Imagine the following: a raw, unfinished new gallery space in Williamsburg that’s open evenings and Sundays but closed on Saturdays; inside, hard-to-sell art such as a Web-based installation by the British Net-art collective Fakeshop; on some evenings, musical events; and, last but not least, a weekly Webcast talk show. Sounds like an upstart artist-run, grant-funded nonprofit space, right? Or perhaps a boutique run by a bookish, Deleuzian critic turned dealer? An elaborate conceptual artwork produced by a European artist?

None of these, it turns out, describe the new 4000-square-foot gallery that Jeffrey Deitch is set to open on September 7 in Williamsburg. The obvious question here—why Williamsburg?—may have the equally obvious answer: Why not? Deitch is understandably loathe to follow the hordes of galleries to Chelsea at such a late date. The move would win him neither credit for a daring, trendsetting gesture nor a discount on his rent. And more importantly, perhaps, artists, curators, and collectors appear perfectly willing to visit a locale beyond the farthest reaches of Chelsea if the art is worth the trip. Brooklyn galleries like Pierogi 2000, Roebling Hall, and Momenta already draw a steady stream of visitors.

Deitch has opted, it would appear, for the strategy that has worked well for the Project, Christian Haye’s art-world outpost in Harlem. No stranger to Brooklyn, for the past five years, Deitch has maintained a warehouse in Williamsburg and helped artists whom he represents, including Vanessa Beecroft, find studio space there. “The energy in Brooklyn reminds me of SoHo in the ’70s,” says Deitch. “It's the place where artists live and spend their time. It's easy to connect with them without appointments, similar to the way I did in SoHo in the ’70s. I'd just be out on the street or at an event and meet people randomly.”

While it’s likely that we will see the usual exhibitions in the new space—whatever those may be—according to Deitch he intends to keep it oriented more toward performance and event-based art and interactive, happening-style “games” for visitors to play. These kinds of projects are already popular in Europe, where they have been increasingly prominent at biennials and fairs in recent years. Deitch is also developing a live artists’ talk show to be broadcast online each Friday, and has enlisted Josh Harris, the founder of the now-defunct Web entertainment company Pseudo.com and the host of We Live In Public, a website, also defunct, that featured Web cameras placed in his SoHo loft to capture his daily life.

The Brooklyn space will have offbeat hours—7 to 11 PM every day except for Saturday—a gesture that Deitch says is meant to encourage more careful viewing. “It's unbelievable how little time people spend in Chelsea galleries. They’re in and out in literally a minute or less. But at night, we think people will spend at least half an hour or an hour looking, and with an event, they’ll be involved.”

— Reena Jana