Robert Spahr

I make visual art from the digital leftovers produced by the main stream media as well as the digital leftovers we create as individuals left behind on social networking sites, and scattered across the web. I write automated computer programs that collect these digital leftovers by scraping them from the web, and remixing them into a digital collage, sometimes these digital leftovers become an image, a video, or text-based poetry. I call this work 'Cruft', which is a computer hacker term defined as an unpleasant substance; excess; superfluous junk; and redundant or superseded computer code.International: Generative Art International Conference, Lucca, Italy 2012; Generative Art International Conference, Rome, Italy 2011; iV2011, Digital Art Gallery, an Int'l Conference on Information Visualization, London, England 2011; Nictoglobe Online Magazine: Friction Research Issue #4 (Reclaim the Mind), Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2011; Generative Art International Conference, Milan, Italy 2010; DRHA 2010 Conference: Digital Resources for the Humanities and Arts, London, England, 2010; Generative Art International Conference, Milan, Italy 2009; Computer Art Congress 2008, CAC.2, Mexico City and Toluca City, Mexico, 2008; Media Exchange 2, VT Art Salon, as part of the ACIA, Taipei, Taiwan 2008; Generative Art Conference, Milan, Italy 2007; Online Gallery D-ART 2006, London, England and the CGIV 2006, Sydney, Australia; Trampoline Event #19, Nottingham, United Kingdom; Hz Journal, Stockholm, Sweden; 6th International Salon of Digital Art, Havana, Cuba.National: Interrupt II Festival and Conference - Brown University, Providence RI; From Atoms to Bits: Traces From Inside Plato's Cave, Peer reviewed essay accepted for publication. INPA1, International Photography Annual 1, exhibition-in-print, Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center, Cincinnati, OH; 10 Years + Counting (10YAC), an online exhibit to mark the 10 year anniversary of our nation at war, September 2011; SOS ART, Creative Expressions for Peace and Justice, 2011; "Urban Interventions", at the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, University of Cincinnati; "ubuntu.kuqala" an online digital media/art/video exhibition curated by Dale Hudson & Sharon Lin Tay, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College; "Adding Insult to Imagery? Artistic Responses to Censorship and Media" at Indiana University of Pennsylvania which then traveled to Central Missouri State University; recent edition of the refereed on-line journal DrainMag.com; Solo show 'CRUFT' at Manifest Gallery; festival and symposium "2006 Perform.Media" hosted by Indiana University in Bloomington.I was the co-founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed theatre company, Expanded Arts, where I produced and/or directed over 300 productions, including the "Free Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot" series presented on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The successful off-broadway "Shakespeare's R&J" was first produced by Expanded Arts and is now the longest running Romeo & Juliet in the history of Broadway.My past technical work includes over 10 years of web development and design experience, at various companies in New York City, including About.com, Global Education Network, and the branding firm of Siegel+Gale.I am currently an Assistant Professor of New Media in the Cinema and Photography Department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Past teaching experience includes the University of the Arts, Hartford Art School, State University of New York, Purchase College and Dowling College. I have been a visiting artist at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and Xavier University.