @ RLWindow - Robert Weiler (1939 - 2018) served as a volunteer firefighter and pursued his passion as an amateur fire scene photographer. Following his passing, a hidden collection of over 60,000 35mm slides was discovered. Truly an outsider artist, Robert Weiler's photography is now being exhibited and appreciated for the first time in a touring version of Where There’s Smoke. 









          ② EXHIBITION DATA 

          INCLUDED IN THE NARRATIVE COLLAGING FOR WTS @ RLWindow - DATA collected from guests during the ArtYard exhibition of Where There’s Smoke that ran from June - October, 2023. A geo-fence was built around the gallery space and each guest carried a flashlight containing a microcontroller. The Real Time Location System (RTLS) that we built was able to capture pathway, density, time spent and story elements triggered. 






          ③ GLITCH ART  



          INCLUDED IN THE NARRATIVE COLLAGING FOR WTS @ RLWindow - In the distinctive realm of glitch art, Lance Weiler stands out for his profound engagement with the genre, particularly through his project Where There’s Smoke. Utilizing glitch-based techniques and pixel manipulation, he explores themes of life, loss, and memory with remarkable depth. Integrating his father's photography, Weiler adds a personal dimension that bridges past and present, digital and analog, while delving into memory's malleability. His work in Where There’s Smoke serves as a metaphor for the fluid nature of memory, challenging viewers to question the reliability of their recollections in the digital age. Weiler's contributions not only advance glitch art but also offer insightful commentary on the effects of digital mediums on our understanding of history and identity.












          WTS TIMELINE

          2025 
          September - December
          Coming Soon - WTS at RLWindow 



          2024 
          December
          Art Basel, Miami - Solana Artist Residency 





          2024 
          April
          Generative Smoke - a series of pieces made from ArtYard Exhibition data - consisting of guest pathway, densitity, time spent and stories unlocked. Collaged with 35mm fire photography and glitch-based processing. 




          2023 
          Oct - November
          WTS live performances at ArtYard, Lincoln Center and the Portland Art Museum’s Expanded Cinema program 





          2023 
          June - October
          WTS at ArtYard in Frenchtown, NJ - 3.000 sq ft exhibition 
          Generative audio, RTLS, UWB, Mircocontroller, State Machine 





          2020-2022 
          WTS stages virtual performances
          Zoom, Miro, SSM browser-based collage 






          2019
          April
          WTS at Tribeca Film Festival in collaboration with Wallplay
          1,400 sq ft storefront installation 
          Generative Video, Audio, Internet of Things, State Machine












          ABOUT THE ARTISTS




          Lance Weiler (aka culturehacker) is a storyteller, emerging media artist, entrepreneur, and thought leader working in film, theatre, games, and code. An alumnus of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, Lance is recognized as a pioneer because of the way he mixes storytelling and technology. For over 20 years he’s been innovating at the forefront of entertainment – leading the industry into the digital age. He’s a Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University where he also founded the school’s Digital Storytelling Lab.






          Robert D. Weiler (1939 - 2018) occupies a unique place in the annals of American photography and firefighting history. As a dedicated volunteer firefighter, Weiler merged his civic duty with his passion for photography, chronicling thousands of fire scenes throughout Philadelphia and its vicinities. His extensive collection, discovered posthumously, encompasses over 60,000 35mm slides that were hidden in a garage, remaining unseen during his lifetime.












          ©2025 Where There’s Smoke + culturehacker