An event focusing on sound art and new media works-in-progress from the Flux Factory community. We will consider how being part of a group of socially engaged artists working as a collective contributes to the development of creative technology practices.

Harvestworks Art and Technology
Building 10a, Nolan Park, Governors Island, NY
Sunday October 16, 2022, 2-4pm

PRESENTERS

Roopa Vasudevan

"Slow Response" is an ongoing series in which I laboriously attempt to render working quick response (QR) codes through a variety of materials, methods, and configurations. In each code, I attempt to re-create a process that is typically done within milliseconds by computational systems; the techniques I use take much, much longer than that. Unlike computer-generated codes — and maybe contrary to the intent of the format — the QR codes I create are fickle, inconsistent and do not always scan. They also often contain technical imperfections due to distractions, miscounting/miscalculating, and other errors that can only be described as human. The series, as a whole, addresses the ubiquity of these digital artifacts that never quite seem to fit within everyday life or appeal to our aesthetic standards, yet have so quickly engendered automatic responses and expectations from those who regularly use mobile devices.

Dario Mohr

This is a recorded conversation regarding the spiritual practices of West Africa that I had with brothers from Nigeria that I traveled across West Africa with. This took place during a personalized tour with Ucomeafrik tour company. It was an honest conversation I had as a First Generation Grenadian, U.S. citizen, visiting West Africa (Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria) to learn about my Akan and Ga tribal ancestry. I would consider myself agnostic with pantheist beliefs, and they (Confidence and Evans) practice a version of Christianity with some Vodun beliefs. I struggled to find videos, podcasts and articles online answering the questions that I had regarding ancestral West African spirituality, and found this to be an important conversation. My hopes are that it answers some questions and that people of African descent may have but don't have the opportunity to ask about. I was blessed to have had the opportunity to meet these men and hope that it expands other’s understanding of West African spiritual practices.

Lee Tusman

During the pandemic I have been creating experimental interactive autobiographical stories presented within game engines, websites or computer operating systems. These works use my own drawings, audio recordings and writing, stitched together with custom software I write that makes them 'playable' in a manner similar to a video game in an attempt to create new forms of poesis and personal narrative. Despite my emphasis on writing code, my background in zinemaking, collage and electronic music production drive the aesthetic in ways that feel more beholden to DIY arts cultures than the current crop of Machine Learning-driven artworks.In my current body of work I am designing autonomous generative systems to present abstract narratives, dream diaries, and new unfolding simulations. In these works, a story is presented non-linearly. They appear as abstract animated stories where even I the creator are uncertain what may happen next. There is a tension in these two different ways of working between finding new and surprising narratives and the 'authentic' and personal, and a risk of algorithms to produce 'sameness' that permeates most AI-driven artworks.

Amelia Marzec

All That Is Seen And Unseen examines the relationship of queerness and Catholicism within the Central/Eastern European diaspora. It includes a series of sculptures based on roadside shrines, such that one would find in liminal spaces where people need to feel protected, like at the edge of a marsh. Ironically, these are often situated in rural areas of Poland that are present-day LGBT-free zones. The sculptures contain an electronic communication system which broadcasts stories collected from the community. I also include software for projection mapping, where imagery based on traditional Slavic papercutting techniques is generated and projected onto churches. The images depict women's bodies, weapons, and pre-Christian symbols.

Heidi Neilson

Remote Magnetometer is a quasi-replica of an actual magnetometer scientific instrument on the NOAA-NASA geostationary weather satellite GOES-16. Remote Magnetometer is in a sense paired with the actual magnetometer instrument in near-real time, expressing here on earth the data collected by the satellite instrument in orbit.The satellites we place in Earth's orbit are in essence our robot avatars—we experience alien, deadly, distant orbital space through their sensor-based eyes, ears, and skin. This project is intended to convey the reality and activity of a particular sensor instrument aboard an operational satellite to have a way of directly sensing-by-proxy what it detects: the energy of the Sun and its interaction with the Earth’s protective magnetosphere. The project mission is to inspire an appreciation for infrastructure systems we rely on and the protective nature of Earth as a whole for life.


BIOS

ROOPA VASUDEVAN is a South Asian-American media artist, computer programmer and researcher, currently based in Philadelphia. Her work examines social and technological defaults; interrogates rules, conventions and protocols that we often ignore or take for granted; and centers humanity and community in explorations of technology’s impacts on society. Through a varied creative toolkit that includes data collection practices, systems design, web development, and remix, she seeks to emphasize personal and human experiences, often on an individual or local level, in a time of Big Data and surveillance capitalism. Roopa is a current member artist at Vox Populi, one of Philadelphia’s longest-operating collectively-run arts spaces; a 2020 Eyebeam Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future Fellow (Phase 1); a Mellon Foundation–Simon Fraser University Artist Fellow as part of the Data Fluencies Project (2022–2025); and a member of the Art & Code track at NEW INC, the art and technology incubator at the New Museum (New York, NY; track in partnership with Rhizome). She is a PhD candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication at Penn, where her dissertation focuses on the complex and involved relationships between new media artists and the technology industry.
https://roopavasudevan.com
@rouxpz

DARIO MOHR is a first generation Grenadian, U.S. citizen born in 1988. Based in New York City, Mohr is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and non profit leader. He received a BFA in Painting from Buffalo State College, an MFA in Studio Art from The City College of New York and an Advanced Certificate in At Education from Queens College. His work involves the creation of “sacred spaces” referencing his heritage, and expressing commentary on the cultural zeitgeist through immersive sanctuary experiences. His practice is interdisciplinary, converging painting, sculpture, installation, digital art and film. Recently, he has accompanied his work with performances, including “The Archetype Activation Ritual” presented in tandem with his solo show presented as artist in residence at Materials For the Arts. He also began presenting in public spaces, with notable works including “Sow the Seeds” created during his 2021 Fellowship with ArtBridge, and “Revelations Across Generations” Exhibited during his solo exhibit at the Lewis Latimer House Museum. In addition to his individual art practice, he is also the Founder and Director of AnkhLave Arts Alliance, Inc. which is a non-profit arts organization for the recognition and representation of BIPOC artists in contemporary art.
https://www.dariomohr.com/
@dariomohr_art

LEE TUSMAN is a New York-based new media artist and educator interested in the application of the radical ethos of collectives and DIY culture to the creation of, aesthetics, and open-source distribution methods of digital culture. He works in code, collage, sound and text. His artistic output includes installations, interactive media, video art, experimental games, sound art, websites, bots and micro-power radio stations. His work has been shown at museums, galleries, artist-run spaces and virtual environments. He studied at Brandeis University and received his MFA at UCLA in Design Media Arts. He is Assistant Professor of New Media and Computer Science at Purchase College. Lee is an organizer with Babycastles, a NYC-based collective fostering and amplifying diverse voices in videogame culture as well as a collaborator with artist-run community Flux Factory. He co-founded Processing Community Day NYC. He is a past organizer at Hidden City Philadelphia, Little Berlin and KCHUNG Radio.
https://leetusman.com/
@leetusman

AMELIA MARZEC is an American artist focused on rebuilding and engaging with local communications infrastructure to prepare for an uncertain future. Her work has been exhibited at SIGGRAPH, MIT, ISEA (Canada), University of the Arts Helsinki (Finland), ONCE Foundation Contemporary Art Biennial (Spain), NODE Forum for Digital Arts Biennial (Germany), and is part of the Rhizome ArtBase. She has been a resident at Eyebeam, Ox-Bow, and Harvestworks, a fellow at NYSCA/NYFA and A.I.R. Gallery, a Tow Fellow at Columbia University, a visiting artist at the Center for Integrated Media at Calarts, a grantee of the Research Foundation of CUNY, and a nominee for the World Technology Awards for Art. Her work has been featured in Wired, Make, Hyperallergic, Neural Magazine, Metropolis Magazine, Creators, and the front page of Reddit. She holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design, and a BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts.
http://www.ameliamarzec.com/
@ameliapractice

HEIDI NEILSON is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores connections between people on the ground and off-planet conditions and infrastructure. She works in multiple mediums including radio transmissions, sound, prints, books, sculpture, electronics, and video. She is currently co-operating Here GOES Radiotelescope, a sculptural receiving station at Wave Farm for transmissions from GOES-16, a NOAA weather satellite, and mining the volumes of earth observation and space weather data collected by the station for a variety of projects. Her ham radio call sign is KD2ESI.
https://heidineilson.com/
@_heidi_neilson_