TECH AS ART

Supporting Artists Who Use Technology
as a Creative Medium

FRONT COVER:

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1. Daniel Suominen in 16 [R]evolutions by Troika Ranch. Photo by Richard Termine,full photo page 20
2. Refik Anadol, Machine Hallucination. Photo courtesy of Refik Anadol Studio,
full photo page 88
3. Stephanie Dinkins, Not the Only One. Image courtesy of Stephanie Dinkins,full photo page 92
4. Paisley Smith and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Unceded Territories.
Photo courtesy of the artists, full photo page 20
5. Darcy Neal. Photo courtesy of Darcy Neal, full photo page 93
6. Sondra Perry, Young Women Sitting and Standing And Talking and Stuff (No, No,
No). Photo by Sondra Perry, courtesy of the artist and Bridget Donahue, NYC,
full photo page 20
7. Kyle McDonald, ELEVENPLAY, and Rhizomatiks Research, discrete figures.
Photo by Suguru Saito, full photo page 24
8. Design I/O, Connected Worlds. Photo courtesy of David Handschuh,full photo page 89

TECH AS ART
Supporting Artists Who Use
Technology as a Creative Medium

Based on a field scan by the National Endowment for the Arts
in collaboration with the Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation

June 2021
National Endowment for the Arts
400 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20506
arts.gov
Produced by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Office of Research & Analysis in collaboration
with the Media Arts Division
Sunil Iyengar, Director, Research & Analysis
Patricia Moore Shaffer, Deputy Director, Research & Analysis
Patricia Germann, Research Administrative Officer
Jax Deluca, Media Arts Director
Sarah Burford, Media Arts Specialist
Avril Claytor, Media Arts Specialist
Don Ball, Editor
Kelli Rogowski, Designer
Research Team Members
Sarah Lutman, Principal, 8 Bridges Workshop
Jessica Fiala, Research Associate, 8 Bridges Workshop
Patricia Johnson, Associate, 8 Bridges Workshop
Greta Rudolph, Associate, 8 Bridges Workshop
Jessica Clark, Principal, Dot Connector Studio
Katie Donnelly, Co-Founder, Dot Connector StudioMichelle Polyak, Assistant Director, Dot Connector Studio
Supported by
Ford Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

202-682-5496 Voice/TTY(a device for individuals who are deaf or hearing-impaired)Individuals who do not use conventional print materials may contact the Arts Endowment’s
Accessibility Office at 202-682-5532 to obtain this publication in an alternate format.
This publication is available free of charge as a downloadable PDF at arts.gov.

ABOUT THE REPORTThis report, Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium, presents
findings from a field scan commissioned in 2019 by the National Endowment for the Arts inpartnership with the Ford Foundation and the Knight Foundation. The purpose of the scan was tomore fully understand how artists are incorporating digital technologies in their creative work andto learn more about the current and prospective sources of support for these artistic practices.
Funders reading the report then can make smarter decisions on how to enhance support for thisfield. The research is grounded in literature reviews, interviews, and group discussions with artists
and practitioners across the United States.
The report shares detailed findings; identifies challenges; and ends with recommendations fordifferent stakeholder groups, including funders, arts practitioners, policymakers, and educators.
There are five main findings:yyyCode, computation, data, and tool-building are fundamental to technology-centered (“techcentered”) artistic practice.
Code, computation, and data can facilitate artists’ creative collaborations by enablingartists to create works across artistic forms and contexts.

Tool-building is both an artistic pursuit and a vital practice for this field. It expands accessto software and computational thinking, and it supports the creativity of other artists
through an open-source ethos.

Because the field is so diverse and dynamic, it has eluded easy labels. As a result, more traditionalarts organizations and funders often have trouble finding entry points to engage with it.
Tech-centered artists work fluidly across disciplines and formats, creating genre-defying
artworks and spanning discipline-based curatorial and academic specialties.

Artists create projects within and between virtual and physical spaces, requiring distinct
approaches to presentation, public engagement, accessibility, and archiving.

Arts organizations and funders face numerous challenges engaging with tech-centeredartistic practices. These challenges include limited staff expertise, limited infrastructure,and difficulties in understanding how to evaluate artistic projects in this field.

Tech-centered artists have managed successfully to establish peer organizations, regionalhubs, exhibition spaces, festivals, information networks, and academic departments acrossthe United States.
Physical hubs, in-person gathering spaces, and festivals provide opportunities for corecommunity-building, learning, debate about contemporary trends, public engagement,
training, exhibition, and specialized programs such as residencies and incubators.



Online resources and communities provide training and networking opportunities that often
are free to the public. They enable participation beyond physical hubs and are particularly
important for artists outside urban centers.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

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y

y

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Colleges and universities are prominent employers, incubators, and resource providers fortech-centered artists.

While there are interconnected networks supporting tech-centered artistic practices, there
are also significant resource gaps in the U.S.-based arts infrastructure, such as access totechnical facilities, training, and exhibition opportunities, which can inhibit the growth ofopportunities for artistic and professional development.

Career pathways for tech-centered artists are highly varied, though as a group these workers
encounter many of the same obstacles as artists in general.
Despite formal educational attainment, tech-centered artists described themselves aslargely self-taught and reliant on artist-founded organizations, community hubs, and online
resources for artistic and professional growth.

Artists cultivate multiple income streams to make a living—balancing freelance andcreative gigs, employers, grants and awards, donations, and other income sources.Though
corporate and commercial work are prominent income streams, these artists as workers
share the same income instability and time constraints as artists in other disciplines.



Many of the artists observed in the field scan are entrepreneurial, collaborating acrossindustry sectors, contributing to their local arts and cultural communities, and establishingbusinesses that draw on creative and digital skills.

Tech-centered artists are admirably poised to grapple with larger societal and sectoral
challenges—whether engaging with audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic or responding
to calls for greater equity and inclusion in the arts and technology fields. They can beinvaluable partners for policymakers, educators, and practitioners in arts and non-arts
sectors alike.


These artists bring specialized expertise in using digital technology to connect withaudiences across physical and virtual spaces.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are common themes in this growing field of practice,and they can contribute to accelerated action in addressing racial inequities and social
injustices across the arts and technology and other sectors.

Many of the artists discussed in this report seek to engage local communities, addresssocial issues, and bridge digital divides through their tech-centered arts projects. Boundless
opportunities exist for the arts and cultural sector to build beneficial partnerships with techcentered artists and collaboratively imagine directions for future creative programming.

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

CONTENTS
Preface..................................................................................................................................... 7
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 9
Purpose of the Research................................................................................................................. 9
Research Methodology and Scope................................................................................................. 9
The Report’s Focus........................................................................................................................ 11
How the Report is Organized........................................................................................................ 13

CHAPTER 1: Exploring the Work...................................................................................... 15
Artistic Influences and Foundations.................................................................................................. 16
Artists have a rich history centering technology as core to their practice................................. 16
Recent Historical Overview: 1960s to the Present................................................................. 16
Technology in a New Era.......................................................................................................... 21
Code, computation, and data are essential building blocks for artistic creation...................... 21
Creative and Functional Approaches...................................................................................... 21
Code and Data as Artistic Material......................................................................................... 22
Data as Critical Lens................................................................................................................ 24
Code, Computation, and Data as Connective Tissue............................................................. 24
Tool-building is an artistic pursuit and a vital foundation for creators...................................... 25
Overview of the Tool-Building Process................................................................................... 26
Reasons for Tool-Building........................................................................................................ 27
A Collective Ethos..................................................................................................................... 27
Hacking Devices....................................................................................................................... 29
Unseen Labor............................................................................................................................ 29
Crossing Contexts and Disciplines.................................................................................................... 32
Artists work fluidly among disciplines, genres, and formats...................................................... 32
Crossing Disciplines and Categories...................................................................................... 32
Explaining Cross-Disciplinary Practices.................................................................................. 34
Artists create projects within and between virtual and physical spaces................................... 36
Art in the Palm of Your Hand................................................................................................... 37
Location................................................................................................................................ .37
Augmentation....................................................................................................................... .37
Mobile Applications............................................................................................................. .38
Viral Campaigns................................................................................................................... .38
Virtual Realities......................................................................................................................... 38
Digital Art in Public Spaces...................................................................................................... 40
Artists extend established arts disciplines through creative experiments with technology......... 42
Established Disciplines and Continual Evolution................................................................... 43
Methods of Extending Forms.................................................................................................. 43
Process & Development....................................................................................................... .43

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Aesthetics & Audience Experience .................................................................................... .43
Format & Content ................................................................................................................ .44
Preserving “New” Forms ..................................................................................................... .44

CHAPTER 2: Navigating the Ecosystem .......................................................................47
Interconnected Communities, Hubs, and Gathering Spaces .......................................................... 48
In-person gatherings, workshops, festivals, and conferences are core hubs for learningand community building ............................................................................................................... 48
Gathering Spaces .................................................................................................................... 48
Professional Development & Technical Training ................................................................... 50
Festivals and Conferences ...................................................................................................... 50
Online resources and communities expand access and enable participation ......................... 51
Critical Discourse and Discovery ............................................................................................ 52
Colleges and universities are prominent employers, incubators, and resource providers ...... 53
Increasing Degree Programs .................................................................................................. 54
Digital Technologies Are Changing Traditional Arts Training ............................................... 54
Colleges and Universities as Resource Centers .................................................................... 54
Challenges and Opportunities to Working Within Academia ................................................ 54
High Levels of Advanced Degree Attainment ........................................................................ 55
Entry Points and Strategies for Making a Living .............................................................................. 56
Routes into tech-centered artistic practices follow many paths, including informal
experimentation, formal degrees, arts training, and technology careers.................................. 56
Youth Technology Training...................................................................................................... 56
Professional Pathways............................................................................................................ 57
Artists cultivate multiple income streams to make a living ....................................................... 58
Portfolio Careers ..................................................................................................................... 59
Overlaps with Other Arts Practices ........................................................................................ 60
Artists collaborate across sectors and establish businesses that build on creative anddigital skills ................................................................................................................................... 60
Collaboration, Translation, and Thought Leadership Across Sectors .................................. 61
Artists as Entrepreneurs ......................................................................................................... 62
Corporate and commercial work are prominent income streams that present artists withboth opportunities and challenges .............................................................................................. 63
Opportunities for Artists and Industry.................................................................................... 63
Obstacles Confronted by Artists ............................................................................................ 64
Fostering Industry Relationships on an Individual Level ....................................................... 64

CHAPTER 3: Next Steps for Supporters .......................................................................67
Understanding Challenges ................................................................................................................ 67
Artist Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 67
Artists often rely on commercial software, which can be expensive, or on open-source
tools, which can be built on the unpaid labor from the artists who produce andmaintain them .......................................................................................................................... 68
Artists often describe gaps in resources for project development ...................................... 68
Financial difficulties create a number of obstacles for artists working in the field.............. 69
Artists may pour time, energy, and funding into projects with limited distribution andpresentation options ............................................................................................................... 69

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The decentralized nature of the expansive arts-and-technology field poses challenges
related to a lack of shared language, information, and critical coverage of artists’ work ......... 70
Organization Challenges .............................................................................................................. 70
Philanthropic funding sources can find it challenging to provide avenues of support
tailored to the unique working requirements of arts-and-technology practice ..................... 70
Art institutions often lack staff expertise to curate, present, interpret, and engage
audiences with artists who use digital technology as a creative medium............................ 71
Arts institutions frequently lack the technological infrastructure to adequately supportarts-and-technology projects .................................................................................................. 72
Barriers & Regional Challenges.................................................................................................... 72
Recommendations............................................................................................................................. 74
Expand Expertise and Technical Capacity .................................................................................. 76
Review Program Priorities and Outreach Plans .......................................................................... 77
Lift Barriers to Collaboration Across Arts and Non-Arts Sectors .............................................. 77
Strengthen Technological Infrastructure Serving Arts and Culture ........................................... 78
Offer Project Development, Presentation, and Exhibition Opportunities .................................. 80
Deepen Public Understanding of the Field’s Value and Impact ................................................. 81
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................. 82

APPENDIX A: Case Studies ...............................................................................................85
Case Study: 3-Legged Dog ................................................................................................................ 85
Case Study: Refik Anadol .................................................................................................................. 87
Case Study: Design I/O ...................................................................................................................... 89
Case Study: Stephanie Dinkins ......................................................................................................... 91
Case Study: Darcy Neal ..................................................................................................................... 93
Case Study: Processing Foundation ................................................................................................. 95
Case Study: Scatter ........................................................................................................................... 97
Case Study: Lance Weiler .................................................................................................................. 99
Case Study: Amelia Winger-Bearskin ............................................................................................. 101

APPENDIX B: Glossary of Terms ...................................................................................103
APPENDIX C: Works Cited .............................................................................................. 107
APPENDIX D: Organizations Mentioned .................................................................... 114

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PREFACE
This National Endowment for the Arts report is a field scan of arts and technology in practice,reflecting upon the ways artists engage with—and develop—technology to remix, augment, andinterrogate structures within arts and culture. While these tech-focused artists often pioneer new
forms of expression, they also contribute to innovation in the wider sector, alongside potential
avenues for economic growth. For these reasons and more, a comprehensive look at these artists
and their support systems was of interest to the Arts Endowment and its partners, the Ford
Foundation and the Knight Foundation.
This report offers insights for the broader arts and cultural sector, and also the fields of science,technology, engineering, and math (STEM), to discover shared goals and priorities with techfocused artists and related practices. For example, the artists profiled in this report haveestablished a range of culturally relevant arts projects and organizations that bridge digital divides
and build 21st-century skillsets—services of profound importance to communities with limitedaccess to training and education. In addition, they increasingly embrace the principles of diversity,
equity, inclusion, and accessibility in their work, while routinely exploring ethical issues aroundtechnology—such as data privacy, artificial intelligence, and representation—valuable topics for
those seeking to build a more equitable and diverse future.
The backdrop to this research is the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of publicgathering spaces around the world in 2020. Artists and cultural organizations had no choice but
to pivot practices to reach audiences virtually. As the shutdowns demonstrated, audiences are
more than ready to engage digitally—yet many of the practitioners in this report view culturalorganizations as underprepared to support the growing digital and virtual needs of artists andaudiences. This context magnifies the role of the present report and suggests that more strategic
investments are needed to boost the cultural sector’s capacity to serve artists and the public bothin physical and in virtual spaces. While the need for these investments was evident prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic, it has certainly become a preeminent concern today.
Here at the Arts Endowment, we have deepened our commitment to support activities at theintersection of arts and technology through our flagship Grants for Arts Projects program in
the Media Arts discipline. We encourage applications for projects of all sizes from a variety oforganizations—large and small, rural and urban. In addition to providing outreach and technicalassistance to prospective applicants, we act as a catalyst for future partnerships and raise thevisibility of existing initiatives that offer exemplary models and practices for connecting local
communities with tech-focused arts programming.
As you embark on this report, I urge you to devote time to understanding how arts-and-technology
practitioners can benefit your constituents and professional networks now and in the near future.
Together, we can build the foundation for a more resilient and thriving arts and cultural ecosystemthat includes greater support for arts practices focused on technology as a creative medium.

Jax Deluca
Media Arts Director
National Endowment for the Arts

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INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the ResearchThis report responds in part to the National Endowment for the Arts’ FY 2017-2021 Research
Agenda, which called for new investments in exploratory studies that describe factors thatenhance or inhibit arts participation and/or arts and cultural assets, including the arts-and-cultural
workforce.1
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed many facets of life online, Americans spent asignificant proportion of their lives there. The Pew Research Center’s 2019 data (pre-COVID)
showed that 90 percent of American adults used the internet, and roughly three-quarters ofAmerican adults had broadband internet service at home.2 Nearly all American adults—96
percent—reported owning a cellphone of some kind in 2019, and the share of Americans who
owned smartphones in 2020 reached 81 percent.3 The Pew 2019 data also showed that about 72
percent of American adults used social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram,and LinkedIn.4 Data from the Arts Endowment’s 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts
showed 74 percent of U.S. adults used electronic/digital media to consume artistic or arts-related
content, while 29 percent of adults who created art shared it on the internet.5 Among U.S. adults
who created and shared art, the internet was a major vehicle for doing so.6 A previous version of
the survey revealed that 46 percent of all adults who created visual art did so using electronic/
digital media, while 28 percent of adults who created or performed music relied on media for thispurpose.7

Research Methodology and Scope
The project’s research plan focused on learning directly from the lived experiences of working
artists engaging with technology through formal and informal arts settings, including those working
in nonprofit, commercial, and community-based contexts spanning multiple sectors and artistic
disciplines. Artists participating in the research were selected by National Endowment for the Arts
staff in consultation with funding partners at the Ford and Knight foundations, with members of
the project’s Technical Working Group of national experts, and with the research team. Artists werechosen both to reflect the breadth of the U.S. in terms of race, gender, age, and geography, and toaccount for diverse areas of creative practice, levels and types of academic preparation, and stagesof career.

1
National Endowment for the Arts, “Research Agenda,” 4.
2
Pew Research Center, “Broadband Fact Sheet.”3
ibid, “Mobile Fact Sheet.”
4
ibid, “Social Media Fact Sheet.”5
National Endowment for the Arts, 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. This percentage does not include
other musical forms, including classical music or opera, jazz, or Latin, Spanish, or salsa music.
6
National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Patterns of Arts Participation, 13.
7
National Endowment for the Arts, A Decade of Arts Engagement, xi.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

9Data for this field scan was collected through the following activities:
1. Four in-person roundtables with a total of 66 practicing artists, held in New York City, Los
Angeles, Miami, and Detroit,8 all conducted in fall 2019;
2. One virtual town hall event, open to the public, engaging 104 artists and arts leaders from 24
states and two foreign countries, held in early 2020;
3. Twenty field interviews with leading practitioners, including curators, arts writers, and leadersof academic departments, conducted in spring 2020;
4. Nine artist case studies, each involving multiple interviews in 2020;
5. A literature review of resources and publications relevant to the research questions;
6. A grant portfolio analysis of 150 recent National Endowment for the Arts grant awards related
to arts and technology; and7. Three meetings with a Technical Working Group of field representatives to review and discuss
preliminary findings and draft of the report.
Through these activities, the research team explored the following research questions:
1. What are the ways artists use technology as a creative medium in their artistic practice?
a.

What is the range of examples of such work across artistic disciplines and technology
platforms? Are there categories or classifications for identifying and describing this work, forexample, by genre or sub-discipline or by type of technology used?

b. What is the range of career paths or trajectories taken by artists working with technology as
a creative medium? Across artistic disciplines, how are these pathways similar or different?
How do artists identify themselves within their range of work?
c.

How do artists working with technology as a creative medium engage in cross-sectoral
and/or cross-disciplinary partnerships? How do they engage within their local creative
economies? How are these relationships formed and to what purpose? What are theassociated risks, challenges, and opportunities for artists?

2. What are current and prospective sources of support (financial and non-financial) for artistic
practices using technology as a creative medium, and how might they be improved and/or
sustained?
a.

What types of technical training and resources are used and needed to support artistic
practices using technology as a creative medium? What gaps in training and resources
currently exist for these artists across artistic disciplines and technology platforms?

b. What are current and emergent models for supporting artistic practices (financially and nonfinancially) using technology? Across artistic disciplines, how are these models similar ordifferent? What are the pros and cons of these models for artists?

8
Selection of regional roundtable sites was made collaboratively with the Ford and Knight foundations. Two sites—
Miami and Detroit—are cities in which the Knight Foundation has offices and a history of community investment.

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c.

What are organizational risks, challenges, and opportunities in supporting artists working
with technology as a creative medium? How do these differ among for-profit and nonprofit
organizations? How do they differ by sector, artistic discipline, and/or technology platform?

d. What techniques and frameworks provide on-ramps for artists representing under-resourced
voices, perspectives, and practices in using technology as a creative medium?
The field scan sought to document, clarify, and describe the practices, career pathways, andchallenges of artists who make technology central to their practices. The research team also
identified artists’ levels of educational preparation, as well as the ways they make their livings andgather support for their work from diverse revenue sources. The field scan included not only theartistic fields that the Arts Endowment is currently supporting, but also emergent art forms.
A final set of roundtables will be held in 2021 to discuss findings with arts leaders, enable
participants to connect with one another, and enlist attendees’ assistance in amplifying the
research findings and considering ways to seed new partnerships that act on the report’s
recommendations.

The Report’s Focus
The intent of this report is to document the work of artists who make, interrogate, and disrupt
contemporary digital technologies for creative and aesthetic purposes, and whose practices areenmeshed in the possibilities inherent in technology itself. The report examines the ecosystem of
educational institutions, online forums, arts organizations, and public art programs that provide
support structures around these artists, helping them to navigate and build unique career pathways
and to share their work.
This report closely examines a growing field of artistic practice, with a focus on artists who “makedigital technologies central” to their creative work—also referred to as “tech-centered artistic
practice” throughout this report. These phrases refer to a robust collection of artistic activities
that contribute value to the broader arts and cultural ecosystem and enrich the communities thatsurround them, including:yCreating artworks with digital technologies—by writing code, employing computation, using
datasets as material, and much more;yBuilding community by developing shared digital tools, establishing and participating in online
forums for knowledge exchange, and founding organizations and businesses in order tofacilitate the creativity of others and improve access to digital literacy and training; andyCritiquing the influence of digital technologies on daily life through an artistic practicethat questions pervasive practices such as data collection and surveillance, and theirdisproportionate impact on communities of color, or confront the impact of technologies on theway we relate to ourselves and others.

This report was prepared principally for current and potential field supporters, many of whommanage funding programs or lead cultural organizations dedicated to provide artist support for
specific artistic disciplines or geographic areas. Throughout the report, the research findings strive

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

11to introduce potentially unfamiliar artistic processes and to help readers discover shared affinities
and existing intersections across the many forms of contemporary artistic practice.9
Notably, by design, this report does not address the ways cultural institutions are deploying digitaltechnology for the engagement of audiences or for the distribution of their existing programs
through online platforms such as live or archived performance streaming, virtual museum andgallery tours, or digitization of analog collections. Absent is any discussion of the influence ofblockchain on this sector, including the use of non-fungible tokens to assign digital signatures toworks of art.10 Further, the report does not focus on the ways that traditional artistic disciplines
now rely on digital tools for creative production: for example, the ways a composer uses software
to write music or an architect uses software for drawing and drafting in 3D. And, while there arereferences to the COVID-19 pandemic, this report does not incorporate detailed information about
the economic effects of the pandemic on artists and cultural institutions, or about the vitality
and innovation of the field’s response as it moves rapidly toward virtual programming and digital
engagement in response to the closing of many arts institutions.
The report also does not address creative digital endeavors in the commercial entertainment
industry or in pop culture. Research did not specifically examine the arts and sciences intersectionof digital art practices or delve deeply into the expanding practices around “bio-art” (practices
which, themselves, are worthy of research). Survey work or other research into digital technology
in education initiatives is largely absent, as is detailed information about how participation is
inhibited by a lack of broadband access.
The report’s focus was honed during the research process as the study team learned about
the broader arts and technology field, mapped clusters of artistic activities, and identified gaps
in understanding and recognizing artists whose practice centers on technology as a creative
medium. Research identified the dynamic breadth of artists whose practices are based in atechnology itself. This cohort includes not only artists drawing on the expressive and narrative
capabilities of digital technology, but also creative tool-builders who make digital tools fortheir own use and to benefit other creators. It also includes artists whose digital work engages
audiences in questions around technology, inviting both participation and critique. Research also
helped map the new support structures these artists have built to meet specific requirements fortraining, space, time, and money. In some cases, these structures have provided decades-longsupport for artists working with technology.

9This report analyzes artists’ practices and modes of self-identification in relation to established arts disciplines andcategories, but the research is also informed by existing scholarship on artists working with digital technologies. There aremany approaches to organizing information on the subject. Many extant studies take a chronological approach, outlining
the ways that the development of particular technologies has intersected with historical art movements. Other studies focus
thematically, delving into collaborations between arts and sciences, or exploring particular technologies and disciplines.
Additional publications that have influenced this report organize artists’ work around topics such as the body and identity,
data collection and surveillance, activism and the democratization of participation, networked communities, and the conceptof “virtuality.” Examples of projects, artists, and practices included throughout this report have been informed by roundtableattendees; artists featured in case studies; field interviewees; the report’s Technical Working Group; publications and online
resources; festivals and conferences; and research to fill gaps in representation across demographics, geographies, andartistic practices. Key references on the history of the field that informed this report include Rush, New Media in Late 20thCentury Art; Wands, Art of the Digital Age; Shanken, Art and Electronic Media; Paul, Digital Art; Respini, Art in the Age of theInternet: 1989 to Today; and Conner, Dean, and Espenschied, The Art Happens Here: Net Art Anthology.
10
Blockchain is a growing area of inquiry, providing a method of ensuring authenticity of digital works of art andcreating a record of the provenance of artworks while also providing a way for artists to monetize their work. For more information,please read https://www.aam-us.org/2019/06/05/two-artists-on-the-future-of-blockchain-and-art/.

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These artists are also forging new entrepreneurial paths. Such paths often entail business model
innovation for the cultural sector, demonstrate imaginative forms of public engagement, andforge inventive ways to partner across sectors. These emerging models suggest pathways formore traditional arts institutions seeking alternative ways to work. Particularly in the COVID-19
environment, artists who work with technology have the experience and orientation to reinvent
digitally and to envision bold futures for cultural participation.

How the Report is Organized
Following this introduction, the report is organized in three chapters:yExploring the Work: The first chapter explores the work itself, probing and defining its borders,highlighting clusters of activity and creative energy, and tying contemporary practice tohistorical influences.

yNavigating the Ecosystem: The second chapter maps the creative ecosystem that supports
and surrounds these artistic practices, including an overview of interconnected in-person andonline communities, an examination of artists’ career pathways, and ways of earning a living.

y

Next Steps for Supporters: The third chapter details challenges for both artists and supportersof this work and offers recommendations for arts organizations, arts funders, educators, andpolicymakers who seek to build a flourishing creative economy nationwide.

Many terms used in this report are unique to the arts and technology sector. To aid the reader, aglossary of terms is provided in Appendix B.

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CHAPTER 1

Exploring the Work
“Given how we now live in a world where computation governs how we vote, how we shop,
how we play, and how we make everything and anything, artists need open access to thesame workbench of tools that the commercial technology community takes for granted….
There has never been a more important time in history for artists to make their neededmark with the right set of computational tools to humanize our collective future.”—John Maeda, Artist, Designer, Technologist
This chapter is divided into two sections:yArtistic Influences and Foundations provides an overview of artistic practices in this field, theirrecent historical antecedents, and common working methods.

yCrossing Contexts and Disciplines examines the work itself—how artists traverse physical andvirtual environments, creating work that both bears affinities with and differs from establishedartistic disciplines.

The first section begins by mapping the historical precedents for contemporary artists’ inquiries
into the capabilities of digital technologies. The section continues by featuring common ways that
contemporary artists write and use code, data, and computation as essential building blocks forartistic creation, resulting in imaginative works that are wholly new conceptually, not based in priorart forms and disciplines. The section also provides insight into how and why artists engage in theprocess of digital tool-building, a uniquely generative artistic practice powering experimentation
across the globe and influencing industry, education, and entertainment.
The second section illuminates the multifaceted nature of this field, which is deeply collaborativeand often spans across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Such practitioners are not easily
shoehorned into existing academic or artistic disciplines, and they benefit from organizations
and approaches that are trans-, multi-, or post-disciplinary, working across multiple curatorial andprogramming departments.
The findings highlight the ways that artists work in virtual, physical, and hybrid spaces; the waysthat artists forge transdisciplinary paths in areas such as new media art; and the ways that artists
innovate from within artistic disciplines. Following this examination of history, process, context,
and categorization, Chapter 1 comes full circle—-starting and ending with a picture of artists withexpansive practices who envision new creations made possible by the advanced technologies attheir fingertips as well as by the technologies these artists develop.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

15

ARTISTIC INFLUENCES AND FOUNDATIONS“At different points, my work has been called by different names: hacking, trans-media,
creative technology, VR/AR/XR, artificial intelligence. But fundamentally, the goal of mywork has remained the same: to create art for diverse audiences that reflects our lived
experience. Since our lives are intermediated through changing technologies, my work hastaken different forms.”—Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Artist, Technologist, Community-builder

A basic understanding of artistic influences and foundations is essential to capture the spirit ofhow (and why) artists experiment with technology across multiple disciplines, mediums, formats,and genres. While there is a novelty factor often associated with digital technologies, contemporary
artists build on a solid basis of precedents spanning more than half of a century.
This section begins with a brief historical overview, followed by contemporary influences andmethods at the core of creative work with digital technologies today:yArtists have a rich history centering technology as core to their practice.

yCode, computation, and data are essential building blocks for artistic creation.

yTool-building is an artistic pursuit and a vital foundation for creators.

Artists have a rich history centering technology as core to
their practice.
Recent Historical Overview: 1960s to the Present
When the National Endowment for the Arts was founded in 1965, it entered a creative landscapeinfluenced by active multimedia experimentation and technological development. Precursors
to home computers were in the works, and in 1966, the U.S. Department of Defense launched
ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which became the foundation of theinternet. Artists were already stretching the capabilities of early computers to create works suchas elaborate or precise drawings impossible for the human hand,11 and working across art forms
and technologies to develop media-rich environments, performances, and events—from Andy
Warhol in New York to the Brotherhood of Light in San Francisco, Gutai in Japan, and Fluxus
internationally. Galleries had taken note and featured early computer artworks in exhibitions
throughout the latter 1960s.12

11
For further analysis and history of the early use of computers for drawing projects, see Crowther, Digital Art,
Aesthetic Creation: The Birth of a Medium.
12
Exhibition examples include Computer Generated Pictures at the Howard Wise Gallery (New York City, NY, U.S.: 1965),
Generative Computergrafik at the Technische Hochschule (Stuttgart, Germany: 1965), Cybernetic Serendipity at the Institutefor Contemporary Arts (London, U.K.: 1968), and Software—Information Technology: Its New Meaning for Art at the Jewish
Museum (Brooklyn, NY, U.S.: 1970).

16

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Cross-sector collaborations were also developing. In 1966, a series of performances bringing
together artists and engineers from Bell Laboratories, 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, paved
the way for the establishment of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), an organization
which supported dozens of arts and engineering projects over several decades via tech-centeredcollaborations.13

Artists and engineers demonstrating a light and soundcontrol system during a technical rehearsal for the
performances at 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering. From
Left: Herb Schneider, Robert Rauschenberg, Lucinda Childs,
Roby Robinson, Per Biorn, and Billy Klüver. Photo by Franny
Breer, courtesy of E.A.T./Klüver/Martin Archive

13
Candy, Edmonds, and Poltronieri, Explorations in Art and Technology; Klüver’s “E.A.T. – Archive of publisheddocuments.”

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

17

Variations V is an example
of an early intermedia
performance collaboration
among John Cage, Merce
Cunningham, Gordon
Mumma, David Tudor, Stan
VanDerBeek, Nam June Paik
(1966). Photo courtesy of
E.A.T./Klüver/Martin Archive

Alongside the growth of television, video was becoming a medium for technical and artistic
experimentation that would continue to develop over subsequent decades. Artists used the form
to critique mass communication industries, test technical methods, explore different forms ofstorytelling, and remix found footage. Artists also blended video with other art forms, developing
large-scale installations and melding video and performance.
In 1967, the U.S. government established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to promoteand support the public broadcast ecosystem of noncommercial media and makers. Beyond CPBsupported public broadcasting entities, a range of organizations were promoting media as aplatform for creative expression and public participation. Community radio, media arts centers,
community media centers, and cable access began providing both avenues for creative output14 as
well as classes and training, access to equipment, and mentorship for emerging content creators.15

14
Isgro, “Video Commune: Nam June Paik at WBGH-TV, Boston”; Kane, Chromatic Algorithms: Synthetic Color, Computer
Art, and Aesthetics After Code.
15
Johnson and Menichelli, What’s Going on in Community Media.

18

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

The 1970s saw the formation of notable artistic practices and convening spaces. For example, theKitchen, a performance venue founded by artists Steina and Woody Vasulka in New York City in 1971,
became a hub for video, performance art, and cross-disciplinary exploration. Sampling, looping, andremixing grew as a form of creative expression, influenced by Jamaican sound system culture andDJs like Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, and Afrika Bambaataa.16 In 1979, the Ars Electronica Festival
was launched in Linz, Austria, as a “Festival for Art, Technology, and Society,” with an opening speechdelivered by the robot SPA 12 and a “cloud of sound” that spread across the city’s public spaces.17
By the mid-1980s, artists were active on electronic Bulletin Board Systems—geographically
networked communities that linked terminals and televisions through phone lines. The World
Wide Web, developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989, enabled the formation of online artist
communities in the early 1990s (such as rhizome.org and The Thing), as well as the growth ofinternet art, also known as net.art—bolstered by efforts such as the online mailing list nettime andthe online gallery äda’web.
Early generations of artists working with digital technologies have followed many paths. The
performing arts served as fertile ground for interweaving movement and multimedia effects.
Technologies such as VR headsets offered artists avenues for worldbuilding. Consumer electronics
provided ready-made products to hack, modify, and repurpose for creative use. Web pages createdspaces for narratives to unfold
across links that opened newscreens and portals. Artists
also used digital technologies
to manipulate images, to create
networked projects connecting
disparate locations, to develop
novel forms of interaction,and to collaborate acrossscientific specializations.
Emergent technologies also
provided future-facing artists
with a framework for imagining
relationships and societies
beyond the injustices of thepresent, overlapping with
influences from science fiction
to social justice movements,
and taking the shape of cultural
currents such as Afrofuturism
and Cyberfeminism. This
spectrum of practices is only the
tip of the iceberg, a glimpse of
the many ways that artists were
working with digital technologies
as creative materials in the late
20th century.

Composer and synthesizer
pioneer Suzanne Ciani
was awarded a National
Endowment for the Arts
Composer Grant in 1976
to explore audio synthesis
with the Buchla modular
synthesizer. The resulting“Report to National
Endowment” 40-page paper,
which documented herlive performance practices
with the Buchla 200, hascontinued to be a standard
reference for teaching.
Photo by Bob Lichtman

16
For more information on the historic intersections of early hip-hop with technical and stylistic innovations, see
Eshun, More Brilliant Than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction; Huang, “Original Creator: Hip-Hop and Electro Pioneer Afrika
Bambaataa”; Banks, “From Jamaica to the Bronx”; and Flash and Ritz, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash; Vineyard, “HowGrandmaster Flash’s ‘Torque Theory’ Drove Hip-Hop”; Butler, “Grandmaster Flash on ‘The Get Down’ and how he used science
to pioneer DJ techniques”; Howell, “The Lost Art of Sampling.”
17
Hirsch, Creating the Future, 49-50.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

19

(Left) Transgenic artist
Eduardo Kac is a pioneerof the bioart movement
exploring the intersectionof biotechnology, art, andbioethics, as shown by
Genesis (1999), a transgenic
work with artist-createdbacteria, ultraviolet light,
internet, and video. Photoby Otto Saxinger(Below) Interdisciplinary
artist Sondra Perry
combines video,
computer-based media,
and performance toexplore themes of race,
identity, family history,
and technology, such as
this performance of Young
Women Sitting and Standing
And Talking and Stuff (No,No, No) at the Miriam &Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery
in 2015. Photo by Sondra
Perry, courtesy of the artist
and Bridget Donahue, NYC(Above) Dancer Daniel
Suominen accompanieda swash of light that
follows his movement in
Troika Ranch’s work 16 [R]evolutions which premiered
in New York City at
Eyebeam in 2006. Photo by
Richard Termine

20(Right) Unceded Territories(2019) is a virtual reality
experience created incollaboration between
Paisley Smith andIndigenous artist Lawrence
Paul Yuxweluptun,
which features themesof colonialism, climatechange, and indigenous
civil rights. Photo courtesyof the artists

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Technology in a New Era
At the turn of the millennium, Web 2.0, a “second generation” of the World Wide Web, expanded
access to users less familiar with code and specialized digital production equipment throughstraightforward websites designed to facilitate user-generated content. Interactive websites andapps facilitated the rise of social media platforms, which in turn spurred a shift in cultural habits
toward increased online activity and content creation. Smartphones and mobile devices presented
artists with a new set of tools with which to experiment for artistic production and creation, such as
augmented reality and location-based works that offer users playful interventions in public space.
This brief historical sketch provides background for the focus of this report: recent, current, andemerging practices at the intersection of arts and digital technologies. As digital technologies andcapabilities have become more widespread, artists have continued to take them up for creativeends, honing their skills to innovate and adapt new tools along the way. In doing so, artists not only
chart new paths in art forms—they also provide audiences, arts venues, and the arts sector with afresh perspective on these technologies and our relationships with them.

Code, computation, and data are essential building blocks forartistic creation.18
Computation is an increasingly essential addition to the artist’s tool box, with the use of code anddata acting as a bridge that allows artists to work fluidly across disciplines, genres, and formats.
While practitioners working with computation may not typically consider themselves as being partof the same artistic field, what connects them is a shared practice of centering their work aroundthese aspects of digital technology.

Creative and Functional Approaches
Artists are approaching the use of code as a creative material that gives life to ideas and that offers
meaningful outlets for expression. The field of computation is itself a broad category. Now-familiar
hardware devices such as tablets, laptops, and smartphones are just one face of computation.
Artists today are developing and deploying computation that drives artificial intelligence andmachine-learning programs, projection mapping, and immersive sound design, and they are utilizing
devices for 3D printing, LED displays, robotics, and gaming—to name only a few examples.
Tech-centered artists elevate the aesthetic, social, and educational aspects of working with code,
highlighting the creative along with the functional aspects of the medium. Both artist John F. Simon,
Jr. and the School for Poetic Computation (SFPC) have compared coding to creative writing, with
Simon emphasizing that “writing software is as creative as it is technical.”19 SFPC teaches thecraft of code with a core motto of “more poetry, less demo” to encourage the creation of “strange,
whimsical, and beautiful work”20 rooted in computational thinking.
18
For explanations of code, creative processes using code, and applications of code across disciplines, see Form +Code in Design, Art, and Architecture by Casey Reas and Chandler McWilliams. In this book, Reas and McWilliams provide a
basic orientation to terms and concepts referenced throughout this report. They begin describing code in terms of familiar
associations—communication, clarification, and obfuscation—using examples of Morse code as a communication system;
DNA/genetic code and legal codes as each a “set of rules”; and codes used to obscure meaning (11). Within their focus, theyfurther define code in relation to a series of instructions (algorithms), explaining that, “In computer programming, code…
is used to control the operations of a computer. It is an algorithm written in a programming language. There are thousandsof programming languages, and new ones are developed every year” (15). For more exploring the range and definitions ofcomputation, see Denning, “What is Computation?” and Horswill, “What is Computation?”
19
Simon, Jr. “Code as Creative Writing.”
20
School for Poetic Computation, “Mission.”

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

21

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Onyx Ashanti
Onyx Ashanti combines street
performance, free-jazz principles,and computer programmingwith his creation of a musicalexoskeleton for live improvisationalsound performances.

Musician Onyx Ashanti performs using his 3D
printed musical exoskeleton designed for live
improvisational sound performances using
gestural movements. Photo by Paul Fomiletti,
courtesy of Blank Forms

Creative application of code can also solve concrete problems. For example, members of Free
Art and Technology (FAT) Lab, OpenFrameworks, the Graffiti Research Lab, and the Ebeling Group
collaboratively developed the Eyewriter with a graffiti artist who had been diagnosed with Lou
Gehrig’s disease, a condition that left him paralyzed except for the movement of his eyes. At thetime, commercial eye tracking tools cost upwards of thousands of dollars. With a goal of making
this technology affordable for individuals facing mobility issues, Eyewriter’s team of softwaredevelopers, hardware hackers, and urban projection artists invented a low-cost creative solution
using inexpensive cameras and open-source computer vision software. The developed software
was released for free public use, and it also became the basis of larger public art project thatallowed participants to draw temporary graffiti on buildings using light beams instead of paint.21

Code and Data as Artistic Material
A growing number of “data artists” are using information collected from mobile apps, GPS trackers,
archives, or other means to create conceptual art works. Data sources are innumerable and include
measurements, statistics, facts, and images. A few examples of data used by artists include satellite
transmissions, crowdsourced content, and weather patterns. Streams of datasets can also be
sourced in real-time, such as through the internet or captured using consumer and DIY electronics,
such as MIDI controllers, accelerometers, microcontrollers, and facial recognition software.22
As inputs, datasets serve as a core material for many artists who write code or use computational
processes to transform the collected data into artistic interpretations, such as interactive
visualizations for video projections, 3D-printed sculptural objects, or audio for live performance. For
example, street performer Onyx Ashanti captures datasets using motion sensors embedded in a
3D-printed exoskeleton called a “Sonocyb.” The data is captured through gestural movement, which
is transformed into different sounds dictated by a custom-built software programmed by the artist.
Through this process, Ashanti is able to generate live improvisational sound performances by freely
moving his body.
Content generated by code often includes a deliberate set of instructions and parameters
determined by the artist. A comparable reference to this type of conceptual arts approach is the

21
22

22

“The Eyewriter.” Accessed April 5, 2021. http://eyewriter.org/
Urist, “From Paint to Pixels.”National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Nettrice Gaskin

The use of computational processes to visualize data can also make the invisible visible,
revealing hidden connections and dynamic processes that surround us through visual projections,architecturally embedded screens, and immersive installations. Coining the terms “data sculpture”
and “data painting,” artist Refik Anadol describes algorithms as his “brushes,” capable of producing
intricate artworks, and data as “pigment.”

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

minimalist artist Sol LeWitt, who
would provide instructions forthe creation of his wall drawings
to be executed by other people,
Nettrice Gaskins is an artist
and once famously stated, “theand STEAM educator exploringidea becomes a machine thatalgorithms and programming
makes the art.”23 In this case, thein her artistic and education“machine” is literal, generatingbased practice. This portrait
art work in conjunction withof Jessye Norman was createdthe instructional concepts
using a machine-learning
provided by the artist. Artistic
process of deep learning andoutput generated by machine
deep image style transfer.
can be seen in a variety
of forms, such as Nettrice
Gaskins’ “algorhythmic”
visual illustrations, which
use artificial intelligence andmachine learning algorithms to
Nettrice Gaskins, Prima, 2021, Deep Image
Style Transfer. Image courtesy of the artist
represent concepts of rhythm
and repetition rooted in Black
cultural expression; and theglobal “live-coding” movement that relies on music and visuals generated from algorithms coded liveby artists during experimental multimedia events called “algoraves.”24

See casestudy onRefik Anadol

Codie, a live-coding collective
comprised of artists Sarah
Groff Hennigh-Palermo, Melody
Loveless, and Kate Sicchio, ispart of a global movement oflive-coding and algoraves.

A live-coding performance by Codie. Photo byWestley Hennigh-Palermo

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Codie

23
F. Guner, “In Sol LeWitt’s Head is a Machine that Makes Art,” The Arts Desk, Oct. 31, 2015, https://theartsdesk.com/
visual-arts/sol-lewitts-head-machine-makes-art
24“Art & Algorhythms.” Accessed April 5, 2021. https://www.nettricegaskins.com/

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

23

Data as Critical Lens
Data play many roles within creative processes. Artists may involve the audience in data collection,
analyze large datasets to reveal trends or connections, or collaborate with scientists to present
information about pressing topics such as climate change. Artists also use data to shed light on
invisible systems; question ethical data use; and explore technologies that are poised to have a large
societal impact, such as data mining, facial recognition, and location tracking.
Datasets also serve as lenses for uncovering cultural indicators and viewing histories in a new light.
Tahir Hemphill’s Hip Hop Word Count is a database that includes lyrics to more than 50,000 songs.
The project is a rich source for deepening the cultural analysis of hip-hop prose and is searchable bya variety of metadata fields, such as date, artist, word complexity, and geography. As an extension ofthis work, Hemphill established the Rap Research Lab, a creative technology studio that combines
rap and data visualization as an access point to engage communities in data literacy and to explore
questions of social justice. During Hemphill’s 2018 tenure as the Harissios Papamarkou Chair in
Education for the Library of Congress, his practice as a “radical archivist” deepened investigationsin the scholarly humanities field by examining archival documents and data to “pressure the idea of
The Library as a neutral space.”25

Code, Computation, and Data as Connective Tissue
In addition to serving as creative materials, the foundational elements of code, computation, anddata open the door for artists to navigate across areas of practice. Artists combine fluency in codewith other skills and goals—to produce objects, live performances, web-based interactions, mobile
apps, interactive installations, and other art forms. In this manner, digital competencies serve as abridge between artists and other communities and collaborators.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Kyle McDonald
Kyle McDonald is an artist andtechnologist working across multiple
fields of practice. His collaborative workwith Rhizomatiks Research and thedance troupe ELEVENPLAY has resulted
in interactive multimedia performancesthat explore the relationship between
choreographed movement, the human
body, and computer-generated beings
through the use of drones, artificial
intelligence, and machine learning.26
The multimedia dance performance discrete figures(2018) is a collaboration of Kyle McDonald, the dancetroupe ELEVENPLAY, and Rhizomatiks Research.
Photo by Suguru Saito

Artists are also gathering around particular skillsets, such as the use of code and computation
across various disciplines and platforms, rather than gathering around a particular artistic medium,genre, or form. For example, Kyle McDonald identifies as “an artist working with code,” using skills
25
26

24

Mears, “Creative Technologist and 2018 Papamarkou Chair Tahir Hemphill Looks Back on His Year in the Archives.”
McDonald, “Dance x Machine Learning: First Steps.”

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

in machine learning, computer vision, and surveillance technologies. His projects span a variety of
disciplines and forms and have included large-scale immersive installations, interactive visuals fordance performances, and social media interventions. His practice also includes the developmentof open-source software toolkits that enable other artists to easily employ these skillsets into theirown creative projects.27
Interest in such interdisciplinary approaches to arts and technology is reflected by newer academic
programs that teach students the skills to navigate coding languages, datasets, and related
hardware and/or software in order to create physical and virtual works across multiple mediums
and genres. For example, the University of Nebraska’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Emerging Media
Arts program includes four tracks: code, computational media, visual expression, and story. This
program enables students to “to create media across a continuum from filmmaking to gamedesign, virtual reality, experience design, special effects sensory media, sonic art and data.”28 New
York University’s Interactive Media Arts (IMA) program involves “creating and critiquing everythingfrom networked software and apps to objects with embedded interactions—games, wearable
devices, computational clothing, social tools, novel controllers, the whole range of objects andinterfaces that have at their core interaction with a user.”29 The role of colleges and universities insupporting this growing field of practice is explored in Chapter 2.
Although digital technologies can make complex artistic visions come to life, the process of getting
there can be arduous. Such work often requires access to specialized hardware and software;
extensive time for development, testing, and troubleshooting; and ongoing learning to become
familiar with evolving and newly developed tools. Digital divides and disparities in race, class,and gender across the arts and technology sectors create additional barriers. While artists andorganizations exist to provide accessible on-ramps to this field of practice, this is labor-intensive
work that requires even more robust support systems and entry points.

Tool-building is an artistic pursuit and a vital foundation for
creators.
“I think what’s really important right now is understanding that the technologies around us
are not these systems or black boxes that we have to just operate within, that you can pullthem apart and question them and make your own things.”—Lauren Lee McCarthy, creator of p5.js and Processing Foundation board member
Among tech-centered artists, building creative tools is a significant pursuit alongside art making, andartists develop software and hardware for both themselves and other artists. Some artists consulted
in this field scan consider tool-building as central to their artistic practices and may self-identify as
hackers, circuit benders, software developers, robotics engineers, and audio or visual instrumentbuilders. Others develop custom tools on a case-by-case basis determined by need.30 Whether it is toincorporate interactivity in a gallery installation or generate audio-visual effects, artists are actively
developing custom-made software and hardware for use within their projects.

27“Kyle McDonald.” Accessed April 5, 2021. https://kylemcdonald.net/
28“Bachelor of Fine Arts: Emerging Media Arts.” University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Accessed April 6, 2021. https://arts.unl.
edu/academics/carson-center/bachelor-fine-arts-emerging-media-arts
29“Interactive Media Arts.” NYU. Accessed April 6, 2021. https://itp.nyu.edu/ima/
30
Since 2015, Signal Culture has offered residencies for toolmakers building devices or software used in the
production of experimental media art. Their list of participating artists, a resource that provides insight to the range oftoolmaking practice, is available at http://signalculture.org/tir.html

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

25

The notion of artists developing their own tools to produce work is certainly not new, building
on roots established by early pioneers of electronic media art such as Nam Jun Paik. However,
the accelerated means of creation in this current digital domain is different, as is the centralityof the process to artistic practice. Hackerspaces, open-source software and hardware, and code
repositories have all enabled a flourishing and inventive tool-building movement that hinges upon
technologies old and new. Some of these tools, even if built for a particular project, evolve and growto underpin multiple artistic or even commercial projects.

Overview of the Tool-Building Process
Toolmakers might rely on existing open-source software toolkits for the arts, commercial software,and consumer or DIY electronics to develop customized tools. In some cases, they might even build
new programming languages or design integrated systems for interactivity that are easy to use,such as custom-built software that allows artists to control sound and image by facial tracking orlight sensitivity during live performance. Online communities and forums often accompany suchtools, a phenomenon further explored in the “Navigating the Ecosystem” section of this report.

OVERVIEW OF THE TOOL-BUILDING PROCESSCOMMON TOOL-BUILDINGINGREDIENTSARTIST OUTPUT
Artist uses the custom tool
within an arts project.

Open-source Software Toolkits
for the Arts

Example: To generate sounds, images, 3Dmodels, or other assets for a live
performance or installation.

Examples: openFrameworks,
Processing, Wekinator, Scratch, p5.js)

Commercial Software

Examples: MAX/Msp (by Cycling ’74),
Isadora (by TroikaTronix), Touch Designer(by Derivative)

Electronics or Hardware

Examples: Micro-controllers andprogrammable circuit boards like theArduino and Raspberry Pi; repurposing or
hacking existing hardware devices, suchas a Microsoft Kinect controller

26

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

ArtistBuildsCustomized
Hardwareor
SoftwareTool

Development of the tool is theart project, becoming an
ingredient for building new tools
or artworks.
Example: Releasing free tools as ademocratizing and/or disrupting social
practice.

Tool or prototype openly shared.

Example: Open Source Software Toolkits,
for use (or modification) by other artists

Reasons for Tool-Building
Artists in the study expressed a number of reasons for building their own software or hardware,such as:y

A natural extension of skills in computer science or DIY electronics;yA need for affordable alternatives to expensive commercial options;yA need for customized technical solutions to fulfill an artistic or conceptual vision; oryA curiosity to disassemble, repurpose, or invent new uses for existing consumer technology.

In many cases, an entrepreneurial spirit drives such creation as well—several artists in the study
either license or freely distribute their own created tools for others to use. Such distribution often
embodies core principles of the free software and open-source movement, also known as FLOSS(Free, Libre, Open-Source Software). While some artists may end up developing or contributing toproprietary tools, creative modification and re-use are pervasive in the ecosystem, in part due to theemergence of less restrictive licensing protocols. These so-called “copyleft” licenses31 give artists
more control over the ways their work is distributed and re-used. The ready availability of online
instructional materials further encourages artists to build exactly the tools they need rather than
accepting what is already available.

A Collective Ethos
Beyond innovating for personal projects, artists make it possible for others to learn, use, andexpand artistic expression with digital technologies across ages and skill levels. The open-source
toolkits created by artists, designers, and educators provide accessible starting points for students
in the arts, open-source, and technology fields. Many of the artists who informed this report openly
share their research and process with online communities, reflecting a generative aspect to thispractice. They write code to be shared, establish code languages and toolkits, develop custom
software, hack existing hardware, and build their own devices. Their tools and contributions provide
on-ramps for users new to creative coding, and they also advance creative capabilities for fellow
artists.
The practice of tool-building is done both independently and with collaborators. In some cases,
artists have adopted an open-source model of development, in which many collaborators contributeto a single project. This type of development is facilitated by code repositories like GitHub and
GitLab, which enable users to contribute their own work or develop variations on existing work bycopying source code to make derivative works, a practice known as “forking” code. Code repositories
have also given artists platforms for sharing and distributing the tools they make. The open-source
development model has allowed communities of practice to spring up rapidly, and many of them arefounded and self-organized by artists.32
Affordability and easy access are central values for artists developing tools made freely available
online and able to be shared, edited, and improved upon by user communities. Such resources
serve many sectors and users: artists, hobbyists, researchers, grade school students, museum
professionals, and others whose work depends on a shared knowledge base that is freely available,
extensible, and participatory. Without these resources, practitioners would be forced to use more
expensive commercial software—a significant financial barrier to participation.

31“What is Copyleft?” GNU. Accessed April 5, 2021. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html
32
For more on open-source models, and related challenges, see Nadia Eghbal’s publications Working in Public: The
Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software and Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

27Artist-Designed Tools
Projects focused on the design of new creative
tools can include:ySoftware development enabling affordable access to a specific technological process.

y

Building code libraries for visual programming languages critical to the process of rapid
prototyping for artists working across fields, from design, audiovisual, and dance.

y

Making 3D models available for design fabrication or for use in digital environments.

yDevelopment of new hardware enabling video capture for 360-degree video experiences.

y

New creation/distribution platforms.

HIGHLIGHT

Examples of artist-designed tools:

28yIsadora (Mark Coniglio) is a customizable software tool that provides interactive control
over digital media, such as video and sound, with an emphasis on real-time processing forlive performance.

y

Processing (Casey Reas, Ben Fry, and Daniel Shiffman) is a programming language and setof code libraries for visual artists, composers, those programming electronics, and othercreatives.

yp5.js (Lauren Lee McCarthy) is an open-source Javascript library for artists and designers
modeled on Processing.

y

openFrameworks (Zach Lieberman, Theodore Watson, and Arturo Castro) uses the coding
language C++, and provides a basis for artistic experimentation across different operating
systems like Windows, iOS, and Linux.

yJitter (R. Luke DuBois, Cycling ’74) allows real-time manipulation of video and 3D imagery
and is part of the larger Max suite of tools, which includes audio, graphics, interaction, andhardware, and enables makers to develop interactive media software.

yDepthkit, developed by the design studio Scatter (James George, Yasmin Elayat, andAlexander Porter), is a software solution that allows artists, designers, and filmmakers to
capture volumetric video for use in 3D environments, such as virtual reality or augmented
reality projects.

y

REACH, by the immersive journalism company Emblematic Group (Nonny de la Peña), isa browser-based web platform that allows users to generate volumetric content using asimplified drag-and-drop interface.

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Hacking Devices
In addition to crafting custom software and hardware from scratch, artists repurpose existing
tools—for example, by hacking existing hardware and software systems—to explore new andinnovative applications. Consumer electronics—like Microsoft’s motion-sensing Xbox gamecontroller Kinect33—and existing technologies used in science and engineering provide artists witha base of capabilities upon which to build once they crack open the system. These artists’ work
mirrors and draws from much larger trends of open-source software, DIY electronics, makerspaces,
hackerspaces, and digital fabrication laboratories known as “fab labs,” which offer access to digital
fabrication tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters.

Unseen Labor
Tool-building is a crucial but often overlooked form of artistic labor that needs support fromfoundations and funders. Whether a tool was built for an independent project or throughcollaborative workshopping, the final product is achieved as a result of “many hundreds of hoursof hard work from the artist,” most of which is invisible to audiences or users.34 Tool-building also
requires the flexibility to rework and troubleshoot along the way, learning and retooling throughpractical application. The process is difficult, time-consuming, iterative, and highly creative work inand of itself. The field would not exist or grow without it.
However, there is a need to generate opportunities for understanding, recognizing, and supporting
this field of practice. For example, in an Open Source Software Toolkits for the Arts (OSSTA) report35
from a 2018 convening, contributors documented challenges associated with the development,
maintenance, funding, sustainability, and community management of open-source arts toolkits, aswell as their values and goals for the future. The published report highlights common issues facing
OSSTA practitioners, such as difficulty demonstrating the value of their work to potential funders
and challenges describing their work to fit within funding categories and guidelines. These issues
provide evidence that tool-building may be a challenging artistic practice for funders to understand.
In order for these tools to remain free and open to the public, more work needs to be done to better
understand and support this valuable field of practice.

Artists engaging in toolmaking, especially in experimental media
arts, allows artists to explore new ways of seeing the electronic
image that is not based on industry tools. It opens up a dialog forquestioning all tools and their relationship to what is possible.
—Eric Souther, Assistant Professor of Video Art NYSCC School of Art
and Design at Alfred University and Signal Culture board member
33
Schmidt, “Microsoft Makes Hacking Kinect Easier,”
34
In his essay “Computers Do Not Make Art, People Do,” Aaron Hertzmann emphasized the time-intensive nature ofwork with digital technologies, as well as processes of “iteration, experimentation, and refinement.” Rather than efficiently
reaching a point of completion, Hertzmann described hundreds of hours of work, explaining, “The artist does not simply
write a program and let it go. The artist writes a piece of software and then tinkers and refines the algorithms over a long
period of time.”
35
McCarthy, Hughes, and Levin, “Open Source Software Toolkits for the Arts (OSSTA): a Convening.”

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

29Early Tools, Still Influential

HIGHLIGHT

Wobbulator and Ritual for Hybrid MediaIn 1970, Nam June Paik andShuya Abe developed the
Wobbulator, an early video
processing tool that allowed
users to manipulate video
into abstracted images andpatterns using audio signals
and electromagnets placed
behind a cathode ray televisionscreen. An innovation in its
time, this artist-designed
hardware is still used byartists today. In 2015, Jason
and Debora Bernagozzi’s
audiovisual performance Ritualfor Hybrid Media included
the use of a color wobbulator
and other custom-built signal
processing tools. The color
wobbulator featured was built
in collaboration with Dave
Jones, an engineer that also
created video processing tools
frequently used by media
artists, such as Gary Hill.

Top: Photograph of Paik Raster
Manipulation Unit (aka the Wobbulator)
constructed for the Artists Residency
Program at the Experimental Television
Center, 1973. Photo courtesy ofExperimental Television Center Ltd
Bottom: Wobbulator in use during alive performance of Jason and Debora
Bernagozzi’s Ritual for Hybrid Media at
Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center in2015. Photo by Mark Longolucco, courtesyof the artists

30

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Early Tools, Still Influential (cont’d)
Rutt/Etra...
Not-A-Rutt-Etra?

HIGHLIGHT

In 1972, the Rutt/Etra video synthesizer wasco-invented by Steve Rutt and Bill and Louise
Etra. Early video pioneers, including Gary Hilland Woody and Steina Vasulka, used this video
synthesizer for live image processing and realtime animation during audio-visual performance.
The lineage of the Rutt/Etra aesthetic continues
to influence artists and designers today, andnumerous digital tools, such as Signal Culture’s
Re:Trace app, have been created to emulate the
Rutt-Etra effect for the purpose of making thistype of image processing tool available for otherartists. The image below features Eric Souther’s
Not-A-Rutt-Etra, another video instrument built
using TouchDesigner to simulate the Rutt/Etra.

Top: Woody Vasulka, Panel 5.
Photo courtesy of Steina Vasulka
and Berg Contemporary
Bottom: Still image created by
Eric Souther’s Not-A-Rutt-Etra,
another video instrument built
using TouchDesigner to simulate
the Rutt/Etra. Image courtesy of
the artist

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

31

CROSSING CONTEXTS AND DISCIPLINES
Artists working with digital technologies intersect with many artistic disciplines and frequently
belong to multiple communities based on their multifaceted artistic practices. This chapter
sketches a high-level picture of some of the ways that artists work within, across, and beyond thediscipline categories most frequently used by funders, arts organizations, and arts venues. As theresearch findings demonstrate, tech-centered artists:yWork fluidly among disciplines, genres, and formats;yCreate projects within and between virtual and physical spaces; andyExtend established arts disciplines through creative experiments with technology.

Artists work fluidly among disciplines, genres, and formats.

Photo of Future Sketches(2020), an interactive andimmersive experience
produced by ARTECHOUSE
in collaboration with artist
Zach Lieberman. Photo
courtesy of ARTECHOUSE

Tech-centered artists regularly combine art forms to create complex works that span establishedcategories and provide audiences with experiences that go beyond the sum of their parts.
While interdisciplinary projects are not unique to artists working with digital technologies, thesetechnologies do allow such projects to take distinctive forms. In addition, practitioners are actively
pioneering new modes of collaboration and innovating creation processes that represent diverse
visions for personal and creative expression.

Crossing Disciplines and Categories
Cross-disciplinary endeavors involving digital technologies as creative materials vary greatly inform, with artists drawing on a range of artistic disciplines, technologies, and areas of study.
For example, in the performing arts,
technological innovations have enabled
the weaving together of movement
and theatrical staging with elements
such as lighting, video, sound, andother multimedia components.
Developing such interdisciplinary
productions involves methodical
and time-consuming work. These
efforts have been aided by tools suchas Isadora, Max/MSP, and QLab,which add efficiency and reliability tomultilayered processes. Motion-sensing
technologies developed for the gaming
industry (Microsoft Kinect) and othergesture-tracking devices (the Leap
Motion Controller and Max/MSP/Jitter’s
Gesture Controlled Performance Tool)
have further facilitated experimentswith music and movement.36

36
For an overview of the history and recent developments in musical performance applications of gesture-controlled
tools, see Doughty, “With a Wave of the Hand: Creating Gesture Controlled Soundscapes and Video with the Leap Motion
Controller and Max/MSP/Jitter.”32

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Artists working with digital technologies also work within art forms that are inherently boundaryblurring. Their work intersects with fields such as public art, social practice art, community-engaged
work, as well as multifaceted interactive, installation-based, and immersive projects.37 Each ofthese forms, terms, and related contexts is complex in its own right and opens up myriad possible
intersections with digital technologies. For example, “immersive” work ranges from performances
to installations to commercial experiences in theme parks, escape rooms, and haunted houses.38
Immersive experiences like those featured at Meow Wolf (Santa Fe, opening in Denver and Las
Vegas in 2021), ARTECHOUSE (Washington, DC, New York City, and Miami) or teamLab Planets(Tokyo, Japan) cross divisions between “art” and “entertainment” within spaces specificallydesigned to accommodate technologically complex projects.
One challenge of working outside established categories involves questioning how grantmakers,
arts journalists, and audiences might approach and evaluate projects. Commercial or entertainment
venues have gauges of success that differ from those of arts venues, festivals, and biennales.
Likewise, community-based arts projects focused on bridging digital divides may have differing
expectations depending on geography and audience skill-levels. Additionally, a number ofinterviewees for this research study held variable viewpoints on critiquing technological savvy andartistic merit, indicating a need for more rigorous study and journalistic coverage to further develop
and inform critical frameworks for evaluation.

Complex Movements
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Complex Movements performing inside the multimedia
pod constructed for Beware of the Dandelions (2016).
Photo by Doug Coombe, courtesy of the artists

Detroit-based arts collective Complex
Movements combines community
organizing, hip-hop performance, andinteractive technology. Their mobile art
installation, Beware of the Dandelions(2016), functioned as a performance,
workshop space, and visual arts exhibition.
The project involved a cross-disciplinary
team of lead artists and collaborators,
including Invincible/ill Weaver (lyricist,
performance artist), Carlos “L05” Garcia(multimedia artist, technologist), Wesley
Taylor (graphic designer, musician), Wajeed(music producer, filmmaker), Sage Crump(producer, cultural strategist), Aaron
Jones (architect), Tyrone Clemons (artist,
technologist).

37
Even without emerging technologies, public art projects may necessitate architectural or engineering expertise,require permits or city buy-in, and benefit from extensive community engagement. Curators and researchers Tanya Toft andSusa Pop underscored such intersections in their preface to What Urban Media Art Can Do: Why, When, Where, and How,situating technology-based art in public spaces “in between practice fields such as ‘new media,’ public art, urban design andmedia architecture” and in relation to “a mix of genealogies of fine art, architecture, design and technology,” as well as andmany other specific genres (24).
38
Brigante and Elger, 2020 Immersive Entertainment Industry Annual Report.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

33

Explaining Cross-Disciplinary Practices
The artists who participated in this research identify and work within a range of practices and art
forms. In addition, they explain their creative investigations to audiences, presenters, and funders
in different ways. Some artists focus on particular areas of expertise, influences, or technologies;
others emphasize expansive virtual reach. Many of the artists who participated in research forthis report used words such as inter-, multi-, trans- or post-disciplinary, trans- or multimedia, oreven anti-disciplinary to describe their expansive arts practices. Such terms reject commonplace
categorization and reflect artists’ ability to pursue questions or drive interests across fields ofpractice and specialization.
The terms chosen by tech-centered artists also reiterate the common practice of collaboration.
These artists often work with collaborators in different disciplines from project to project,resulting in works that take very different forms and make their overall careers difficult to neatly
categorize or describe. These collaborations can involve equal contributions from individuals orgroups, such as a collective, a cohort of skilled practitioners, or community co-creation.
Furthermore, some artists prefer to work primarily in team-based environments for the productionof new works, recognizing a wide range of skillsets and specialized expertise might be essential
for executing complex artistic visions and building interactive experiences. These collaborative
practices test traditional notions of a singular artist-visionary and challenge the practice of
attributing the creation of an artwork to a single artist.
Emergent technology
also allows
practitioners tofurther explore
relationships
between creators
and audiences bydesigning intentional
opportunities
for contributions
through community
co-creation.39
Participatory
works can involve
sourcing audience
contributions through a number of methods, from in-person workshops to online crowd-sourcing
through digital platforms. Such works can engage participation from large audiences and deliver
unprecedented outcomes. During an interview as part of this study, Lance Weiler, director of theDigital Storytelling Lab at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, referred to a participatory
project, Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things, which had more than 2,600 collaborators in
60 countries and 180 self-organized events. The university describes such projects as a “massive
online/offline collaboration.”40

Many of the artists who participatedin research for this report used words
such as inter-, multi-, trans- or postdisciplinary, trans- or multimedia,
or even anti-disciplinary to describe
their expansive arts practices.

See casestudy onLance Weiler

Given the complexities outlined above, grantmakers and entities organized around establishedartistic disciplines often struggle to fit these practices into grant categories, to assist jurors who
feel ill-equipped to assess proposals, and to support projects in need of research and39
For information about contemporary models of co-creation processes from within communities, across disciplines,
and with living systems and artificial intelligence, see Cizek, Uricchio, et al., “Collective Wisdom.”
40“Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things.” Columbia University School of the Arts Digital Storytelling Lab.
Accessed April 6, 2021. http://www.digitalstorytellinglab.com/projects/sherlock-holmes-the-internet-of-things/.

34

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development funds. As digital technologies become more accessible, the numbers of artists
working collaboratively in tech-centered artistic forms is likely to increase, as will the pressure on
funders and arts organizations to find a footing in the field.

Iyapo
Repository

Below: Artifact_012 (2016). Water Suit, Spandex fabric, EVA foam, tubing, motors, Raspberry Pi. All
images courtesy of the artist

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Above: Iyapo Repository workshop at Rhizome DC, Washington, DC, 2016. Image courtesy of theartistThe Iyapo Repository,
co-founded by artists
Ayodamola Okunseinde andSalome Asega, pays homage
to an Octavia Butler novelby creating an Afrofuturist
museum featuring digital andphysical artifacts. Objects are
co-created with community
members during a processof speculative design,
which are then fabricatedinto actual prototypes andarchived as artifacts in the
Iyapo Repository collection
to imagine fantastical ways
Black histories can be told tofuture generations.

35Artists create projects within and between virtual andphysical spaces.
Artworks that incorporate digital technologies exist across a spectrum of physical, virtual, andhybrid forms. Through these forms, artists are able to reach new audiences outside traditional arts
institutions via film festivals, public spaces, branded marketing events, commercial social media
platforms, and online communities:41yVirtual forms can include works that exist within the internet or social media platforms, video
game environments, or virtual reality (VR) and immersive 360° media.

yPhysical forms can include works that exist as interactive sculptures, site-specific experiences,
live performances, screen-based works or projections, or ephemeral public art projects.

yHybrid forms can include works that blend the physical and virtual, such as augmented reality(AR), mixed reality (MR), or mobile or smartphone projects.

WHAT IS EXTENDED REALITY (XR)?
XR is the umbrella category that covers the various forms of immersive computer-generated
reality, including: Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR).
VIRTUAL REALITY (VR)

AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)MIXED REALITY (MR)

Users experience a fully immersive
digital environment constructedwith varying levels of interactivity.
VR experiences can be multisensory and interactive, using
haptic devices and olfactorycomponents, and even mapped toa physical location with live actors
for a mixed reality experience. VR
projects can be experienced using
a variety of head-mounted devices.

Users engage with digital
information or graphics that are
virtually overlaid onto physicalsurroundings, augmenting a live
feed captured from a camera.
AR projects can be experienced
using tablets or mobile devices
with a camera, AR glasses, or
MR headsets.

Users can seamlessly interact
with virtual elements integrated
within a physical environment,
including the capability tointeract with physical objects
or other participants. MR can beexperienced using head-mounted
devices that have external
cameras, and may involve
complex immersive installations
with multi-sensory components
for users to navigate.

41
Mentioning these platforms is not to suggest that gaining audience attention outside of traditional channels is easy.
For an in-depth discussion of the challenges that artists face attempting to gain traction through tools such as social media
platforms, see Deresiewicz, The Death of the Artist.

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Art in the Palm of Your Hand
The widespread adoption of smartphones42 has also opened up significant new avenues ofexperimentation to artists. Artistic interventions that until recently would have required expensive
software and hardware are now delivered to users’ own smartphones at a fraction of the costand effort. Works created by artists using mobile devices overlay physical and virtual elements—
disrupting, augmenting, or interrogating users’ physical environments.

Location

The ability of a smartphone to tap into the Global Positioning System (GPS) has enabled artists to use
location as a component of their works. Location enables find-and-seek experiences as well as more
complex narratives that unfold in space as well as time. Blast Theory’s 2007 Rider Spoke combined
GPS with participatory media, prompting bike riders to seek out locations where others had recorded
a story and to record one themselves for later discovery.

Augmentation

The capability of AR allows artists to overlay
digital information onto the physical world
through mobile devices such as smartphones
and tablets. A growing set of tools exist
for artists to experiment and discover new
potential for this technology, such as softwaredevelopment kits for Android (ARCore) and iOS
developers (ARKit)43. Launched in 2016, Marjan
Moghaddam’s AR activations and #arthacks
display 3D computer-generated animations ofundulating “glitch goddesses” within galleries,
museums, and public spaces. In August
2020, artist Vince Fraser, in partnership withARTECHOUSE, launched We Rise Above,an Afrosurrealist AR project geographicallylinked to Black Lives Matter Plazas acrossthe country. Through such projects, artists are
centering underrepresented communities byoverlaying imagery onto established venues
and shared public spaces. AR also presents
artists with opportunities to fill gaps inhistorical narratives, responding to centuries ofinjustices and omissions, and circumventing
slow-moving wheels of curriculum
development, through the nimble capabilities
of digital technologies. For example, the artistactivist collective Movers and Shakers, cofounded by idris brewster and Glenn Cantave,
launched the Monuments Project during Black History Month in February 2021. The project includes
the release of the Kinfolk App, a catalog of AR monuments featuring women, people of color, andLGBTQIA+ icons with a purpose to “merge these icons with culturally responsive pedagogy so thatstudents of color can see themselves in their history” and “empower anyone with a smartphone to beable to see digital monuments of black and brown icons in their homes.”

An AR monument of Shirley
Chisholm, the first Black
woman in Congress. Image
courtesy of the artist

Glenn Cantave (right)
and idris brewster(center) demonstrate
their augmented reality
monuments at a teach-inat Columbus Circle, 2018.
Photo by Zoe Pappis,
courtesy of Movers andShakers42
Pew Research Center, “Mobile Fact Sheet.”
43
Visit the Experiments with Google website to see projects by coders experimenting with the software development
kit ARCore: https://experiments.withgoogle.com/collection/ar

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

37

Mobile Applications

Top: Image from theFollower App. Bottom: Filmstill from documentation of
Follower. Photos by Lauren
Lee McCarthy

Some artists develop mobile apps as criticalcomponents to their art projects, with concepts
ranging from explorations in polyrhythmic soundcomposition44 to thought-provoking social
experiments. An example of the latter is Follower,45
a service offered by artist Lauren Lee McCarthy thatprovides a “real-life follower” for the day. While app
users will never see their “follower,” they receive
notification on the morning of their following andare provided a photo upon conclusion. The projectexamines the relationship between social media“followers” and modern surveillance.

Viral Campaigns

In addition, artists can use their digital skills tolaunch elaborate online marketing campaigns,
which can garner critical attention and leaveaudiences questioning the reality of their existence.
Hello Velocity specializes in designing “internet
experiences,” from practical, client-based products
to speculative marketing campaigns that use social
media to gain viral attention. An example of thelatter is Bitelabs, a satirical biotech startup that“grows meat from celebrity tissue samples and uses
it to make artisanal salami,” which used the hashtag#EatCelebrityMeat to mobilize audiences.46 In asimilar vein, collaborators Tega Brain and Sam Lavigne launcheda website for Smell Dating, a product that claims to be the “firstmail odor dating service”; the project raised eyebrows from global
news outlets, including Time magazine.47

Virtual Realities

Bitelabs poster by Hello
Velocity. Image courtesy of
Hello Velocity

Artists are actively experimenting with VR technology, which
often requires dedicated headsets and peripheral devices, suchas haptic gloves and vests equipped with motors or sensors
to create lifelike sensations. Users can experience virtual
immersion in a variety of forms, and in some cases they canroam freely within mixed reality experiences created as roomscale installations that allow for seamless interaction withina virtual world mapped to physical objects and locations. Key
venues in which audiences can experience VR artworks and44
Rhythm Necklace is an iOS app, created by artist Meara O’Reilly in collaboration with Sam Tarakajian. For more
information, see “Rhythm Necklace.” Accessed April 6, 2021. http://rhythmnecklace.com/
45“Follower,” Lauren Lee McCarthy. Accessed April 6, 2021. https://lauren-mccarthy.com/Follower
46
B. Merchant, “The Guy Who Want to Sell Lab-Grown Salami Made of Kanye West is “100% Serious,” Vice, February
26, 2014, https://www.vice.com/en/article/kbz8ky/the-guy-who-want-to-sell-you-salami-made-out-of-james-franco-are-100serious. For more information about how Hello Velocity have used Twitter to gain viral attention, see: https://www.behance.
net/gallery/43950965/BiteLabs-by-Hello-Velocity
47
Oaklander, “Love in the Stenches.”

38

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

immersive storytelling content include festivals, museums, and ticketed entertainment spaces.
For example, Laurie Anderson’s Chalkroom, a VR installation created in collaboration with new
media artist Hsin-Chien Huang, has been featured at festivals and museums, including the Venice
International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and MASS MoCA. The piece invites users tofloat through a library of hidden stories and explore a virtual world filled with playful interactive
experiments in audio, poetry, and sound produced by the artist and generated by participating
museum visitors.
Even in VR worlds, user experiences are rooted in the physical body, and tech-centered artists areusing VR to explore novel methods of embodiment and multisensory interaction. Pierre Friquet’s
2019 project Spaced Out used awaterproof VR headset designed
by Ballast Technologies togive audiences immersed in aswimming pool the experienceof floating on the surface ofthe moon. Jordan Tannahill’s
co-production between the
National Film Board of Canada
and National Theatre’s Immersive
Storytelling Studio Draw Me Close
combined one-on-one interactive
theater with VR for an intimate,embodied hybrid experience thatblends the physical and virtual.
Immersive storytelling in VR isanother means for artists toemotionally connect with users
through engagement with thenarrative form. Experiences
can take place as 360° content
viewed via web-based browsers
or headsets and can offer
variable modes of interactivity,from passive observation toactive engagement. A number of mobile apps also exist that allows users to convert their own
smartphones into a “head-mounted display” capable of viewing 360° content ranging fromjournalistic to nonfiction and fictional narratives.48 Notably, the growth of immersive storytelling
content in recent years has spurred growing speculation over the future of virtual reality as an“empathy machine” capable of influencing social behaviors and instigating change.49

Laurie Anderson, The
Chalkroom, 2017, virtual
reality installation with
Hsin-Chien Huang. Photoby Christin DeFord,courtesy of MASS MoCA

Given physical hardware and limited access points, there are a number of barriers to experiencing
VR works; however, artists are working to expand opportunities for experiencing these projects. 50
Alfredo Salazar-Caro’s Digital Museum of Digital Art (DiMoDA), “dedicated to commissioning,

48
The University of Southern California’s website includes Immersive Storytelling Resources to assist users withnavigating options for consuming 360° content using their own smartphone devices. The list is available at: https://
uscpublicdiplomacy.org/story/immersive-storytelling-resources
49
Farmer, “Can virtual reality increase prosocial behavior and reduce prejudice?”
50
Mobile devices do allow for some access to VR artworks using simple and inexpensive Google Cardboard-styleheadsets; however, such pieces may be less accessible than pieces created for the web, social media, or even AR. For moreon VR and accessibility, see Ugolik Phillips, “Virtual Reality Has an Accessibility Problem.”

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

39preserving, and exhibiting cutting-edge VR artworks,” allows visitors to download virtual exhibitions
and also partners with exhibition venues around the world. Aaron Koblin’s company Within bothproduces VR and AR experiences and distributes the work of other artists across an assortment ofcommercial headsets. In addition, Lauren Ruffin’s founding of Crux, an Albuquerque-based XR
company, aims to amplify underrepresented voices and reduce inequities facing Black XR creatorsin areas of funding, production support, and distribution.51
Another form of “virtual space” exists online, where artists craft self-contained worlds that either
present fully fledged artworks or invite audience participation. Online projects rely on bespoke
websites, commercial social media platforms, networked devices, and other methods forexperimentation and user interaction. Cao Fei’s RMB City (2008-2011) used the online world
Second Life to construct a fictional Chinese city where she hosted art projects, contests, and otherevents. Taking its name from the Chinese currency the renminbi, the project experimented withbuilding an online community, both socially and structurally, as a virtual urban space. RMB City also
provides an example of how “virtual” and “physical” worlds blend together. The project included
both online and in-person events, as well as video artworks.

Digital Art in Public Spaces
Projects involving digital technologies as creative materials enliven public spaces throughmyriad means beyond mobile devices, including installations, light- and screen-based works,
motion responsive projects, data visualizations, projection projects, community-engaged works,
educational initiatives, and place-based interventions. Despite the fast turnover of technologies,
artists are developing permanent and quasi-permanent installations that incorporate digitaltechnologies into architectural structures, outdoor spaces, renovations, and new constructions.
Creative placemaking projects focused on community revitalization have a history of technologyinfused public artworks that engage the full body in play or immersive environments; provide
focused, intimate encounters; or invite audiences to see and experience shared spaces in a newlight. In 2010, Meejin Yoon’s interactive installation of Light Drift employed sensors and radio
signals to encourage interactions between visitors along the waterfront of the Schuylkill River in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dan Corson’s permanent public installation, Rays (2013), in Council
Bluffs, Iowa, animates a five-acre riverside park overnight, incorporating digital technology into
waterfront renewal by inviting visitors to enjoy light patterns cast across the lawn and play games
directed by the lights, which respond to their actions using motion sensors.
Artists may create temporarily installed artworks aligned with public events, educational goals, or
civic initiatives to create distinctive experiences. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s 2019 Border Tuner /Sintonizador Fronterizo provided one such opportunity for audience connection by using
intersecting search lights to form “bridges of light” that open channels for audio communication
across the border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Outdoor festivals focused on arts and technology and nighttime light festivals transform public
spaces and provide regional audiences with a chance to experience projects unavailable elsewhere,
and offer local and visiting artists the opportunity to experiment with site-specific installations
and showcase work. Festivals like Aurora (Dallas), LUNA Fête (New Orleans), Dlectricity (Detroit),
Northern Spark (Minneapolis), Light City (Baltimore), and the Paseo Project (Taos, New Mexico)
have expanded opportunities for light-based, multimedia, projection, and other digital artworks inpublic spaces. These public art projects and festivals provide models for supporting artists andengaging audiences with technology-rich projects, offering introductions as well as opportunities toexpand local programming and partner across regions and organizations.

51

40

Gossett, “How art co-op, Crux, uses VR to amplify Black voices.”

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Both left and bottom: Visitors interacting with
Meejin Yoon’s Light Drift (2010) on the waterfront of
Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photos
by Jeff Wolfram Photography, courtesy of Höweler +Yoon Architecture(Left) Four peopleinteracting with Dan
Corson’s Rays in Council
Bluffs Iowa. Photo
courtesy of the artist(Right) Audiences of
the AURORA Biennial
2018 experience Miguel
Chevalier’s Digital Icons(2018), a generative andinteractive virtual-reality
installation at City Hall,
Dallas, Texas. Photo by
Nicolas Gaudelet

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

41Artists extend established arts disciplines through creative
experiments with technology.
In 2008, Rocco Landesman, former National Endowment for the Arts chair, wrote:“Many of us in the arts battle the technology invasion; performing our own version of therefrain that those who do not remember their own history are condemned to repeat it.
The radio and the record album were once thought to herald the death of live music. The
VHS tape and cable television were going to end film. Photography was going to replace
painting, and color catalogues were going to obviate the need for museums. None of these
innovations led to the death of the art form, but instead contributed to its spread and helped
create new audiences. So now we are faced with the Internet, social media, and other new
technologies, and I believe the arts field must embrace them and integrate them into ourwork. Not to replace it, but to extend it.”52
As Landesman emphasized, although artists working with digital technologies seem “new,” theirartistic journeys engage with questions and practices at the heart of established disciplines andoffer relevant and meaningful experiences for arts audiences and supporters.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Sensorium
Sensorium is an experiential studio co-founded by Matthew Niederhauser and John Fitzgerald, bothartists with backgrounds in film and media arts. Their immersive storytelling work has resulted innumerous interdisciplinary
collaborations experimenting
with new and expanded formsof digital media across artistic
fields. For example, Hamlet
360: Thy Father’s Spirit is anadaptation of Shakespeare’s
iconic play merged withimmersive storytelling andvirtual reality, collaboratively
produced by the Commonwealth
Shakespeare Company,
Chronotype, and Sensorium,
which was released inpartnership with Boston public
media producer WGBH and
Google.
Production image from Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit. Photo by Matthew Niederhauser, courtesy of the artist

52

42

National Endowment for the Arts, Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation.

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Established Disciplines and Continual Evolution
Working with advanced technologies does not divorce artists from traditional artistic disciplines orlineages. Similar to avant-garde artists of previous eras, artists working with digital technologies
today are challenging divisions between “high art” and popular culture, acceptable venues for art
experiences, and the boundaries and norms associated with particular disciplines.
Artists working with digital technologies within established disciplines also make different choices
regarding how to describe themselves or their work. Roundtable artists working in a variety offormats, from filmmaking to photojournalism to dance, embraced the term “media artist” or“new media artist.” However, other artists working along similar lines described themselves inrelation to particular roles or fields—as “designers,” “performers,” “musicians,” “choreographers,”“composers,” or “writers.” Therefore, while an artist may embrace the term “media arts,” it isimportant to understand their creative investigations may be rooted in, and informed by, traditionalor established artistic disciplines.

Methods of Extending Forms
Established artistic disciplines are exponentially expanded through the application of technology
and digital tools to these disciplines. Sculptors design imagined forms using modelingsoftware, and manifest those forms with 3D printers. Musicians deploy artificial intelligence tocraft generative compositions.53 Architects embed LED- and screen-based projects into theirconstructions.54 Below are a few examples of the directions that such work can take.

Process & Development

Artists have a long history of sparking creativity through mechanisms beyond the traditional tools ofan artistic discipline—incorporating chance and task-based instructions, centering relationships andparticipation, focusing on concepts over objects, and collaborating across sectors and disciplines, toname just a few strategies. Digital technologies continue such experiments and provide artists withnew methods for crafting artworks.
In the late 1980s, choreographer Merce Cunningham began working with LifeForms, a computer
program that replaced dancers with tireless avatars, enabling him to repeatedly test out
unconventional movement sequences that were then translated onto live bodies.55 Choreographer
Wayne McGregor’s Living Archive, a collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, used machine
intelligence to analyze thousands of videos from McGregor’s archives, resulting in an online tool
for audiences to construct choreography and a performance experiment. Mimi Yin’s Dancing with
Machines drew on her backgrounds in dance and interactive design, using infrared depth-sensors
and motion-tracking software to enable dancers to improvise with and respond to lights and visualprojections in real-time.56 These examples show just a few ways that digital tools have been used
to generate movement, while pointing to ways that such processes become central components ofperformance.

Aesthetics & Audience Experience

Theater practitioners have been merging live performance with multimedia and digital components
for decades. Experimental theater makers have long explored the edges of technologicalcapabilities and have acquainted audiences with a spectrum of technology-infused encounters—
visual, interactive, immersive, and more.

53
Musician Holly Herndon’s 2019 album titled PROTO was produced in collaboration with an AI named “Spawn” that she
created with husband Mat Dryhurst.
54Lau, “The Tech to Expect in Architecture in 2018.”
55
Jacobs, “When Merce Cunningham Took on a New Collaborator: The Computer.”
56
Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University, “NYU IT Connect: Mimi Yin: Dancing With Machines.”

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

43

The cultural sector’s legacy institutions have also adopted digital technologies as core elements ofcurrent work and future plans. Projections have enabled Broadway set designers to mirror theelaborate special effects that audiences expect from big-budget Hollywood movies and have hadripple effects in the industry, as regional theaters work to upgrade their equipment to support
touring productions.57 The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Audience of the Future initiative brought
together a consortium of technology, education, and arts entities to explore integrating VR, AR,
mixed reality, mobile phones, and streaming into live performances.58
On a more intimate and experimental scale, COVID-19 quarantines spurred performers to translatetheater techniques to video conferencing platforms.59 In addition, some artists were alreadyexperimenting with virtual performances prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns. For example, Los
Angeles-based studio Tender Claws combines gameplay with storytelling and immersive theater
performance, allowing live actors to interact with audience members during remote performances
taking place within a networked VR environment.

Many artists also remain deeply connectedto particular disciplines—dance, music, visual
art—and do not want to replace disciplinary
associations with new media terminology.
Format & Content

Digital technologies have also offered new platforms and formats for artists working withinestablished disciplines. Literary arts have been informed by the proliferation of digital text andpublishing environments over the past two decades—tablets, e-readers, mobile phones, social
media platforms, and game design tools like Twine. These devices have provided writers withplatforms for experimenting with literary conventions, crafting nonlinear narratives, and granting
unprecedented agency to readers. Additionally, digital texts such as emails and Wikipedia
pages have provided authors with raw materials to mine as part of the creative process. As new
generations who have grown up using digital devices and platforms begin to develop their own
work, creative writing instructors are finding ways to rethink their curricula.60

Preserving “New” Forms

As artists working with digital technologies as creative materials extend disciplines in unanticipateddirections, they encounter challenges related to preserving their artistic legacies. The rapid

57
Lee, “Projection design is reinventing theater, and not just Broadway. National tours too.”
58
Royal Shakespeare Company, “Creative Industry Pioneers Come Together to Shape How Audiences Experience Live
Performance.”
59
Fuchs, “Reverse-Engineering Zoom with Isadora: Site-Specific Performance for the Internet.”
60
Skains, “Teaching digital fiction: integrating experimental writing and current technologies.” Additionally, in his 2001
book Digital Poetics: The Making of E-Poetries, Loss Pequeño Glazier drew historical comparisons between avant-garde
poetry and electronic writing, positing that the web of that moment, composed in the language of code and strung together
through hyperlinks, was itself a “space of poesis.” On the commercial side, festivals such as The Future of Storytelling
bring authors innovating in digital formats together with marketing professionals, game designers, YouTube stars, and data
scientists for big-ticket gatherings to dissect how narratives are evolving and influencing companies and consumers.

44

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

obsolescence of technologies on which artworks rely presents concerns for both artists andinstitutions. Projects in older formats or for older devices lead to archival and preservation
challenges, particularly for institutions without related expertise on staff.61 For artists, technology
turnover requires extensive work to update past projects. Documentation, which can be timeconsuming and costly, is key, both for recalling projects no longer able to be maintained and forproperly remounting projects on new systems.
Terminology also poses a challenge. The terms used to describe works may shift as a work “ages,”and terms are not universally adopted. Phrases such as “media art,” “new media art,” “emerging
technologies,” and “digital art” are regularly used by some and rejected by others. Such terms
overlap, have been used interchangeably, and, by the nature of the innovation-infused practices
they describe, quickly feel obsolete. Many artists also remain deeply connected to particulardisciplines—dance, music, visual art—and do not want to replace disciplinary associations withnew media terminology. These artists want their work to be considered in the context of specificdisciplines even when the technology deployed is cutting-edge.

61
For an examination of archiving and preserving digital artworks, see Noordegraaf, Cosetta, Le Maître, and Heidiger,
Preserving and Exhibiting Media Art: Challenges and Perspectives.

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45

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CHAPTER 2

Navigating the Ecosystem
This chapter examines the ecology of networks, hubs, and resources that provide vital support
to artists working with digital technologies as creative materials. The artists participating in thisresearch repeatedly described themselves as self-taught, having pursued informal education
offerings through physical hubs, makerspaces, and meet-ups as well as via virtual learning
communities, online forums, and online networking with other artists. The chapter begins
by introducing the types of formal and informal gathering spaces frequently referenced byroundtable participants and the programs and resources they offer. This examination of hubs isfollowed by an exploration of artists’ career trajectories, from entry points to how artists make aliving doing this work.
This chapter is divided into two sections:yInterconnected Communities, Hubs, and Gathering Spaces provides an overview of thecreative ecosystem that supports and surrounds tech-centered artistic practices.

yEntry Points and Strategies for Making a Living examines artists’ career pathways, ways ofearning a living, and interactions with organizations that artists both engage within and rely
upon.

The first section explores programs and services offered by artists’ hubs and tech-centeredorganizations, festivals, and conferences, spurred in large part by artist-founders. Online
forums offer critical networking, training, and community-building resources where artists shareideas and tools and learn from one another. Such forums are distributed across the internet inplaces like Facebook groups, Slack channels, and other sites that support information-sharing
and dialogue. Colleges and universities also are important players in the arts and technology
ecosystem, as employers, resource-providers, and centers of research and critical dialogue. This
report’s research documents a robust and growing number of academic programs in arts andtechnology that are graduating creative artists with deep technical expertise. These artists are
now entering the cultural sector with advanced computing training and abilities.
The second section explores how artists begin working at intersections of art and digitaltechnologies, build professional connections, and pursue career pathways to sustain theircreative work. Artists enter tech-centered practices both from arts disciplines and fromcomputing backgrounds. A portfolio career approach—mixing income from various earnings
as teachers, speakers, freelancers, and artistic work—is common in this realm, as it is acrossmost artistic disciplines. Artists in this report have access to work in the tech industry wherecompensation may be relatively generous, but they face the same challenges as other artists
when it comes to support for their creative practices.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

47

INTERCONNECTED COMMUNITIES, HUBS, AND
GATHERING SPACES
Roundtable participants and field interviewees reported key nodes of activity and learning that
represent prominent pillars of support for tech-centered artistic practices:yIn-person gatherings, workshops, festivals, and conferences are core hubs for learning andcommunity building.

yOnline resources and communities expand access and enable participation.

yColleges and universities are prominent employers, incubators, and resource providers.

In-person gatherings, workshops, festivals, and conferences
are core hubs for learning and community building.
Nonprofit and community organizations, as well as arts and technology festivals and conferences,have grown up alongside arts and digital technology practices. Such convening spaces offer
exhibition and performance venues, workshops, training, artists’ services, and peer gathering andnetworking opportunities.
This loose network of entities has been spurred by need and opportunity. Artists and field advocatesfounded their own organizations to fill voids in the arts ecosystem, promote fellow artists andtheir work, spark dialogue, and connect with one another. Many artist founders were inspired by acommunity-building spirit—the desire to expand participation, collaborate, create opportunities forthemselves and others, and pool resources and abilities to create ambitious projects.

Gathering Spaces
Organizations dedicated to tech-centered artistic practices host exhibitions, presentations,workshops, trainings, and other events that convene artists as well as supporters, and facilitate

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Open Signal

48

In Portland, Oregon, Open
Signal builds on a local
history of community-driven
media, offering classes,
production studios andequipment, exhibitions,artists’ talks, meetups, andfellowships in support of“creativity, technology, andsocial change.”
Open Signal New Media Fellow Laura
Medina (center) looks on as an attendee
views her VR project Recordar es Construir
through an HTC Vive headset, 2020. Photoby Sam Gehrke

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

formal and informal networking. Presence in such communities helps artists to build familiarity with
their work and to develop relationships—with peers, collaborators, funders, and potential employers.
Physical presence also fuels community vibrancy: artists and enthusiasts can meet to engage withideas and artworks in settings where social and professional relationships overlap.62
Tech-centered arts organizations offer varied programming. Workshops and classes often focus
on technical skill-building. Such educational and event-based program offerings, open to a broadarray of participants, serve core community-building needs. Residency programs, generally longer
and often more focused on particular projects and activities, provide artists with extended time andspace to develop ideas and experiment. Incubator programs also offer concentrated creation time,sometimes including a cohort model or a focus on specific goals, from business planning to project
milestones. In addition to such program offerings, hubs also contribute to artists’ income streams bycommissioning projects or hiring artists as speakers or instructors.
Makerspaces, another form of hub open to wider communities of tinkerers, inventors, and hobbyists—from beginners to experts—offer shared tools, the space to create independently, and often,
interaction with other makers. These communities of makers welcome different perspectives andknowledge bases from arts-oriented contexts. Artists such as Darcy Neal credit these communities
with helping them to adopt new techniques and production models and learn directly from othermakers. Makerspaces are a cousin to “fab labs”—digital fabrication laboratories that offer a similar
combination of space, tools, and community, with an emphasis on digital technologies.

See casestudy onDarcy Neal

New York City Hubs

HIGHLIGHT

New York City is a center of activity for artists working with digital technologies. The numerous
programs, events, residencies, and classes contribute to a flourishing environment for artists tocultivate community and grow their practice. For example, NEW INC, an incubator lab affiliated with
the New Museum, convenes creatives working at the intersection of art, design, and technology.
Harvestworks hosts the biennial New York Electronic Art Festival and leads a three-month Online
Technology Immersion Program. Babycastles’ weekly Coworking sessions give artists the opportunity
to work independently alongside peers. Rhizome’s Seven on Seven program pairs seven artists withseven technologists, challenging them to make a new artwork or prototype, which is premiered at anannual event. The School for Poetic Computation provides a mix of practical and thought-provoking
classes, such as “Code Movement” which focused on the intersection of coding and dance practice.
Pioneer Works’ Technology Department includes residencies, labs, workshops, and public programs
connecting artists and creative technologists to explore emerging technologies such as robotics,
AI, and XR. In addition to such ongoing efforts, special initiatives contribute timely perspectives that
foster inquiry and dialogue. For example, Eyebeam has dispatched a series of multilayered initiatives
such as the Center for the Future of Journalism, Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future, andRefiguring the Future, each focused on positioning artists in roles to “re-imagine what technology canbe and who it is for” and build a more just future for all.63

62
While this report focuses on artists working with digital technologies as creative materials, many findings haveparallels in other artistic communities. For example, in The Death of the Artist, essayist and critic William Deresiewicz
describes the gravitational pull of geographic hubs: “People don’t make art in isolation, and online interactions areincomparably impoverished relative to those that take place in real life. Artists move to centers to be in the thick of it: foreducation, motivation, inspiration, for the chance to find their tribe, join the discussion, and make their way where the making
is good” (91).
63“Eyebeam Reveals New Paths Toward a More Just Future for All.” Accessed April 7, 2021. https://www.eyebeam.org/
about-us/

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

49Professional Development & Technical Training
Artists working with digital technologies face dual learning needs, comparable to other arts
disciplines—skills training and professional development. The fast turnover in technologies
necessitates continuous learning and sometimes requires rebuilding older works so that theyfunction properly with upgraded software and hardware. This challenge is exacerbated for artists
who face disparities in access to equipment and resources, part of larger digital divides that cut
along lines of race, socioeconomic status, gender, and geography. In addition, inequities acrossarts and technology sectors impacting creatives of color and other marginalized communities havespurred the development of organizations and hubs, such as Color Coded (Los Angeles), CodeLiberation (New York City), and Afrotectopia (New York City), which go beyond technical training
to foster a sense of community that seeks to support and amplify underrepresented voices. In
addition, in-person venues may exist specifically to reduce digital divides, such as PowrPlnt which
describes itself as “a network of artists committed to providing digital arts education and accessfor all” and states on their website “access to technology is a right, not a privilege.”
Professional development programs at organizations variously focused on arts, design, or media
help artists cultivate their career paths through services like business workshops, grantwriting
feedback, input on “elevator pitches,” artwork critiques, and employment programs. Examples
include NEW INC’s focus on sustainable business models through workshops, panel discussions,
mentorship, social events, and peer review of project and business ideas; Arts2Work, the firstfederally registered national apprenticeship program and workforce development program forMedia Arts and Creative Technology; Allied Media Projects (Detroit), which provides services likefiscal sponsorship and evaluation planning; and Scope of Work (New York City), which focuses on
early-career artists, supporting 17- to 24-year-old creatives of color through classes, office hours,
professional residencies, and employment recruitment.

See casestudy onDesign I/OLike their peers in other disciplines, artists working with digital technologies require support
systems in order to meet their artistic and professional goals. They also pursue and receive
services from core arts services providers in local communities and nationally. As will be seenin the “Challenges” section in this report, these existing service organizations are not always
prepared or able to tailor or expand their offerings to support the needs that artists working withdigital technologies encounter.

Festivals and Conferences
Festivals and conferences focused on arts and technology provide concentrated opportunities
for both artistic and professional growth. These gatherings enable artists to meet one another,connect with field supporters, show work, learn about technological innovations, and engage
in reflection and debate. Artists also have been instrumental in instigating and developing
conferences and festivals, building career pathways as artist-administrators while supporting
their own and peers’ artistic growth and advancement. Such activities also bring together
cross-disciplinary practitioners working across multiple fields. For example, the Conference for
Research on Choreographic Interfaces founded by choreographer Sydney Skybetter convenes
expertise in dance, performance, computer science, kinesiology, anthropology, social justice, anddesign to discuss the relationship between bodies and movement and emerging technologies.64
The geographic spread of festivals offers numerous opportunities for artists, as well as accesspoints for audiences and supporters new to the intersection of arts and digital technologies. For
some artists, festivals function as career stepping-stones that provide commissioning support,
advantageous visibility, prestigious awards, or monetary prizes. Film festivals, for example,

64

50“CRCI.” CRCI. Accessed April 6, 2021. https://www.choreotech.com/

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

serve as incubators and meeting grounds for artists, filmmakers, animators, and technologists
using digital tools to reimagine storytelling and expression. Entities such as the SundanceInstitute, Tribeca Film Festival’s Immersive showcase, and imagineNATIVE are also resources
for supporters seeking to understand these new formats. For those who cannot attend in-person,
many festivals maintain online archives featuring past events:y

In Montreal, Canada, and Mexico City, Mexico, Mutek organizes annual electronic music anddigital arts festivals, with related festivals regularly hosted internationally.

y

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the creative technology-oriented EYEO Festival gathers
artists, creative coders, storytellers, researchers, and technologists for presentations anddiscussions.

y

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Currents New Media festival welcomes both practitioners andthe public for installations, performances, and exhibitions. The 2020 conference, presented
online, focused on extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence.

y

In San Francisco, California, the Gray Area Festival combines conference presentations,performances, workshops, and exhibitions. A 2020 theme of “Radical Simulation” focused on
immersive worldbuilding informed by “embodiment, social justice, identity, decolonialism, andregenerative ecology.”

Some long-standing convenings, such as ACM SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer
Graphics and Interactive Techniques), founded in 1974, and Ars Electronica, started in 1979 in
Linz, Austria, have developed numerous branches and activities over the years. SIGGRAPH, partof the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), hosts multiple annual conferences, sponsors
student and professional chapters, offers workshops, and organizes an international Digital Arts
Collaborative. Ars Electronica launched an annual Prix Ars Electronica in 1987 and opened aphysical center in 1996 that houses a FutureLab research space and think tank.

Online resources provide integral support to artists
outside major urban centers, which is of particularvalue for artists who may not have access to regular inperson training or community-building at physical hubs.
Online resources and communities expand access and enable
participation.
Given the quickly evolving nature of digital technologies, artists refine, acquire, and update their skill
sets through continuous self-teaching. Roundtable artists repeatedly described themselves as “selftaught” despite higher-than-average advanced degree attainment (see below). Independent learning
can involve classes and tutorials, such as computer programming tutorials posted by Daniel
Shiffman on his YouTube channel The Coding Train. Continuous learning also entails “learning by
doing” through exploratory or project-based activities designed to foster creative approaches todigital tools.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

51Artists emphasized a common reliance on specialized online communities and forums for project
development, technical troubleshooting, and continued learning. For example, Cycling ’74 offers
in-depth tutorials; troubleshooting forums; and Made with Max, a dedicated section featuringcontemporary artists and musicians using its tools for sound, graphics, and interactivity. Similarly,
Isadora, a customizable software programming environment used for live performance andtheater, offers free video tutorials for beginners to advanced users, a technical forum, and special
features on artists and production designers using the software. For communities using the
openFrameworks creative-coding toolkit, there are a forum for asking questions and meeting andassisting other users and a Github repository where accomplished users identify bugs, propose
new features, and contribute directly to code development. These forums are also subdivided
by different platforms and experience levels, with discussion areas focused on gear, technicaladvice, and opportunities such as job postings.

See case
study
on theProcessing
Foundation

Online activities have also led to in-person forums. The University of Denver’s Clinic for Open
Source Arts (COSA) supports open-source tool development, hosts gatherings, and helps
creators learn how to encourage the communities that grow around their tools. Processing
Foundation launched Processing Community Day in 2017, and the in-person event quickly spreadto hundreds of cities around the world.65 During the COVID-19 pandemic, these gatherings weretransformed into six-hour virtual hangouts and offered community members across the globe theopportunity to network and share projects and ideas.
Discord, a group chatting platform, is another form of social engagement used by artists to build
online communities around modes of artistic practice. For example, LiveCode.NYC’s community
on Discord features channels for discussing real-time music creation and live-coded visuals,
promoting events, and sharing recordings of work. While the collective regularly hosts in-person
workshops, performances, and festivals, the use of online forums (such as Discord, Instagram,
and Twitter) further bolsters community engagement. In addition, their website connects regional
practitioners to global live code networks and forums, provides local member listings, and brings
visibility to the various tools for live coding developed by artists around the world.
These many online resources help expand participation and foster the creativity of others. Online
resources provide integral support to artists outside major urban centers, which is of particularvalue for artists who may not have access to regular in-person training or community-building at
physical hubs. Online trainings also provide pathways into the field, expanding access throughfree and approachable virtual settings. Open-source software furthers this access, giving artists
the tools to create with the skills they have developed, often without the barrier of the high costsof commercial software.66

Critical Discourse and Discovery
In addition to skill-building, artists have long used their technology skills to build information
networks and create forums for discussion and debate. Prior to the launch and popularizationof the internet, artists were already connecting via bulletin boards that linked terminals andconfigured televisions through phone lines. Communities such as the internet mailing list nettime,founded in 1995, and Rhizome, founded as a listserv in 1996, established early spaces for critical
discourse.

65
The Processing Foundation shared video from their first Processing Community Day in 2017 on YouTube: youtube.
com/watch?v=0tzc6DbKJOo&feature=emb_logo.
66
For more information on the distinctions between open-source software, free software, and low- or no-cost options,
see Stallman, “Why Open Source Misses the Point of Free Software” and Peterson, “What’s the difference between opensource software and free software?”52

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Nodes for technology news, digital arts criticism, and other relevant topics have multiplied withthe rise of social media platforms, online publications, and podcasts. Artists may follow the
Voices of VR podcast or the No Proscenium podcast or Facebook page; visit aiartists.org tolearn about other artists or dive into their list of Top 25 AI Newsletters; read publications suchas Leonardo, Immerse or e-flux; and more, depending on their particular areas of practice andinquiry.
In addition, artists help each other by aggregating resources and recommendations for likeminded audiences. Everest Pipkin’s “Open-source, experimental, and tiny tools roundup” includes“standards” and “artful tools and toys that are as fun to use as they are functional;” and Martha
Hipley’s Artist’s Guide to Computation, which originally started as a Facebook group, is a weekly
newsletter and website serving as a comprehensive guide to current events, opportunities, andresources, filling the need to expressly serve artists “who don’t feel well-represented by neither
the art world nor the tech industry.”67
These many publications and outlets build awareness and appreciation among core arts anddigital technology communities, as well as broader audiences. However, the dispersed natureof the arts and technology ecosystem, along with the rapid turnover of digital technologies,
means that there is a large quantity of information to sift through and track. This situation
places artists in a position of constantly working to stay current—to keep their skills in line withnew technologies, update the systems that their artworks rely upon, and stay up-to-speed on
developments in the specific creative and technological communities that their work touches.

Colleges and universities are prominent employers,
incubators, and resource providers.
“There’s the challenge of how to be truly interdisciplinary with both students and faculty.
How do our students talk and interact and create projects with mechanical engineers
or material scientists, biologists? How do non-tenured or junior faculty co-teach withpeople outside of their discipline and be recognized and rewarded for it, as opposed
to simply teaching ‘an overage’? These are the challenges. We do currently have a VR
course which is a collaboration between our students and computer scientists, and it’s
working really, really well—but how do we begin these kinds of collaborations in the firstyear so that they can continue them over time, as opposed to limiting it to a one-off
experience in their junior year?”—Megan Elliot, Founding Director of the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts
Colleges and universities across the United States play multifaceted roles as employers, physicalhubs for the creation and presentation of new work, sites for cross-disciplinary collaboration, andstepping-stones for artists across career phases. As employers, colleges and universities support
artists as full-time and adjunct faculty, guest lecturers, and artists-in-residence.
In their roles as faculty in these programs, artists are actively engaged in teaching the next
generation of arts and technology creatives. They are helping to craft curricula, develop degree
programs, and inform departmental purchasing decisions about ideal space and equipment.
Artist-faculty also learn from their incoming students, who now come to higher education as
digital natives.

67

Pipkin, “Open Source, Experimental, and Tiny Tools Roundup”; Hipley, Artist’s Guide to Computation.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

53Increasing Degree Programs
While it is not possible to discern whether degree programs primarily enroll students who will
become future artists versus students who go on to work in technology-related business andindustry, data published by the College Board in 202068 show that 444 two- and four-year collegesin the U.S. offer degrees in the arts-and-technology field. Among these, common majors include
digital arts, intermedia/multimedia arts, animation, video graphics, artificial intelligence, musictechnology, and game design. More than 500 colleges also offer related degree programs ingraphic design, computer graphics, web design, and digital communications.

Digital Technologies Are Changing Traditional Arts Training
Traditional arts degrees are incorporating digital skills training in core curricula. Technology
platforms are now embedded in arts disciplines as disparate as music composition andperformance, photography, dance, and sculpture. Many faculty consider computation as a coreskill for the next generation of artists; colleges are adding basic coding across arts curricula.
Many arts and technology programs focus on entrepreneurship. One example is the relatively new
Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The center
strives to be a destination for “pioneers who use technology to innovate, to solve human-scale
problems, to entertain audiences, and to tell breathtaking stories.” Megan Elliott, the center’s
director, said, “In my mind, our students will find jobs…[and] in my mind, our students will create
jobs. They’ll actually create their own companies.”

Colleges and Universities as Resource Centers
College and university facilities are often far better equipped than community hubs orindividuals’ studios and can provide artists with access to space, tools, software programs,
powerful computers, and other assets. Higher educational institutions also frequently establish
relationships with technology companies in order to equip students and faculty with the latest
gear. Artists report losing such access when they earn their degrees, and some said they enter
graduate school or accept low-paying teaching positions to regain access to premier facilities fortheir own artistic work.

Challenges and Opportunities to Working Within Academia
Artists reported on the complexity of working within university systems that focus deeply on
specific disciplines, given the interdisciplinary nature of art and technology practice. Students andfaculty benefit from the depth of expertise across campuses, but are hampered by departmental
curricula and budget structures, the lack of interdisciplinary scholarly journals, and the promotion
requirements for tenure that are frequently tied
to achievement within disciplinary constraints.

In their roles as faculty inthese programs, artists areactively engaged in teaching
the next generation of artsand technology creatives.

68

54

College Board, “Major and Career Search.”

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Artists described the ways they are working
within academia to break down barriers andembrace new collaborative approaches beyond
arts and technology to include the humanities,
sciences, and social sciences. Artists also
have been able to apply and receive funding for
nontraditional collaborations within university
departments, citing grants from the National
Science Foundation and the Department of
Defense, among others.

High Levels of Advanced Degree Attainment
Of the artists who participated in this field scan’s roundtables, 71 percent hold graduate degrees,
which is higher than the percent of working artists in the BFAMFAPhD longitudinal study on
education and workforce participation of artists in the United States (60 percent) and the U.S.
population over 25. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than one-third of the population
over 25 had a college degree as of 2016.69 About half of the field scan’s participating artists holdgraduate degrees with a specific arts-and-technology focus, such as dance/multimedia, digitalarts and experimental media, and new media/art and technology. About 25 percent hold degrees
in more traditional arts disciplines such as sculpture, theater, and visual arts. Furthermore, allartists in the research scan named “teaching and training gigs” as high on their list of income
sources.

College and University Centers
ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU is
a 40-year-old department described as an “art school for engineers or an engineeringschool for artists.” Its two-year graduate program explores “imaginative uses ofcommunications technologies and how they might augment, improve, and bring delightand art into people’s lives.”

The University of California - Los Angeles Design Media Arts program offers acomprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to media creation in undergraduate (BA)and graduate degrees (MFA), which engage students in the design of objects, spaces,and experiences, such as publications, gallery installations, films, performances, public
interventions, and multimedia websites. This highly selective program annually receives
more than 20 times more applicants than can be admitted.

HIGHLIGHT

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)’s graduate program in Art andTechnology Studies is focused on the use of technology as an art medium. Faculty andstudent works are often “time-based, interactive, immersive, multi-sensory or hybridsof retro and cutting-edge technologies.” Students can study creative coding, machinelearning, game design, light, audio, VR, AR, AI, and other concentrations.

Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, associated with the College of Fine
Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, is a laboratory for atypical, anti-disciplinary, andinterinstitutional research at the intersections of arts, science, technology, and culture.
The STUDIO provides grants for arts research, invites innovative artists-in-residence tostimulate dialogue, and helps to develop innovative public venues for new work. The
STUDIO functions at the cross-section of multiple academic areas and provides spacefor nontraditional research that influences curricula in the arts, architecture, engineering,
computer science, and other academic departments.

69
U.S. Census Bureau, “Educational Attainment in the United States: 2016,” last modified March 31, 2017, https://www.
census.gov/data/tables/2016/demo/education-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html

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55

ENTRY POINTS AND STRATEGIES FOR MAKING A
LIVINGThe prior section described key elements of the ecosystem that sustain tech-centered artistic
practices. This section focuses on career paths, exploring how artists begin working at
intersections of art and digital technologies, build professional connections, and harness income
streams to make a living.
y

Routes into tech-centered artistic practices follow many paths, including informal
experimentation, formal degrees, arts training, and technology careers.

yArtists cultivate multiple income streams to make a living.

yArtists collaborate across sectors and establish businesses that build on their creative anddigital skills.

yCorporate and commercial work are prominent income streams that present artists with both
opportunities and challenges.

Routes into tech-centered artistic practices follow many
paths, including informal experimentation, formal degrees,
arts training, and technology careers.
Many artists develop an interest in technology as children, through self-directed, exploratory
learning, as well as through available programs and tools. In addition to video games, computer
camps, and child-friendly computer programs such as KidPix,70 Acid Pro, and Fruity Loops, artists
described informal “tinkering” such as disassembling and reassembling their families’ consumer
electronics. This fascination with digital technologies can begin early, with some artists recalling
their first programming experiences between the ages of five and eight.

Youth Technology Training
Younger generations of artists are now exposed to routinized technology education, as computerscience and technology courses increasingly become part of K-12 education standards. For example,
the New York City Department of Education, through their Computer Science for All program, isworking to incorporate computer science education into elementary, middle, and high schools by
2025. Given the expense of digital technologies, free and early access is key to closing divides
surrounding hardware and software, digital literacy, and broadband access.
Children can also gain early exposure to computation training, digital arts, and digital technologies
through school and afterschool programs, day care centers, and summer camps, such as programs
offered by organizations like Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code. Youth arts education providers
have also incorporated coding and computational training into their program offerings, such as theWest Park Cultural Center in Philadelphia, which integrated dance and computer programming into
danceLogic, a program for 13- to 18-year-old girls. Likewise, artists-run organizations host youth
workshops taught by new media practitioners, such as Rodolfo Peraza’s Mud Foundation, which
offers tech-focused arts programming in VR, AR, and Net Art in partnership with cultural institutions.
In addition, community-based media arts organizations incorporate artist-led workshops for youth,

70

56

ComputerCloset, “KidPix: The Early Years.”National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

such as Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Arts Center in Buffalo, New York, which offers a range oftechnology-focused education programs for youth digital creators, including a program for young
individuals on the autism spectrum.

Professional Pathways“As I left school, I started to see these two sides of myself that were always there: thetheater side and the technology side. I’m the kind of guy who watches every Apple keynote.
It’s a part of my calendar and I was kept up to date on tech news, so I wanted to bring those
two sides closer together. I went to a lot of events in New York just to try and understandwhat it could mean for my career to be connected to tech-driven work. Then I fell into
collaboration with the Columbia University Digital Storytelling Lab and that was the real
turning point where I saw a lot of possibility and did a ton of learning around how I can growas an artist.”—Brandon Powers, Creative Director and Choreographer
Roundtable artists and interviewees described pathways to working with digital technologies frommany artistic disciplines, as well as from backgrounds in technology. Artists may begin in one artistic
discipline and expand to include other artistic practices as they incorporate digital technologies
into their work; they may be drawn to social media as a mode of expression or gaming as a creative
outlet; or they may startout as computer scientists
and develop culturalinterests. A numberof artists began in theArtists use their technology skills
performing arts, building
to conduct digital trainings andon interests in experience
workshops reaching a diverse
design, movementrange of ages, abilities, and skill
responsive technologies,
levels. Taeyoon Choi’s workshop
collaborative creation,
series Signing Coders is designed
and immersive worlds.
for deaf and hard of hearing youth,
For example, theater,
but open to individuals of all ages
dance, and choreography
and abilities. The program provides
can lead artists into
real-time transcription and American
experience design, user
Sign Language interpretation forinterfaces, development
sessions on cultivating creativeof immersive events andexpression through computer
Signing Coders drawing and electronic circuits,
live performances, physicalprogramming, art, and poetry.
2016. Drawing and photo by Taeyoon Choinavigation in VR, andchoreorobotics (the designof robot movement).

Artists Provide Accessible Entry-Points

These many pathways lead to an array of journeys within the ecosystem supporting tech-centeredartistic practices. The findings that follow highlight a few commonalities within wide-ranging careersand practices carved out by artists.

HIGHLIGHT

Ethical concerns also provide an avenue into arts and digital technologies, with artists creating
artwork and engaging in dialogues that examine digital surveillance, representation in the technology
sector, access to information, or the influence of technologies on daily life. Diving into these debates
can fundamentally alter the course of an artist’s practice or career, what artist Stephanie Dinkins
described as “turning my life over to this process.” In addition to grappling with challenges of today,
artists also use their work to imagine alternative futures, drawing inspiration from science fiction,
Afrofuturism, cyberfeminism, or social justice movements.

See casestudy onStephanie
Dinkins

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

57Artists cultivate multiple income streams to make a living.
“People should be able to follow their talents and build a life with a living wage-based
income by working hard. There are a lot of people in the art world working very, very hard
now with no path forward and that’s not sustainable.”—Kevin Cunningham, Founder and Executive Artistic Director of 3-Legged Dog
Many of the artists who informed this research report rely on multiple income streams, a common
scenario that takes many forms.71 Despite the range of artists’ multifaceted careers, awareness of
this employment pattern can assist funders and advocates in supporting artists whose professional
careers often involve uncertainty and instability. In addition, artists participating in the research
listed sweat equity as one of the top sources of support for their creative work. While a significant
amount of work for their own creative projects may go unpaid, artists felt ethically challenged andreluctant to rely on the unpaid labor of peers.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Hyphen-Labs
Hyphen-Labs, co-founded by
Carmen Aguilar y Wedge andEce Tankal, is an international
collective of more than adozen artists, engineers,designers, architects, andtechnologists. Hyphen-Labs
collaborated with Ashley
Baccus-Clark and Nitzan Bartov
to create NeuroSpeculative
AfroFeminism, a possible
future told through installation
design, speculative products,
virtual reality, and cognitive
research. Hyphen-Labs places
us in a “neurocosmetology lab” in a future where Black women are the pioneers of brain optimization
fitting customers with transcranial electrodes that allow access to a surreal digital temple blending
the physical with the digital.
An image from NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism featuring the Techno Africanum Culturist, an ancient transhuman neuronaut existing within theimmersive experience. Lead Artists: Ashley Baccus-Clark, Ece Tankal, Carmen Aguilar y Wedge, Nitzan Bartov. Image courtesy of Hyphen-Labs

71
For further analysis of the changing dynamics and strategies related to artists’ employment in the context of 21st
century technologies and social media platforms, see Deresiewicz, The Death of the Artist.

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Portfolio Careers
Artists frequently described portfolio careers—consisting of numerous part-time or freelance jobs—
rather than reliance on a single full-time employer. This phenomenon is readily observable among
other types of artists in the U.S. workforce. For example, artists are 3.6 times as likely as otherworkers to be self-employed.72 In the case of artists working with technology, their portfolio careers
mix artistic production with research, field-building, client work, teaching, unpaid promotional work,and other gigs and partnerships. Some artists are economically based in one primary arena, suchas entrepreneurship, or have salaried positions that serve as anchors, such as professorships.
Many are independent creatives who juggle cultivated skill sets and initiatives with serendipitous
opportunities.
Some artists, such as Amelia Winger-Bearskin, seek out employment that allows them to giveback to the field by bringing their artist expertise to cross-sector projects and administrative roles.
Alongside income-generating work, projects such as tool-building, cultivating hubs, or activism alsofunction as through-lines within wide-ranging careers.
In addition to salaried employment, work for hire, and self-employment, artists experiment withmethods for added income such as crowdfunding (Patreon, Go Fund Me, and others), digital tip jars,
merchandise, and licensing. Many artists also apply for grants, fellowships, and residencies.

See casestudy onAmeliaWingerBearskin

While the sheer number of avenues for possible income can give the impression of ample
opportunities, the majority of these income streams are inconsistent. Artists need persistence andingenuity to find ways to make a living and to continue to create work. They also described anxiety
and exhaustion from the never-ending process of balancing one-off client work and speaking
engagements, applying for grants and residencies, holding down an anchor job, and carving out
time for creative work.

Side Hustle Culture
Artists participating in the research described a “side hustle” culture of creatively making ends
meet that coincides with significant challenges—lack of healthcare, debt, obstacles to dedicatingtime to artistic endeavors.
Artists are experimenting with strategies for making a living, such as crowdfunding and digitaltip jars. One artist in the Detroit roundtable described his practice as akin to “digital busking”—
making it easy for people to pay him online in the same way that street performers make it
clear their labor should be compensated by putting out a hat.

yTraining and teaching gigs ranked high as a source of income support, with paid activities
ranging from university employment, workshops and classes offered by nonprofits or otherorganizations, and speaker fees.

yArtists’ descriptions of their situations included: “currently in crisis mode: no job security, no
healthcare,” “massive debt to make my work,” and “living in a place I don’t want to live.”yMiami artists in particular noted the scarcity of opportunities for artist funding, describing
juggling full-time jobs, personal projects, residencies, and commissions. In reviewing
roundtable worksheets outlining sources of funding, one Miami artist called out the privilege offamily wealth, stating, “In general, y’all should have family wealth [as a funding category].”72

HIGHLIGHTyNational Endowment for the Arts, Artists and Other Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait, iii.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

59

Overlaps with Other Arts Practices
Because of the deep technological expertise of artists featured in this report, their portfolio careers
can take distinctive forms. However, building livelihoods from multiple income streams is alsocharacteristic of other arts disciplines. The Arts Endowment’s 2019 research study, Artists andOther Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait noted that roughly 34 percent of all artists wereself-employed (compared to nine percent of all workers),73 a category of employment thatencompasses activities from portfolio careers to running a full-time artist studio.
In his 2018 study, ‘Positive Economy’: Towards New Business Models for Artists, researcher FrédéricMartel described similar phenomena, based on interviews with 125 artists under the age of 40
from 18 countries. Martel dubbed creatives whose artistic practices or income streams involve a
combination of types of work “slash/artists,” referencing shorthand and colloquialisms for theirunique combinations of activities. Examples include “poet/writer/visual/video artist” and “artist/
start-upper/web graphic designer/community manager.”74

Sweat equity was listed as one of
the top sources of support by artists
participating in the research. While asignificant amount of work for theirprojects may go unpaid, artists felt
ethically challenged and reluctant
to rely on the unpaid labor of peers.

Unfortunately, multiple interviewees
for this report commented on asteep drop in freelance work during
the COVID-19 pandemic. With many
offices shuttered and arts, nonprofit,and for-profit entities struggling,
the short- and long-term impact
on artist-in-residence programs,
partnerships, and client work is
uncertain. As of February 2021, an
Americans for the Arts survey had
reported that 96 percent of arts
organizations have cancelled events;
nearly 120,000 positions had beenlaid off, furloughed, or left unfilled;
and in-person attendance had been
reduced by more than 113 million.75

Artists collaborate across sectors and establish businesses
that build on creative and digital skills.
Artists’ combination of creative thinking and digital skills puts them in demand outside the arts
sector, particularly in corporate and commercial settings. The opportunities opened up by theseskills also inform how universities approach their role in training a 21st-century workforce, seeking
to develop students ready to innovate, participate in cross-sector teams, and establish their own
businesses. Although many professional opportunities are concentrated on the coasts, attracting
and developing this talent is an economic growth strategy for other parts of the country.

73
National Endowment for the Arts’ Artists and Other Cultural Workers further notes that 12.3 percent of artists pursued
artistic careers as a second job. Compared with other workers, artists were less likely to work “full-year/full-time,” defined in
the report as 50-52 weeks at a minimum of 35 hours per week. Note that both these data and roundtable data were gatheredprior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For an additional perspective on this topic, see Woronkowicz and Noonan, Who Goes
Freelance?: The Determinants of Self-Employment for Artists.
74
Martel, “Positive Economy,” 11.
75
Americans for the Arts, “The Economic Impact of Coronavirus on the Arts and Culture Sector.” February 21, 2021.

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Grants and Fellowships

Programs often target career stages or geographies, such as the Jerome Foundation’s New
Media Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships for early-career artists in Minnesota and New York, or the
New York State Council for the Arts’ grants in Electronic Media and Film.
Programs may supplement funding with professional development, such as Creative Capital’s
combination of project funding for digital media, data visualization, and augmented reality (AR),coupled with advisory services and networking.

HIGHLIGHT

Grants and fellowships offer income and recognition, with awards from renowned entities
bolstering artists’ resumes and potentially leading to future opportunities.

While beneficial on many levels, grants and fellowships involve time-consuming applications andinconsistent outcomes, representing both promising opportunities and only sporadic income.

Collaboration, Translation, and Thought Leadership Across Sectors
Collaboration across specializations is a foundational capability that enables artists to further theirown projects and enterprises while working with partners across sectors. Artists cut their teeth
for such collaborative work within artistic pursuits that depend on a creative team or on artistic ortechnical expertise beyond their own skill sets. Artists’ core collaborators often consist of peers
who serve as sounding-boards, technical troubleshooters, tutors, creative partners, and a generally
supportive community. Roundtable artists frequently described a “family” of reliable supporters(both biological and chosen) as central to their practices. Core collaborators can also include
academics, practitioners with specific technical knowledge, specialists in external fields of study(such as neuroscience, biology, or mechanical engineering), community members, funders, issuefocused nonprofits, and students. Extended processes of research, development, user testing, andrevision are common, and artists may even employ co-creation strategies that hinge on community
involvement in the creative process.
Collaboration often requires translation—of concepts, terms, and technologies—to ensure that allcontributors are on the same page. The ability to communicate with non-specialist audiences is
its own skill, and opens up roles for artists as liaisons and connectors between arts and non-arts
disciplines. This ability can lead to opportunities in K-12 education, libraries, science centers, public
spaces, corporations, and other settings that require artists’ combination of creative, technical, andcommunication skills.
Working across sectors gives artists a unique vantage-point. These artists are simultaneously fluent
with technological capabilities and capable of viewing contexts and systems from an outsider
perspective as they traverse sectors. Artists have built on their insider/outsider positions to identify
perceptual limitations surrounding technologies. They question practices that otherwise might betaken for granted, and they foster larger conversations about artificial intelligence, surveillanceand privacy, and representation within the arts and technology sectors. Beyond critiquing current
and emergent practices, such artists may construct alternative futures—by using technology as alens for proposing more ethical or humane directions, or on a practical level, by envisioning newtechnologies.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

61

Joy Boulamwini Testifying before Congress

HIGHLIGHT

Artist and activist Joy Buolamwini founded the Algorithmic Justice League, developed techniques
at the MIT Media Lab to improve transparency in the use of facial recognition programs, andtestified before Congress in 2019 on algorithmic bias.76 Through such work, artists bring acreative and humane lens toward influencing or rerouting technology developments and practices,
addressing areas of concern relevant to large populations affected by these technologies andrelated policy decisions.

Future Worlds and StorytellingAlex McDowell, director of the World Building Institute, champions storytelling and narrative
media as powerful forms to advance human capabilities. His belief is that the imaginative worlds
developed in the creative storytelling process are capable of influencing future realities, as these
imaginations can be brought into existence through new technologies. His work on the 2002
film Minority Report, which included designs for wearable technologies, gestural interfaces, anddriverless cars, provides one example of how artists, when given support to craft a future world, canimagine technologies with potential for widespread interest for years to come.77

Imagination, Computation, and Expression
Artist and researcher Fox Harrell explores the interdisciplinary relationships between computerscience, cognitive science, and digital media arts. He is co-founder of the MIT Center for Advanced
Virtuality and the Imagination, Computation, and Expression Laboratory (ICE Lab), both initiatives
that connect arts and humanities scholars and practitioners with leading technologists to examine
the social, cultural, and ethical impacts of computational technology.

Artists as Entrepreneurs
Many of the artists who informed this report are self-employed, producing both artworks andwork for clients, particularly in the media, entertainment, and technology industries. Independent
corporate, commercial, and freelance work can include coding, web design, corporate installations,designs for trade shows, and motion capture. Artists also use their creative and technological skills
in positions within the private sector, which can open doors to for-profit work that is balanced with
non-commercial artistic projects.
Artists also launch organizations to pursue client work or to carve their own paths. Participantsfrom among the 66 artists who attended this study’s roundtable events had founded at least
34 entities, including artist studios, nonprofits, software companies, businesses, and otherorganizations. Through such endeavors, artists contribute to creative economies as employers,

76
Visit Buolamwini’s website https://www.poetofcode.com for further information on her research as well as videos
of past presentations and links to articles. Her full spoken testimony is available on Medium, “Face: The Final Frontier ofPrivacy—Full Spoken Congressional Testimony, May 22, 2019.”
77
For more information, see Fairs, “Minority Report made today’s technology possible, says production designer Alex
McDowell”; Roy, “CarDesigning the Future with Creative Director Alex McDowell”; and Wardrip-Fruin, “An Introduction to Alex
McDowell’s ‘World Building.”

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ambassadors for the creative potential of emerging technologies, and managers of hubs thatprovide resources and physical gathering spaces while also turning their creative pursuits into
income-generating businesses.
Launching ambitious startups can also lead to tensions between pursuing profit versus creative
projects for their own sake and can place artists in direct competition with deeper-pocketed techcompanies. Artist-founded companies such as Scatter, creators of the volumetric filmmaking
software Depthkit, produce innovative creative tools that, once released, must compete intechnology marketplaces.

See casestudy on
Scatter

Corporate and commercial work are prominent income streams
that present artists with both opportunities and challenges.
The ability to merge out-of-the-box thinking with detailed, technical prowess makes artists enticing
to corporations seeking to introduce new products into consumer and cultural arenas or toparticipate in trends of enlivening business with innovation and creativity.78
This momentum has a long history, stemming in part from late 1960s arts, science, and technology
collaborations such as the involvement of Bell Labs engineers in Experiments in Art & Technology(E.A.T.), Arts and Technology (A&T) at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), andthe Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Such precedents provide a foundation as well as a point of comparison for the opportunities andchallenges faced by artists working with industry today.

Opportunities for Artists and Industry
For artists, corporate partnerships and artistin-residence programs enable them to try
out technologies in development; work withcross-disciplinary collaborators at the top of
their fields; push the boundaries of new tools,
materials, or software; create new work; oraccess workspace and expensive equipment
and software. Projects for residencies
or corporate clients also give artists theopportunity to build and test code or systems
that they can redeploy in art projects, thereby
diminishing unpaid development time.

Participants from among the 66 artists
who attended this study’s roundtable
events had founded at least 34
entities, including artist studios,nonprofits, software companies,businesses, and other organizations.

For industry, artists can provide an external
perspective that helps researchers see
new possibilities and troubleshoot solutions. Artists can also reveal uses for technologies notpreviously imagined, find clear methods of conveying complex ideas, engage and inspire potential
users, and generate positive media attention.79
The knowledge and abilities that artists bring to client work are forged in experimental arts
contexts, making intersections of arts and digital technologies an early testing-ground for what
may later become more widespread cultural and technological practices. Kevin Cunningham,
executive artistic director of the arts and technology-based theater company 3-Legged Dog,78
79

See casestudy on
3-Legged
Dog

Beck and Bishop, “The Return of the Art and Technology Lab,” 228.
Diamond, “Degrees of Freedom: Models of Corporate Relationships,” 409-413.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

63

HIGHLIGHT

active from 1996-2020, cited immersive event design as one such example that went from“purely experimental up until a few years ago” to “commercially essential” prior to the COVID-19
pandemic.

AI and Architecture
From 2017-2019, architectural designer Jenny Sabin participated in the Microsoft Research
Artist in Residence Program, which connects artists with scientists, engineers, and newtechnologies to “expand public perception of computer science.”80 During her residency, shecreated Ada—a giant architectural installation that lights up different colors depending on
people’s expressions, driven by AI.

Obstacles Confronted by Artists
When accepting industry opportunities, artists may find themselves steering around concerns
over complicity with practices such as consumer surveillance and data-gathering. They may also
grapple with the uncertainty of their long-term impact on corporate cultures, the risk of valuable
work being co-opted, participation in smoothing over a company’s negative image, and judgmentsthat such affiliations amount to “selling out.”
Corporate investment can stimulate work with particular technologies, such as specific hardware
or new software applications, but this support ebbs and flows based on industry trends anddemands.81 Through residencies, donations, or organizational mediators, corporations may offer
artists the opportunity to experiment with technologies that would normally be out of reachfinancially, but there is no guarantee for how such technologies will take hold. This market-driven
element can lead to both sudden opportunities and distracting career disruptions for artists
responding to changing industry trends.
Partnerships in industry can also lead artists into a thicket of intellectual property and licensing
concerns, particularly when artists want to retain control of and access to tools they build whileworking in corporate settings.82 Serpentine Gallery’s Legal Lab, devoted to examining “how thelaw can better support collaborations across art, science, and technology,” is one model for
responding to this need, through both researching legal challenges and prototyping solutions.

Fostering Industry Relationships on an Individual Level
While artists working in digital technologies are often asked to produce a work or tangible item forindustry, the long-term benefit of industry collaboration can be intangible. Asta Roseway, principal
design researcher in the Urban Innovation Initiative at Microsoft, commented on the value of80“Collaborations.” Microsoft. Accessed April 6, 2021. https://www.microsoft.com/artist-in-residence/collaborations/81
For example, for examinations of shifting investment in VR, see Lee, “VR gets reality check with significant decline ininvestment” and Jenkins, “The fall and rise of VR: The struggle to make virtual reality get real.”
82
Licensing concerns may vary by geography; for example, for this study, Los Angeles-based artists mentioned
corporate relationships and commissions as an income source at a higher rate than did artists in other roundtable cities(Miami, Detroit, and New York). They also reported, at a higher rate, specialized needs such as affordable lawyers andadvisors, and education on contracts and intellectual property rights.

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artists’ perspectives and mindsets, explaining that by interrupting and expanding habitual ways ofthinking, artists help her company’s researchers reassess their assumptions about what particulartechnologies can do and what they can be used for.
While such impact is not guaranteed, it can be an authentic goal for individuals working to foster
connections between artists and industry through advocating for programs and managing
collaborations. Edward Shanken, associate professor of digital art and new media at the Universityof California, Santa Cruz, noted the significance of individuals in driving arts and industry
partnerships, writing that “although corporate artist residencies and project sponsorship require
broad support from within an institutional framework, often it is the vision, talent, and work ofindividuals that generate such programs.”83
As distinct sectors manage the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, such individuals may well be
key for maintaining or encouraging the return of collaborations between artists and commercial
industries.

Ada, an architectural
installation project by
Jenny Sabin Studio incollaboration with Microsoft
Research. The 3D printed
structure is driven by
artificial intelligence andresponds to facial reactions
and tone of voice using lightand color. Photo by Jake
Knapp for Microsoft

83
Shanken, “Artists in Industry and the Academy: Collaborative Research, Interdisciplinary Scholarship and the Creation
and Interpretation of Hybrid Forms,” 416.

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CHAPTER 3

Next Steps for Supporters
This chapter is divided into two sections:yUnderstanding Challenges highlights resource and infrastructure gaps for artists,organizations, and the broader arts and cultural field.

yRecommendations identifies near-term opportunities and actionable items to address
challenges and deepen support for the field.

UNDERSTANDING CHALLENGES
Artists working with technology as a creative medium face numerous gaps, obstacles, andspeed bumps. The chapter encompasses not only individual artists’ hurdles in accessing tools,
equipment, space, and money for projects, but also the complexities that arts organizations facein learning about and presenting the work. Many physical spaces in the arts sector were not builtwith technology capacity in mind, and do not have the infrastructure necessary to accommodate
the kinds of works these artists are creating today, nor the ways that artists imagine audience
participation. Furthermore, the technical knowledge of staff at cultural organizations is often not
sufficient to support tech-centered artistic practices.
Artists repeatedly noted structural barriers that limit participation in the arts and technology
ecosystem by race, gender, and other forms of privilege embedded in both the technology sector
and the arts sector. Class, race, and family wealth, in particular, were recurring themes. Artists
frequently commented on the prohibitive costs of electronics, software, and hardware; the lackof access to broadband in both rural and urban areas that limits connections; and the need for
educational on-ramps that provide all school-aged children with computer training.

Artist Challenges“Independent creators are actively creating experiences that are driving the future oftechnology. We need more artists to be funded to see what the potential of this medium
is. We need to get the technology into the hands of people who don’t have the resources
to get it.”—Kent Bye, Host, Voices of VR podcast
Given this report’s deliberate inclusion of a wide range of artistic practices, specific challenges vary
based on an artist’s realm, career phase, and proximity to physical resources. While tech-centeredartists cultivate exceptional skill sets that can lead to opportunities not available to artists working
in other disciplines, a number of common challenges arose from the research.
Artists face difficulties accessing training and equipment, a challenge that is exacerbated by thequick evolution of technologies. Keeping up with digital tools and platforms requires continuous
learning. Furthermore, while artists often described their academic arts training as useful for theory,

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

67context, and art histories, many found that their education did not fulfill their technology-related
needs. Even so, when university programs did provide foundational technology training, artists
emerging from these programs are abruptly cut off from access to expensive equipment, software,
space, and knowledgeable colleagues. While physical and online hubs exist to provide free andlow-cost educational resources and forums, which are often founded by artists to fill the need foraccessing affordable training and equipment, such organizations are hard-pressed to fulfill theextent of the ongoing need.
Artists who shared their experiences at roundtables in fall 2019 outlined a number of pathways tosupporting the field. In terms of training and equipment, artists will benefit from access to spaces
with shared resources, tools, and equipment outside university settings.

Artists often rely on commercial software, which can be expensive, oron open-source tools, which can be built on the unpaid labor from theartists who produce and maintain them.
Commercial software can be costly and, with the rapid turnover of both hardware and software,artists who rely on such tools alone may not be able to sustain their practices. Free resources
such as open-source software play an indispensable role, both by providing established artists
with the tools needed to create work and by providing pathways into these practices for new
generations of creators. Yet these vital tools rely on degrees of goodwill and donated time that canbe unsustainable for artists struggling to make a living.
Despite the value of free and open-source tools for the field, lack of financial support for this work
leads to a burden of uncompensated labor demanded of those who make the effort to create theseresources. The ongoing nature of upkeep can lead to burnout—a hardship for individuals and apotential loss for the field when the challenge becomes too big for artists to sustain. Open-source
tools are also at risk of being exploited by profit-driven companies, leading to a question of how toprotect a vital arena of low-cost, easily accessible resources.

Artists often describe gaps in resources for project development.
Arts and digital technology projects can have long incubation and development timelines,
requiring extended time for experimentation, collaboration, and customized coding and debugging.
Processes and projects may, by their nature, be iterative, exploratory, and open-ended. Projects
often require maintenance while software and hardware are updated.
Artists working at the intersection of technology and performance spoke of the need for creative
space and time to interweave multiple forms of expression and technology. They also noted the
difficulty of working within the timelines and expectations of standard venues, with limited techrehearsal time and quick load-in and load-out schedules. In particular, works can require further
time to remount and troubleshoot as they travel to new venues that have differing technology
infrastructures or staff expertise.
Research-and-development time often comes with restrictions. Academic spaces may require endof-semester culminations or otherwise adhere to semester-based timelines. Corporate residencies
can come with expectations and priorities related to a company’s market-based goals. Arts
organizations or arts and technology residencies may not be able to provide adequate time, withartists stringing together multiple opportunities to support continued project development.
Cultural institutions that commission work also may not be able to accommodate the lead timenecessary for building software, troubleshooting with collaborators, or otherwise constructing
artworks. As a result, the fees, commissioning dollars, and development times allotted to projects
can be unrealistically low.

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Financial difficulties create a number of obstacles for artists working in
the field.
“Many creatives I had seen who were working with new technology didn’t squarely fit into
the art market or other traditional markets in industries like film, architecture, or design. As
a result, they didn’t fit into the parameters for funding that was available. They were in thisin-between space that fell through existing funding streams and market opportunities.”—Julia Kaganskiy, Independent Curator and Cultural Strategist
Like other artists, and as documented in the 2016 Creativity Connects: Trends and Conditions Affecting
U.S. Artists,84 income instability is prevalent for individual artists of all disciplines. Portfolio careers
are a workaround for aggregating income, yet this type of patchwork employment comes with its
own challenges. Artists often lack healthcare, carry debt, and deal with stress in attempting to piece
together paying work that they juggle with artistic endeavors. “Gig” work is inconsistent, requiring an
unpaid output of time in seeking new clients. Family wealth helps some artists, but those without thistype of support struggle with the high cost of basic tools such as hardware and licenses.
One factor that may be different for the artists profiled by this research is that artists with significant
digital technology skills may have greater opportunities in the commercial tech sector and thus
greater employment prospects overall than may artists in other disciplines. As artists, nevertheless,their income patterns and prospects are similarly challenged. Recruitment into the commercial sector
can also be a loss for the field, as artists shift careers to accept more sustainable and lucrative fulltime employment.

Artists may pour time, energy, and funding into projects with limited
distribution and presentation options.
Artists variously described the infrastructure for the creation and distribution of their work as“nonexistent,” a “unicorn,” and “spotty.” While arts organizations have been organizing special
exhibitions related to artists working with digital technologies since the mid-1960s, more work isneeded to develop a foothold in arts institutions which play a critical role in reinforcing canons,
setting trends, and elevating artists and artistic practices to a respected status. Such effort is related
to opportunities—co-commissions, touring, and other cost-sharing measures common for both thevisual and performing arts—as well as the legitimacy and visibility that cultural institutions lend to theartists and projects they support.
Visual arts organizations frequently cultivate reciprocal relationships with collectors, who serve asadvisors, board members, donors, and sources for exhibition pieces. Artwork donors and lenders
enjoy tax benefits or increases in the value and prestige of their collections, with institutional choices
also informing their collecting practices. Given this relationship between arts institutions and private
collectors, interviewees reported that the lack of collectors for digital artworks poses a challenge tointegrating the work into museums. Patron education may be one solution, detailed by TRANSFER
gallery-owner Kelani Nichole, who is cultivating a new generation of collectors by helping them tounderstand the installation and care of such pieces. While collectors may be promising supporters,
the relationship between wealth and artistic renown is worth questioning, particularly in an artistic
arena with large segments inspired by social movements and the democratization of creativity.
Meanwhile, film and festival circuits for VR/XR/AR provide artists with a number of opportunities forshowing their work. However, the nature of such festivals requires that work is displayed in particular

84

Center for Cultural Innovation for National Endowment for the Arts, Creativity Connects.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium69locations for short periods of time and primarily reaches audiences rooted in the film or tech industry.
This factor limits the ability of curators, arts leaders, producers, and mainstream audiences toexperience new work, a scenario that both lessens the artist’s immediate return on investment andlimits the networking that may result in future opportunities.
Funders can have a significant impact on expanding distribution channels for artists and providing
valuable opportunities to intersect with technology-centered works. In 2019, Knight Foundation set
aside $750,000 and issued an open call for “innovative ideas to engage audiences through immersive
technology,” which received more than 500 submissions.85 This investment enabled five arts
institutions to experiment with using immersive technology for audience engagement and provided
models for other institutions seeking to engage audiences with arts and technology.

The decentralized nature of the expansive arts-and-technology field
poses challenges related to a lack of shared language, information, andcritical coverage of artists’ work.
As discussed throughout this report, both artists’ language and the terms chosen by field-related
programs can vary. Both the divergence and changeability of field language can pose challenges
for individuals who may need to periodically shift their terminology to align themselves with thelatest buzzwords. The sheer multitude of terms also challenges individuals new to arts and digitaltechnology who are interested in learning about the field but who may not know which terms canretrieve the information they need.
This lack of agreed-upon terminology in turn reflects the large array of practices that the broader artsand-technology field encompasses. The number and variety of areas involved in cross-disciplinary
work means there is no central resource to gather the information needed for staying apprised of
distinct intersections.
Interviewees noted reliance on Slack channels and social media feeds/groups (such as the Everything
Immersive Facebook group), and select publications (such as Leonardo, Immerse, and e-flux). They
also mentioned following specific individuals to stay current with emerging trends or news—naming
sources such as Kent Bye, the journalist behind the Voices of VR podcast, or Jesse Damiani, curator,
writer for Wired and Forbes, host of TECH TOCK, and deputy director of emerging technology & insightat Southern New Hampshire University.

Organization Challenges
Philanthropic funding sources can find it challenging to provide avenuesof support tailored to the unique working requirements of arts-andtechnology practice.
“[Thoma Foundation] decided not to call it new media, we decided not to call it computer art,
and really only use those terms when we’re talking about historic eras, and to sum it all up as
digital art. I’m sure, in a few years, even that term will be contested…as some artists reject
the term digital now. Is it a monolithic field or the two fields or the four? It’s a question we
often return to, because just creating a name for something is how you identify it, right?”—Jason Foumberg, curator and funder, Thoma Foundation

85
For more information, see Knight Foundation, “Shaping the Future of Technology in Museums: Knight Invests$750,000 in Five Experiments Using Immersive Technology in the Arts.”

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The commercial marketplaces and philanthropic pipelines supporting tech-centered artistic
practices are immature. They lack shared resources for collaborating and for comparing notes.
Interviewees cited challenges at every phase of arts-and-digital-technology work, from researchand development to public presentation to archiving.
Online communities and virtual networks are critical support systems, but funding these resources
can prove difficult for grantmakers that are locally or geographically based. Local and place-based
funders may have difficulty learning about work in their own backyards, especially when it isaccessed mainly online.
Many arts funding programs are designed and evaluated on the basis of support for traditionalarts disciplines, whereas tech-centered artists and projects often do not neatly fit the normsof arts funding. Grantmakers additionally noted changing program names and inconsistencies
regarding categorizations for artists working with technology. Multidisciplinary funding categories
are one solution presented by artists, with an emphasis on the complementary need for jurors
who understand cross-disciplinary collaboration and tech-centered artistic practices. This finding
is corroborated in the Arts Endowment’s Creativity Connects report, which documents artists’views that the guidelines for artists’ support programs are not keeping pace with artists’ working
practices.86

Art institutions often lack staff expertise to curate, present, interpret,
and engage audiences with artists who use digital technology as acreative medium.
Artists expressed concern over the relatively small number of curators familiar with the field. In
practice, this means a lack of capacity in areas that mirror the typical lead-up to an artwork being
selected and produced or presented (in museums this could mean the art historical context,
collection practices, exhibition requirements, and distribution channels). Few museums employ
curators with knowledge of creative practice in technology, instead relying on guest curators, andthus learnings do not accumulate into an institutional knowledge base.
Maintaining and archiving digital work requires particular knowledge and technologies often
not present in arts institutions. Projects that overlap with the field of public art may incorporate
maintenance planning (near- and long-term) as part of contract negotiations. However, manyother projects in the field lack necessary maintenance and preservation planning. Additionally,
challenges arise related to certain types of platforms. Artworks that use proprietary platforms
such as iPhones or VR headsets, which are difficult to emulate, are difficult to conserve. Social
media forms like Instagram present challenges related to preservation, given that artworks can belost with platform redesigns.
Institutions lacking in-house expertise call on artists to troubleshoot for tasks such as remounting
older projects in advance of new exhibitions. Even digital preservationists may resort to using
tools built for other industries, such as tools created for preserving information on a criminal’s
confiscated laptop, in the absence of tools intended for maintaining artworks. As artists andorganizations work to find solutions on a case-by-case basis, learnings related to methods for filestorage, acquisition, or condition assessment, etc., for similar pieces are not being shared. The
greater field is not aggregating this type of knowledge.
Jason Foumberg, curator of digital art at Thoma Foundation, emphasized a need for archiving andmaintenance discussions during artwork acquisition, noting that artists working with technology
must be empowered to make specific demands about the future maintenance of their work, from86

Center for Cultural Innovation for National Endowment for the Arts, Creativity Connects.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

71periodic artist assessment of a work’s condition to coverage of related costs in terms of artist
time and technology upgrades. While maintenance plans could be created and followed foreach artwork, cultural institutions will need to invest in new capabilities. The rapid evolution ofsoftware and hardware makes the maintenance factor both urgent and complex.
Lack of expertise can also affect visitor experiences. Institutions unaccustomed to working
with technologies may not take the extra step to consider how to establish welcoming andstreamlined environments for visitors who may be new to interacting with certain types oftechnology.
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, artists commented that audiences may be concerned
about germs when using exhibition VR masks, and institutions may need to develop strategies
for educating audiences and facilitating interactions with projects. TRANSFER gallery’s Kelani
Nichole created one workaround for such situations by developing a visitor experience checklist
that included someone testing interaction points in an exhibition on an hourly basis. Suchsolutions may lie outside the financial means of all but the largest organizations.

Arts institutions frequently lack the technological infrastructure toadequately support arts-and-technology projects.
Many arts institutions and venues were constructed in earlier eras and have not been renovatedto accommodate emerging technologies. Additionally, the lack of knowledge of the field meansthat employees in charge of planning building upgrades may not know what is needed.
Artists recounted having to provide their own equipment for exhibitions and described venues
lacking basic requirements (reliable internet, computers, and accessible electrical outlets). They
drew a contrast between this situation and experiential or primary market venues designed for
digital projects, such as ARTECHOUSE, or venues with access to the infrastructure and staff toaccommodate this work, as found in arts and technology hubs.
Solutions to these challenges require institutional investment. However, the rapid turnover oftechnologies can lead to a reluctance to invest in equipment that could quickly become obsolete.
Workarounds could involve equipment that tours with an artwork, shared equipment that canbe borrowed for exhibitions, and longer-term maintenance planning at the time of acquisition.
Such commitments may require a change of habits not only for an individual institution but also
for institutions that work in partnership to better position their venues to share this work withaudiences.

Barriers & Regional Challenges
Through roundtable discussions and interviews, informants described obstacles they face andwhich they view as common in the field. Race, gender, access, and other forms of privilege at playin both the technology sector and the arts sector arose as key concerns.
Class, and family wealth in particular, was a recurring theme. Artists frequently commented on
the prohibitive costs of electronics, software, and hardware. Costs, paired with the realities ofmaking a living as an artist without accumulated wealth, shed additional light on the centralityof open-source software, examined elsewhere in this study. Financial privilege can also leadto a lack of awareness, which impacts financially strapped artists attempting to participate inactivities organized by artists with disposable income. Events difficult to access with public
transportation, or held at sites closed to those under 21, create barriers to participation.
Event logistics point to a larger social call for “radical hospitality”—actively working to makeparticipation streamlined and welcoming and to improve accessibility to all populations.

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During regional roundtable discussions related to how artists self-identify in terms of artistic
discipline, artists raised broader issues of intersectionality, such as junctions of race, gender
identity, and class, underscoring that working in the field is informed by “not just disciplines butwhat communities you belong to.” Artists spoke of regularly code-switching to align oneself withthe expectations of different communities and cultural subsets that intersect with the field andexist within it.
Artists’ needs, as well as available or unavailable resources, differ across geography, artistic
practice, and career phase, and are subject to change both as technologies shift and as
generations of digitally native artists create work. Insights in this field scan reflect some of theparticular geographies of the artists who have participated in roundtables, based in New York
City, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Miami. While there may be similarities and differences in building
careers across artistic disciplines, informants revealed some differences across geographic
regions.
New York City artists have comparatively more places to go in order to access technical training
outside colleges and universities. Even there, however, hubs are concentrated in particularboroughs and can be challenging to access for artists relying on public transportation. Los
Angeles artists cited relationships with commercial media and entertainment companies more
frequently than did artists in other cities. They also more frequently raised the challenges ofintellectual property and rights agreements.
Outside the four roundtable cities, artists in the Midwest and in rural areas face distinct
challenges, from struggling to connect with presenters and galleries on the coasts who may
provide important exposure and pay higher fees, to a lack of high-speed internet access. The
latter poses a challenge not only to artists and audiences, but also to artist-entrepreneurs andfuture generations of technology-based artists living in rural areas.
The Federal Communications Commission estimated that at the end of 2019 14.5 million people
in the U.S. lacked high-speed internet, including approximately 17 percent of people in rural
areas.87 An article in the Washington Post underscored the heightened impact of this disparity
due to distance-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing research from 2018 reportingthat nearly 17 million children lacked high-speed internet at home and more than seven million
did not have access to a computer.88 Such disparities affect Black, Latino, and Native-Americanhouseholds at higher rates, so that nearly one-third of students from these communities did nothave high-speed internet at home.

87
Federal Communications Commission, “Fourteenth Broadband Deployment Report,” FCC 21-18, January 19, 2021.
Accessed April 7, 2021. https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-18A1.pdf
88Balingit, “‘A national crisis’: As coronavirus forces many schools online this fall, millions of disconnected students
are being left behind.”

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

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RECOMMENDATIONS“It’s important that new media art and other emerging digital practices are represented
and supported within major cultural institutions. While museums and other cultural
gatekeepers might be hesitant to engage with this work, perhaps due to a lack of expertiseor resources, there are artists working in these modes to deeply interrogate contemporary
culture, aesthetics, and power structures. We need more pathways through the art system
for these artists, because society and audiences benefit from the lens they put on ourworld. Philanthropic support can help institutions make this transformation and provide
relevant digital offerings.”—Chris Barr, former Director of Technology Innovation at Knight Foundation
This report characterizes a distinct field of creative practice at the intersection of the artsand digital technology. In doing so, the report explores promising avenues for supporting andengaging with tech-centered artists and organizations.
The featured artists, organizations, and case studies provide further insight on how these
specialized digital skill sets can contribute to areas beyond the arts, such as computerscience, community development, and to solutions around social and racial equity. Boundless
opportunities exist for the arts and cultural sector to engage with tech-centered artists in uniting
local communities, bridging digital divides, and supporting a more resilient arts and cultural
ecosystem.
The use of technology as a creative medium has applications far beyond the arts and cultural
sector alone. Even within the arts, however, this emergent field is rapidly gaining ascendancy—
both economically and in the sheer volume of creators and consumers. From 2015 to 2017 alone,
for example, the value to the economy from web streaming and web publishing services grew by
29.2 percent, compared with arts and culture in general (+4.5 percent) and the overall economy(+2.0 percent).89
More than 74 percent of adults, or 176 million people, used media to consume art in 2017—far
more than the number who attended in-person arts events that year.90 Arts participation via
digital media is especially favored by younger adults. More recently, with the COVID-19 pandemic
causing arts organizations to close their doors across the nation, the need for artists and cultural
institutions to engage with the public virtually has never been greater.
In the Community+Culture in a Time of Crisis survey published in July 2020, more than halfof respondents said they had “participated in one or more digital cultural activity” since thepandemic began. Most had not physically visited the same cultural organization in the past
year.91 As organizations pivot to serve their existing audiences virtually, they are seeing broader
participation from new audiences.
Such virtual participation will prove especially important as arts organizations reopen. Recent
research published by the Arts Endowment shows that adults who used media to consume visual

89
National Endowment for the Arts, The U.S. Arts Economy (1998-2017).
90
National Endowment for the Arts, Paths to Participation.
91
LaPlaca Cohen, Culture+Community in a Time of Crisis, https://s28475.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CCTCKey-Findings-from-Wave-1_9.29.pdf NOTE: This is from the first wave study. A second wave report is expected in autumn
2020 so the final report for the ATFS can be updated with the new data.

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art or music, dance, or theater performances were at least five times as likely as other adults toattend in-person arts events. (This ratio holds after accounting for differences in race/ethnicity,
gender, age, and educational background92.)
Concurrent with trends within the arts sector, greater integration of the arts with computerscience—in K-12 and higher education—offers more opportunities than ever before for techcentered artists and organizations to partner with STEAM educators and networks involved withinitiatives related to Computer Science for All (CS4ALL). Together, artists, designers, andeducators can design tools and programs that engage children and youth from all backgroundswith computing skills that increasingly will be sought by job recruiters.

Examples of Initiatives Led by Funders:
Ford Foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression portfolio supports
underrepresented voices in technology by investing in projects such as Making a
New Reality, Guild of Future Architects, and NEW INC, as well as artists such as
Stephanie Dinkins and Joy Buolamwini. In addition, Ford Foundation Tech Fellows
are embedded within program areas and work at the intersection of social justiceand technology. For example, Tech Fellow Salome Asega explores “What happens
when artists use tech to confront inequality?”

National Endowment for the Arts’ Grants for Arts Projects funding in the Media Arts
discipline includes a focus on projects serving artists and audiences that contributeto the digital capacity-building efforts of organizations by hiring artists and creative
expertise at the intersection of arts and technology. Projects funded by the Arts
Endowment offer exemplary models supporting emerging practices in digitalstorytelling; performance, visual, and cinematic arts; and net art. They also include
immersive and interactive media, open-source software toolkits, and other forms ofdata visualization or computation across all artistic disciplines, genres, and forms.

HIGHLIGHT

Knight Foundation has seeded multiple Arts + Technology initiatives enabling
institutions to create new ways to explore and make art; to express culture; andto reach, expand, and engage diverse audiences using technology. In 2021, theylaunched the Knight Arts + Tech Fellowship, administered by United States Artists,
which provides unrestricted grants of $50,000 to artists using new and emerging
technologies in thoughtful, creative, and poetic ways to expand the field.

Thoma Foundation’s Digital Changemaker Grants support initiatives that reimagine
the role and use of technology to achieve the organization’s mission. The $100,000
grant focuses on small and midsize cultural organizations in Arizona, Illinois, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas and is open to a broad array of cultural organizations,
including but not limited to museums, cultural heritage centers, tribal organizations,libraries, and local arts councils.

92
National Endowment for the Arts, Paths to Participation. For more information, see the 2017 SPPA technicaldocumentation, available at the National Archive of Data on Arts and Culture (NADAC).

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

75

Overall, these six recommendations will provide support to tech-focused artistic practices:yExpand Expertise and Technical CapacityyReview Program Priorities and Outreach PlansyLift Barriers to Collaboration across Arts and Non-Arts Sectors

yStrengthen Technological Infrastructure Serving Arts and CultureyOffer Project Development, Creation, and Exhibition OpportunitiesyDeepen Public Understanding of the Field’s Value and Impact

The following recommendations are offered with the hope of inspiring readers to build a more
resilient and equitable arts and cultural ecosystem for the 21st century.

Expand Expertise and Technical Capacity
Problem: Many artists reported that arts and cultural organizations are underprepared to adequately
support the growing digital and virtual needs of artists and audiences, and that these organizations
often lack expertise on staff to meet the needs of tech-centered artists and related practices. For
example, institutions unaccustomed to working with technologies may be ill-equipped to properly
present and install works—a deficiency that can result in unsatisfactory experiences for audiencesand visitors. In addition, maintaining and archiving digital work requires special knowledge andtechnologies not always present in arts institutions.
Suggested Actions:

76yHire, partner, or consult with artists, arts collectives, curators, and arts workers who haveexperience working at the intersection of the arts and technology. These individuals ororganizations can fill gaps in curatorial, installation, programmatic, or digital preservation
expertise. Encourage your program staff to identify local and regional artists, organizations,and networks that may prove useful for strategic partnerships. These types of projects areencouraged in the Grants for Arts Projects opportunity within the Media Arts portfolio of the
National Endowment for the Arts.

yProvide professional development opportunities for program staff to strengthen expertise byattending related conferences, events, workshops, and festivals.

yConsult knowledgeable practitioners with experience presenting tech-centered projects before
you invest in technical facilities renovations or equipment upgrades. This way, you will avoid
unnecessary or inefficient spending. The most useful exhibition spaces are often the mostflexible ones, relying on rented equipment and less permanent infrastructure.

yPursue strategic partnerships with local or global technology-based businesses such assoftware companies, commercial media firms, and corporate events specialists to provide
cost-effective solutions, equipment, and technical resources for the installation, presentation,and exhibition of complex works. Nurturing these partnerships may help expand staff andtechnology expertise without your having to hire full-time staff.

yTech-centered artists might need specialized assistance, installation timelines, and longer
technical rehearsals for exhibiting works and troubleshooting, as they travel to new venues
possessing differing technology infrastructures or staff expertise. Build in staff time to get on thesame page with tech-centered artists and organizations about shared expectations and needs.

yInvest time and resources in documenting successes and failures. Share what you learn!

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Review Program Priorities and Outreach Plans
Problem: Many artists and organizations featured in this report expressed having limited
relationships, knowledge, and low comfort levels in approaching grantmakers, arts service orpresenting organizations, and traditional arts institutions. Some artists and organizations asserted
that their work was structurally excluded by arts funders, in particular due to disciplinary-based
guidelines and standardized documentation requirements that often do not align with arts-andtechnology outputs.
Suggested Actions:yArts agencies, service organizations, performing and visual arts organizations, residency
programs, and funders can ensure that calls-for-work, open submissions, and program
offerings have the potential to welcome artists, curators, and projects at the intersection of artsand technology.

yDisciplinary categories and program guidelines can be updated to explicitly reference arts
projects and initiatives that incorporate new media, creative code, and emergent forms existingat the intersection of arts and technology.

yPublic and private cultural funders can support grant funding and technical assistance forexisting or new special initiatives that encourage arts and technology. Targeted outreach plans
can promote grant opportunities and provide technical assistance for new applicants, possibly
improving funding success rates.

yFunders can include appropriate field experts to review grant applications for projects involving
technology. This report can be used to identify and engage networks as jurors or grant
reviewers, and to boost outreach for prospective applicants.

yArts funders and organizations should consider supporting the development, maintenance, andeducation of creative open-source tools, alongside related online forums, communities, andarts collectives. Artists repeatedly explained the foundational role of these entities in creating
their work—yet the need for such funding is still not yet widely understood or embraced bycultural grantmakers.

yService organizations should ensure that existing services for artists—e.g., legal advice, fiscal
sponsorship services, and grant-writing clinics—extend to this emerging group of tech-centered
workers.

yGrantmakers, arts service or presenting organizations, and traditional arts institutions canproactively identify and connect with regional hubs, networks, and artists working at theintersection of arts and technology to discover future opportunities for relevant constituencies.

Lift Barriers to Collaboration Across Arts and Non-Arts
Sectors
Problem: While this report shows how practicing artists engage with technology to innovate acrossartistic disciplines, academic departments, and industry sectors, information silos exist and canresult in missed opportunities and knowledge gaps. Tighter networks are needed to foster longlasting, cross-sector relationships and make space for routine knowledge exchanges to share
best practices, resources, and effective models in supporting tech-centered artistic practices. In
addition, this infrastructure can seed technology-focused partnerships and strategic initiatives
using the arts to advance shared goals and priorities.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

77

Suggested Actions:yArts agencies, service organizations, and funders can build and nurture relationships
within and across this field through activities regularly connecting with artistic disciplines
such as film, performing arts, visual arts, and arts education. By doing so, they can rally
arts and cultural organizations of all sizes and types, such as community arts spaces andcollectives, arts presenting organizations, makerspaces and “fab labs,” universities, and legacy
institutions.

yAcademic institutions can help break down disciplinary and academic “silos” that hinder
effective collaborations. Leaders in higher education should inspire students and faculty toengage with different departments, participate in cross-sector teams, and invent new creative
opportunities. For concrete tips, academic leaders may wish to consult a previous report, also
supported by the National Endowment for the Arts: The Integration of the Humanities and Arts
with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education.

y

Art department faculty can aid the artistic and professional development of students byincorporating basic coding and digital training into curricula across all disciplines.

yEducators seeking to prepare students with 21st-century skill sets through in-school andout-of-school learning activities can convene on a regular basis to strengthen relationships
across intersecting networks such as Career and Technical Education (CTE) offices, CS4ALL,
digital media arts and computer science educators, artists and educators in the creative codecommunity, makerspace affiliates, and key networks such as the Arts Education Partnershipand the Alliance for Media Arts and Culture.

y

Educational institutions and school districts can help higher-learning instructors and K-12
educators achieve student learning goals by partnering with or hiring artists and arts
organizations with specialized expertise in conducting fun educational activities involving
digital arts, technology, and computer science for youth and adults.

yChildren and youth interested in computational thinking, creative code, and computer
programming can benefit from learning about existing online forums led by artists and creativecoders. Educators can inventory, and raise visibility of, these online educational resources for
local schools and recreational programs. For example, The Coding Train has a series of fun
coding tutorials that are popular on YouTube and can motivate aspiring programmers to learn
new skills.

yStakeholders across arts and non-arts sectors can explore ways to establish paid artsand-technology fellowships or embed artists-in-residence to expand staff expertise, build
connectivity between often-siloed grant portfolios or departments, or provide fresh insights by
testing creative capabilities of new products or technologies.

Strengthen Technological Infrastructure Serving Arts andCultureProblem: Regional hubs of arts and technology practitioners represent a field of practice that
could be more embedded within the U.S. cultural infrastructure more broadly. At present, the lackof available funding to adequately support technical infrastructure or digital capacity-building
initiatives for arts and cultural institutions is a barrier to widespread participation in the arts andtechnology ecosystem. These gaps exist alongside systemic inequities contributing to digital
divides across geography, ethnicity, race, and gender. For example, artists in the Midwest and inrural areas face distinct challenges, from struggling to connect with tech-savvy presenters andgalleries on the coasts, who may provide important exposure and pay higher fees, to a lack of high-78

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

speed internet access. The latter poses a challenge not only to artists and audiences, but also toartist-entrepreneurs and future generations of technology-based artists living in rural areas.
Suggested Actions:yCreate pilot programs in cities across the nation to advance arts-and-technology initiatives.
Targeted activities can be developed by mapping regional assets, opportunities, and needs
to address resource gaps affecting local artists, cultural organizations, arts audiences, andcommunities.

y

Federal and state agencies can facilitate local-level collaboration across sectors by
establishing interagency working groups and partnerships to address digital infrastructureneeds and support community-based arts programming designed to bridge digital divides,
advance digital literacy, and build 21st-century skill sets.

y

Policymakers can ensure that municipal governments are able to provide equitable access toreliable high-speed internet in communities across the U.S. This goal also can support local
job and business growth to revitalize communities and attract and retain talent. For example,
self-employed artists and designers would be able to establish businesses and reside in rural
locations yet continue to serve clients in urban centers.

yPublic and private dollars can be invested into digital inclusion initiatives that use the arts to
reduce economic, educational, and social inequalities caused by the digital divide. In addition,these investments can support accessible on-ramps to the 21st-century workforce and thenext generation of arts leaders. Decision-makers can also find pathways to develop andsupport affordable space, access to equipment, and opportunities for community-based arts
programming, whether through public libraries, community colleges, or standalone nonprofits.

yFunders can help fill the gap in arts journalism and critical analysis by supporting writers
and critics covering this area of practice. Both artists and arts organizations said the lackof critical discourse hinders field development and makes it more challenging for arts
programmers, curators, and funders to understand and track field developments.

y

Educators and policymakers can adopt national core arts standards for media arts andtechnology. The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards now include media arts standards
to reflect a broader definition of arts-making, which encompasses contemporary art forms
such as animation, film, gaming, or interactive- and computer-based art-making. To see thestatus of media arts policy in your state, use the Education Commission of the States as aresource.

y

Educators and policymakers can support integration of the arts with STEM througheducational initiatives inclusive of creative coding and other arts-based learning to bridge
digital divides, promote digital literacy, and build essential 21st-century skill sets.

yEstablish local, regional, and national partnerships to support equitable on-ramps to the 21stcentury workforce. For example, Arts2Work is the first federally registered apprenticeshipprograms for media arts and creative technology, which includes a growing network ofregional apprenticeship and training hubs led by grassroots media arts organizations.
Businesses and tech companies similarly can provide valuable opportunities for workforce
development and build talent pipelines through on-the-job-training, apprenticeships, andmentorships.

yBusiness and particularly tech firms can strengthen the local infrastructure for 21st-century
arts and culture through corporate responsibility initiatives supporting equitable access tobroadband internet, digital training and tools, and computer science initiatives at venues suchas makerspaces and community arts organizations.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

79yPublic and private organizations can develop research agendas that document and evaluate
the impact of laws, regulations, and policies affecting independent artists, arts organizations,and the general public in the digital age, such as net neutrality, intellectual property laws,
competition and consumer protection in the 21st century, technology mergers and acquisitions,
corporate social responsibility, data ownership, and broadband internet and digital issues.

Offer Project Development, Presentation, and Exhibition
Opportunities
Problem: Tech-centered artists experience challenges in securing adequate resources for project
development. They may pour time, energy, and funding into projects with limited distribution andpresentation options. Artists in this report also cited challenges with accessing technical facilities
and equipment after receiving formal training.
Suggested Actions:80yColleges and universities were repeatedly named as the best-equipped facilities available
to technology-centered artists. These places offer access to experimentation with tools fordeveloping immersive experiences, digital fabrication, game design, and other creative pursuitsat the intersection of the arts and technology. Faculty and staff can develop visiting artist
initiatives and residency programs to support the development and exhibition of new work,
while providing stepping stones for practicing artists and valuable learning opportunities forstudents and community members.

yCreative placemaking strategies, cultural institutions, and community revitalization initiatives
can commission technology-focused projects and artworks or hire artists to conduct
technology-based public programming. Doing so can introduce audiences or residents
to contemporary arts approaches to technology, such as new media storytelling projects,
interactive art festivals, or temporary public art installations. Commissioned work shouldadequately compensate artists and accommodate their needs during project development andprototyping, installation, and maintenance.

yArts service organizations can support program initiatives such as co-commissions, touring,and other cost-sharing measures common for both the visual and performing arts. These
measures will introduce audiences to new artists and bring works to places that otherwise
would not have access.

yMunicipal government entities, such as an urban planning department or public library, can hireor partner with tech-savvy artists and organizations to develop digital content, creative datavisualizations, social media, and technology-driven community solutions.

yCultural and education-based organizations can seek new opportunities to boost funding forarts-and-technology-related initiatives with support from public or private sources. Potential
sources include such as National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the
Humanities, state or regional arts and humanities agencies, the “Computer Science for All”
initiative at National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education and state education
agencies, local school districts, community-based or arts funders, digital inclusion funds, or
corporate responsibility funds and sponsorships from the tech industry.

yTech firms can provide artists with early access to tools and software. Artists such as those
profiled in this report might be regarded as early adopters and could prove eager to testdrive new products and discover new applications. These connections are beneficial for techcompanies looking to gain innovative perspectives from potential consumers and explore thecreative potential of newly developed tools and software.

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Deepen Public Understanding of the Field’s Value and Impact
Problem: Several artists claimed that their role was overlooked by the broader arts and cultural
field and by other actors in the creative economy. There is a need for greater public recognition ofindustry’s reliance on artists’ mindsets, in particular for their creative approaches, innovations, andcontributions to the technology sector.
Suggested Actions:yField practitioners and arts researchers can promote ways that artists address issues arounddigital equity and inclusion; contribute to building pipelines for a more equitable and diverse
tech industry; and examine ethical issues surrounding technology, such as data privacy andartificial intelligence. Elevating these contributions will help the field advocate for greaterpublic and private investments in arts and culture, STEAM initiatives, the creative economy, andinitiatives for digital inclusion and training.

yResearchers can develop agendas that inform best practices and models, and support ways forthe arts and cultural sector to bridge digital divides, train the 21st-century workforce, improve
digital literacy, teach computer science education, build strong and resilient communities, andstimulate local economy.

yResearchers can conduct further studies documenting the value and impact of arts-andtechnology training and related entrepreneurial activities, which can provide kindling for creative
economy decision-makers. Many of the artists participating in this report are entrepreneurs,
populating a wide range of businesses, governments, media, and nonprofits with their creative
energy.93

93
In addition, this report did not set out to research the role of digital arts programs for children and youth as pathways
to working in arts and technology, but it is an area that should be studied.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

81

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank all those who participated in the making of thisreport.
Technical Working Group Members

Case Studies

Mariannah Amster, Currents New Media

3-Legged Dog

Ashley Artis, Creative Capital

Refik Anadol

Salome Asega, Ford Foundation Technology
Fellow

Design I/O

Chris Barr, former Director of Technology
Innovation, Knight Foundation

Darcy Neal

Anne Bown-Crawford, California Arts Council
Vanessa Chang, CripTech Incubator, Leonardo/
ISAST
Angie Kim, Center for Cultural Innovation
Fox Harrell, Center for Advanced Virtuality, MIT
Ruby Lerner, Arts Executive
Golan Levin, Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative
Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University
Margaret Morton, Ford Foundation
Josette Melchor, Gray Area Foundation
Omari Rush, CultureSource
Joan Shigekawa, Arts Executive
Kamal Sinclair, Guild of Future Architects
S. Craig Watkins, Institute for Media Innovation,
University of Texas at Austin

Stephanie Dinkins
Processing Foundation
Scatter
Lance Weiler
Amelia Winger-Bearskin

Commissioned Essays
Agnes Chavez, STEMarts LAB
Vanessa Chang, CripTech Incubator, Leonardo/
ISAST
Megan Eliott, Johnny Carson Center for
Emerging Media Arts, University of NebraskaLincoln
Ari Melenciano, Afrotectopia
Stephanie Pereira, NEW INC
Omari Rush, CultureSource
Eleanor Savage, Jerome Foundation
Kamal Sinclair, Guild of Future Architects
Hrag Vartanian, Hyperallergic
S. Craig Watkins, Institute for Media Innovation,
University of Texas at Austin

82

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

Roundtable Hosts
Wasserman Projects (Detroit)
CultureSource (Detroit)
Mana Contemporary Miami
UCLA Design Media Arts (Los Angeles)
Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice(New York)

Roundtable Artists
DB Amorin
Onyx Ashanti
Jason Bernagozzi
Rafael Vargas Bernard
Tega Brain
Kayla Briët
Jessica Brillhart
Sophia Brueckner
Peter Burr
Leo Castaneda
Cezanne Charles
Linda Cheung
Sandy Cioffi
Tyrone Michael Clemons
Christopher Coleman
Grisha Coleman
Nonny de la Peña
Andrea Montiel de Shuman
Stephanie Dinkins
Reilly Donovan
Ruthie Doyle
R. Luke DuBois
Nettrice Gaskins
James George
Ross Goodwin
Felice Grodin
Sabine Gruffat
Tahir Hemphill

Martha Hipley
Melanie Hoff
Joshua King
Aaron Koblin
Wendy Levy
Zach Lieberman
Adelle Lin
Mikhail Mansion
Emily Martinez
Sharon McCaman
Lauren McCarthy
LaJune McMillian
Evan Meaney
Neil Mendoza
Cory Linn Metcalf
Marjan Moghaddam
Nick Montfort
Darcy Neal
Matthew Niederhauser
Diana Nucera
Ayodamola Tanimowo Okunseinde
Rodolfo Peraza
Althea Pergakis
Everest Pipkin
Afroditi Psarra
Casey Reas
Kristin Sue Reeves
Benjamin Rosenthal
Alfredo Salazar-Caro
Kate Sicchio
Paisley Smith
Eric SoutherJennifer Steinkamp
David Stout
Barry Threw
Lee Tusman
Amy Youngs

Sarah Groff Hennigh-Palermo

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intentionallyleft blank84

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

APPENDIX A

Case Studies
CASE STUDY

3-Legged Dog
ARTIST PROFILEFounded in 1996, 3-Legged Dog developed original interdisciplinary work that merged
performance, media, and technology. This creative work was supported by a distinctive
business model, where artistic endeavors were funded in large part through work forclients. For 16 years, the company also managed the 3LD Art & Technology Center, amultivenue space in Lower Manhattan, that provided artists with technical training,access to high-tech equipment, and extended 24/7 creative and performance
residencies. 3-Legged Dog served an average of 700 artists a year and produced anaverage of 11 award-winning full-scale productions a year between 2006 and 2019.
3-Legged Dog (3LD) was an artistrun production company thatdeveloped experimental
performances and installations
incorporating technologies such asholographic projection, augmented
reality, live-motion tracking, andmapped projections. Within thismultifaceted creative practice,founder Kevin Cunningham
explained that “the art is the boss,”with technology serving as a tool
for making ambitious artistic
visions come to life. 3LD
capitalized on the creative technology skills of
its team of artists, and worked with anextensive roster of corporate and institutional
clients to create and produce events,
installations, and immersive experiences, withrevenue supporting creative projects.
3LD’s commissioned work included sound andlighting design; architectural installation; appand software development; and creative
direction and conception to incorporate
holographic projections, mapped projections,virtual and augmented reality, live motion
tracking, VR/MR/XR design, and more. The

ONLINE VIDEO

Marie Davis performing in
3-Legged Dog’s productionof James Scruggs’ 3/
Fifths: Supremacy Land,an immersive theater
experience exploring thehistory of violence against
Black bodies. Photo by Skye
Morse Hodgson

3-Legged Dog control
interface and installation
view from control boothfor a Vogue China Annual
Event, Beijing, 2016. Photoby Fubbi Karlsson/Houseof NorthTech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

85

organization created video designs for pop singer Lady Gaga, a custom designed projection system
for the University of Maryland, immersive experience design for Vogue China, and projection
mapping for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gala Exhibition. For fashion designer Michael Kors,
they “landed” a full-sized holographic jet.
These projects were not standard workfor hire. 3LD intentionally accepted client
projects that enabled the organization
to experiment and strategically advanceits skill sets and capabilities. Technology
was carefully selected to execute
projects, with the 3LD team deliberately
working with affordable systems andhardware so their learnings could
inspire and benefit other artists, forwhom specialized commercial products would be financially out of reach. Through this approach,Cunningham explained how commission work is aligned with the mission of 3LD and “serves as alarger-scale research and development platform for ideas that we’re going to bring into our artistic
projects.”

Our job as artists is to try to bring ourimagination into reality and shareit with people. And technology canhelp do that in many different ways.

3LD’s earned-income provided a degree of artistic freedom. However, this choice was also motivatedby a desire to address funding challenges that are commonplace for grant-supported nonprofits:
shifting funding trends, declines in private and public philanthropic support for original art, thepropensity for project-based funding rather than long-term support, the administrative burdensof applications and audits, and the disconnect between funding amounts and the actual costs oftechnology-infused projects.
3LD recently left its costly Lower Manhattan center and shifted to a virtual studio model. Amid
the COVID-19 pandemic, 3LD was working on new artistic projects as well, bringing their blend oftheatrical creativity and technological savvy to the new challenge of creating for socially distanced
audiences.

3-Legged Dog’s productionof Losing Something (2007),the first fully holographic
stage production in the
United States and winnerof the American Theater
Wing Hewes Design Award
for Notable Effects in 2007.
Photo by Jeff Morey86

In March 2020, because all projects scheduled for 2020-2022 had been cancelled or indefinitely
delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 3-Legged Dog was forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy was completed
in December 2020 andCunningham has createda new company that will
be structured to facilitate
international and cross-sector
collaboration and for-profit/
nonprofit cooperation focusedon original interdisciplinary
production and related
technology development. The
company 3LD, Inc. launched in
January 2021.

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

NOTE: This case study reflectsinterviews conducted with
3-Legged Dog and its network
between April and June 2020.

CASE STUDY

Refik Anadol
ONLINE VIDEOARTIST PROFILE
Refik Anadol is a media artist working in the field of site-specific public art, parametricdata sculptures, and live audio/visual performance with immersive installations.
His works explore the space among digital and physical entities by creating a hybrid
relationship between architecture and media arts with the help of artificial intelligence.
The Refik Anadol Studio harnesses the abilities of a collaborative team of 18, including
data scientists, visual designers, generative designers, architectural designers, asoftware developer, a concept developer, a composer/sound designer, and more. Anadol
is also the co-founder and creative director for the Istanbul-based design studio Antilop.
Artist Refik Anadol has gained international recognition for transforming massive datasets into
multidimensional imagery. Coining the terms “data sculpture,” “data painting,” and “latent cinema,”
Anadol likens data to pigment, with algorithms serving as brushes that he uses to create elaborate
visuals for architecturally embedded screens, large scale projection-mapping projects, andimmersive installations. Anadol’s work focuses on the ways in which machine intelligence allows for
new aesthetic methods to create immersive environments that offer a dynamic perception of space,
as well as history. Anadol and his
team train AI algorithms withvast data sets and offer radical
parameters of artistic design
based on digitized memories ofindividuals, societies, institutions,and nature. The fluid ease withwhich this data-driven imagery
morphs and flows masks
painstaking work behind thescenes.
WDCH Dreams, commissioned
in celebration of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic’s centennial
year, is one example of thisrichly detailed work. For the
project, Anadol’s team drewon the philharmonic’s nearly
45 terabytes of archival data,
including almost 588,000 images
and 40,000 hours of audio fromover 16,000 performances, tocreate an immersive exhibition
and a week-long public art
installation projected on thesurface of the Frank Gehrydesigned Walt Disney Concert
Hall (WDCH).

Archive Dreaming,
commissioned to work with
SALT Research collections,employed machine learningalgorithms to search andsort relationships among
1,700,000 documents andtranslate them into an
immersive media installation.
Photo by Refik Anadol

Refik Anadol, WDCH
Dreams, 2018, AI Audio/
Visual Installation. Image
courtesy of the artist

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87

The project is a culmination of Anadol’s research into generative machine learning, supported by a
Google Artists & Machine Intelligence residency. Anadol’s studio translated digital files from the
L.A. Philharmonic’s archives into millions of data points, categorized by hundreds of attributes.
Using deep neural networks to create a machine learning algorithm that functioned as the “mind ofa machine,” Anadol trained the system to move through an evolutionary exploration in real time,
projected onto the concert hall using 42 high-powered projectors. Machine learning also played arole in the score for the performance, compiling and categorizing hundreds of data points acrossthousands of hours of audio recordings, curated and arranged by sound designers.

“Data as a medium or as a material isbeyond just ones and zeros. I don’t lookat data as just numbers. I look at them as
memories…the meaning of that certain
moment transformed into a digital entity
and stored in the mind of a machine.”

Each performance cycled throughthree phases. “Memory” beganwith processing the mass ofcollected data, highlighting
moments from the orchestra’s
history. “Consciousness”
mapped billions of data points,
abstractly depicting networks ofrelationships, connections, andcontrasts. “Dreams” combined
past and present, with machine
intelligence dreaming futuristic
hallucinations; hence the project
title—WDCH Dreams.

Such ambitious works reflect an ongoing fascination with the intersection of architecture andintangible elements—the data points that surround us, the flexibility of memory, and how an artist
might “make the invisible visible.”

Refik Anadol, MachineHallucination, ARTECHOUSENYC 2019-2020, 42 Channel
Projection. Photo courtesyof Refik Anadol Studio

88

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

CASE STUDY

Design I/O
ONLINE VIDEOARTIST PROFILEFounded in 2010, Design I/O is an award-winning creative studio led by Emily Gobeilleand Theodore Watson. From studios in New York and California, the Design I/O teamcollaborates on developing immersive environments, interactive experiences,
experimental forms of storytelling, and new prototypes that lead toward a more
magical future. Combining artistry with technological innovation, they foster
connections within digitally responsive worlds for clients such as the New York Hall of
Science, Cleveland Museum of Art, Nokia Bells Labs, TELUS World of Science(Edmonton), digiPlaySpace (Toronto), and Cinekid (Amsterdam).
Design I/O immerses audiences inplayful and quirky encounters,
sparking a sense of wonder throughthe magic made possible by advanced
technologies. Whether developing a
curious robot, a mysterious nocturnal
forest, or a world where participants
control the weather, Design I/O’s work
blends technological experimentation
with artistic imagination and design
sensibilities to “make it feel seamlessand magical.”Both top and bottom:
Connected Worlds, 2015,
interactive installation.
Photo courtesy of David
Handschuh

The team has earned a reputation
for large-scale installations withrenowned institutions. However, theirprofessional trajectory began withmodest projects nurtured by a networkof festivals in Europe willing to take achance on promising emerging artists.
Watson acknowledged that Design
I/O “wouldn’t be here today if they had
stayed in the U.S.”
After completing degrees at Parsons
School of Design in New York, Watson
and Gobeille moved to Amsterdam.
They branched out regionally, with asteady stream of small commissions
contributing to a burgeoning portfolio.
They also actively hustled—printing
project postcards, pitching ideas, andfrequenting arts events to meet potential commissioners. These face-to-face efforts went handin-hand with an online presence, where they shared preliminary ideas, posted high quality project
documentation, and contributed to open-source communities, with Watson participating in the coredevelopment team for openFrameworks.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

89Puppet Parade (2011) isan interactive installationthat allows visitors to use
their arms to puppeteer
larger-than-life creatures
projected on the wall infront of them. The projectis based on Design I/O’s
Kinect Puppet Prototype
video and uses two Xbox
Kinects to track the armsof the puppeteers. Photo
courtesy of Design I/O

As their abilities and ideas grew, curators like Paulien Dresscher at Cinekid in Amsterdam and Nick
Pagee at TIFF digiPlaySpace in Toronto took note and became repeat commissioners. Suchsupporters often go beyond funding projects—they also open professional doors, partner tocommission and tour projects, provide mediation for publics new to the work, and champion
technology-rooted artworks at their institutions. Building on this infrastructure of support fromindividuals, festivals, and venues, Gobeille and Watson scaled up their practice and gained traction
for their careers.
Since then, Design I/O has become known for works such as Connected Worlds, where audiences
enter a 3,000-square-foot interactive space and manage the flora and fauna of six interconnecteddigital ecosystems. They direct the flow from a 45-foot-tall waterfall, plant seeds, and learn
concepts of environmental stewardship and cause and effect, all within an intricately crafted worldof discovery and play.
Nick Pagee summed up the impact of the team’s capabilities, explaining that “A Design I/O piece isthe gateway experience to appreciating what interactive can do...Design I/O pieces take people outof the everyday and bring them into a new world that is incredibly rich, masterfully executed.”

The bridge between when someone decides they’re going toembark on a career in this direction and getting to that point ofbeing established—that’s an incredibly hard thing to overcome,but it doesn’t take a lot. It takes having a platform and a little bitof funding for one or two compelling works and good exposure.

90

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

CASE STUDYStephanie Dinkins
ONLINE VIDEOARTIST PROFILE
Stephanie Dinkins is a transmedia artist and professor at Stony Brook University, where
she holds the Kusama Endowed Chair in Art. She creates platforms for dialog about
artificial intelligence (AI) as it intersects with race, gender, aging, and our future
histories. She is particularly driven to work with communities of color to co-create more
equitable, values-grounded artificial intelligent ecosystems. Dinkins’ art practice
employs lens-based practices, emerging technologies, and community engagement toconfront questions of bias in AI, data sovereignty, and social equity.
While some artists begin dabbling with coding at a very young age, Stephanie Dinkins was
already an established artist when she chose to pivot her practice to cutting edge technologies.
Motivated by pressing questions of ethics and representation in artificial intelligence, shenavigated the challenges of learning new skill sets and immersing herself in a new specialization.
Artificial intelligence is now central to Dinkins’ three-pronged practice of art making, community
engagement, and public speaking—all grounded in a core ethos of “making space for blackness”
within artistic, technological, and cultural domains.
Dinkins’s artistic transformation was sparked by a YouTube video of Bina48, an advanced AI robot in
the form of a Black woman. This encounter led Dinkins to create Conversations with Bina48, a seriesof discussions with Bina48 on topics such as mortality, loneliness, racism, family, and faith. The
project was a starting point, a shift described by Dinkins as “turning my life over to this process.”

Stephanie Dinkins &Bina48. Photo courtesy of
Stephanie Dinkins

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

91Her next step was to cultivate
a new knowledge base,spending countless hours on
independent learning; online
coding tutorials and forums;
and practical methods of trial,
error, and troubleshooting. She
workshopped ideas throughresidencies at Eyebeam,
Pioneer Works, and NEW INC
and connected with expert
partners, such as her studioassistant Neta Bomani, anartist and technologist in her
own right.

Stephanie Dinkins, Not
the Only One, 2018, deep
Learning AI, Computer,Arduino, Senors, sculpture
3d printed PLA, ~ 16” x 18”,
pedestal 30” x 18” x18.
Image courtesy of the artist

Dinkins’ current artwork, Not
the Only One (N’TOO),
combines oral history with AI
to create an interactive family
memoir. N’TOO is trained oninterviews from three
generations of Dinkins’ family—
her aunt, herself, and herniece—an intentionally small
dataset that enables N’TOO toresist the cultural dilution thatcomes with training AI on
massive datasets thatreinforce biases orinadequately represent
communities of color.

At an AI Story Circle aspart of her Project alKhwarizmi (PAK), Stephanie
Dinkins uses her art as avehicle to engage citizens
in discussion to better
understand how algorithms,
the artificially intelligent
systems they underpin, andbig data impact their lives.
Photo courtesy of the artist

Gathering communities in conversations around race and technology is also core to Dinkins’practice, aimed at empowering individuals to take an informed, vocal, and active approach toinfluence both the present and future impacts of technology. In so doing, she advocates for Afronow-ism, “a willful practice” overlaying technology and social justice that “imagines the world as
one needs it to be…in the here and now.”94“How does change get into asystem?… How do we get folksthat bring a different vision or
way of seeing the world into
institutions creating AI andkeep them there?”
94

92

Dinkins, “Afro-now-ism.”

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

CASE STUDY

Darcy Neal
ONLINE VIDEOARTIST PROFILE
Darcy Neal is a new media artist and co-founder of Trash Hackers Collective and Lady
Brain Studios, where they develop interactive works and teach creative applications ofelectronics for artists. With a background in sculpture, electronics, and experimental
sound, Neal’s artistic practice and teaching explores circuit design, rapid prototyping,and experimental media that pushes the boundaries of traditional circuit applications.
Darcy Neal is an artist whose
practice relies on physical hubs
such as makerspaces andfabrication labs—both of which
offer access to tools andspace, and to frequentinteractions with other makers.
These community spaces andconversations can result incritical turning points for artists
working with physicalhardware, such as Neal, who
was able to adopt newtechniques and production
models thanks to resources
and learning opportunities
offered by these spaces.

Darcy Neal experimentswith the Trash Hackers
Trashprinter, an opensource, large-format 3D
printer originally designed
by Sam Smith, which
utilizes waste plastic thatwould otherwise be throwninto the landfill. Photo
courtesy of the artist

Neal’s experiences have led them to co-found their own maker-oriented entities, such as the Trash
Hackers Collective, which trains community members to repurpose discarded plastics into everyday
objects using accessible and open-source machinery, and Lady Brain Studios, an arts studio thatdevelops interactive projects and provides workshops in electronics. While their earlier artistic
practice involved traditional media, such as painting and sculpture, Neal credits the makerspacecommunity, and a workshop in
circuit-bending, as contributing
factors to their trajectory in merging
arts, science, and technology.
Currently, Neal is a teaching artist at
Pacific Northwest College of Arts’
Make+Think+Code program andserves as the STEAM coordinator
for immersive technologies at
Portland Community College’s
Cascade campus (PCC). Neal’s roleat PCC supports the creative coding
program, VR/AR development, and3D design applications.

Lady Brain Studios,co-founded by Darcy
Neal, actively conducts
DIY art and technology
workshops coveringvarious topics relating toArduino programming, DIY
synthesizers, e-textiles,
and printed circuit board
design. Photo courtesy of
the artist

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

93

“I got a lot of my support for learning from hanging out atmakerspaces and hackerspaces, where people who were studying
the subversive niches of technology could talk about their workand learn from one another. These spaces are a key breeding
ground and meeting point for new ideas and new technologies.”

Darcy Neal, The Brains ofSound and Light V2 & 3,
mixed media. Photo by
Steve Rainwater

94

Since Neal began working at PCC, they have helped support new course offerings and degree
programs centering on technology and the arts. PCC’s associate’s degree in music and sonic arts
combines music, coding, and design; and the creative coding and immersive technologies degree,
launched in 2019, is the first of its kind at a community college in the United States. Dan Wegner,dean of arts and professions at PCC, explained that these programs are growing quickly and reflect
the robust arts and tech sectors in Portland.

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

CASE STUDY

Processing Foundation
ARTIST PROFILE
The Processing Foundation makes software tools available for free that support the useof code for self-expression. Their flagship project is Processing, a flexible software
sketchbook used by millions of artists, designers, students, and cultural workers aroundthe world each year. Casey Reas, an artist and professor based in Los Angeles, and Ben
Fry, a principal at Boston-based design and software consultancy Fathom, first started
working on Processing in 2001 at the MIT Media Lab. They launched the foundation in2012 with New York-based educator and programmer Daniel Shiffman.
The Processing Foundation provides free access to software projects tailor-made for creativecoders. This artist-run nonprofit demonstrates the power of building generative tools that can
support a wide variety of creative work and engage a dedicated community of users that continue
to push boundaries.
Based on the programming
language Java, Processing istheir most popular project,with 2.6+ million site visitors
over the past year. A
Processing program is calleda “sketch”— a coding
sequence designed toperform a particular function,such as drawing a sphere.
Users assemble sketches
inside of the Processing
Development Environment,
and build libraries forfunctions including
animation, sound, and video.
They participate throughonline forums, local usergroups, and the code-sharingsite GitHub.
After many years ofdevelopment and communitybuilding, Casey Reas, Ben Fry,and Daniel Shiffman started
the foundation to ensure that
Processing would continue
to be maintained and shared.
They now make up its board,along with LA-based artist
and professor Lauren Lee
McCarthy.

Participants at the Creative
Code Fest in Los Angeles,
California. Photo courtesyof Processing Foundation

Ted Davis, P5LIVE, 2019.
Photo by Ted Davis

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

95Lowering barriers to access iscentral to the organization’s
mission. McCarthy developed
p5.js, a JavaScript library for
web-native creative coding thatis more accessible to lay users
than Processing. It has also
gained broad adoption, with 1.6
million site visitors in the past
year. During the pandemic,
Pittsburgh-based developer andartist Aren Davey started
hosting “Cozy Coding,” a seriesof p5.js tutorials on the popular
live streaming platform Twitch.

I believe artists and communities
of artists should be deeply
engaged with making our own
platforms and our own tools
rather than relying on proprietary
software that we can’t control.

Education is also integral to the project, said Reas, “and I think that’s where it’s had the mostimpact.” The site provides resources for teaching art and computer science, including a lively set oftraining videos by Shiffman called The Coding Train.
But Processing is not just for students. The Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Georges
Pompidou have featured the work of artists and designers who use it. Processing drives stage
designs and music videos for bands such as REM. Product designers from companies such as
Google and the New York Times have used it for prototyping and data visualization. The project has
become an everyday utility, providing makers and visual thinkers with a welcome alternative to
expensive and proprietary commercial software.

Aren Davey’s Processing
Foundation Fellowship(2020) allowed the artist
to focus on breaking
the stereotypes ofprogramming by showingthat it can be warm, playful,and spontaneous throughher Twitch channel, Cozy
Coding (pictured), which
explores facets of P5.js
live with viewers. Image
courtesy of the artist

96

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

CASE STUDY

Scatter
ARTIST PROFILE
Scatter is an immersive design studio based in Brooklyn, New York, co-founded byartists Yasmin Elayat, James George, and Alexander Porter in 2016. The artist-run studio
produces original content in emerging media formats and also developed a creative
software tool, Depthkit. Storytellers around the world use Depthkit to capture
volumetric video for immersive events, virtual and augmented reality experiences,
games, creative documentaries, visual effects, and art installations.

ONLINE VIDEO

Still image from Blackout(2017), a volumetricfilm and roomscale VR
installation produced by
Scatter. Image courtesy of
Scatter

The Scatter team is filling a key gap in the larger virtual and mixed-reality ecosystem by making it
possible for independent creators to access the new creative medium of volumetric video, without
needing to move production to fixed capture stages in limited locations. With Depthkit, makers canuse accessible retail-standard hardware and have their own volumetric capture kit in-house. The
philosophy underpinning the Depthkit code prioritizes the ability for creators to rapidly prototype
ideas, and experiment with their own voice in this new medium.
Scatter’s aim is to define the emerging language of “volumetric filmmaking,” a term James
George coined in a 2016 essay, “A New Dimension in Filmmaking,” to describe 3D capture ofmoving images.95 Volumetric capture is now widely used in Hollywood and by commercial gamecompanies. Scatter fosters a creative community through workshops, maker meetups, andonline forums to champion the artistic use of the technology too. They are unusual in connecting
emerging artists with Silicon Valley. “We’re able to play a bridge role between the Microsofts and theIntels to this community that we’ve been so close to,” Yasmin Elayat noted.

95

George, “A New Dimension in Filmmaking.”

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97Poster image for The
Changing Same (2021),
a volumetric film androomscale VR installation
co-produced by Rada Studioand Scatter. Image courtesyof Scatter and Rada StudioIn their original content production, rather than acting as a service provider for commercial clientsthe team establishes collaborative partnerships to produce immersive works by using Depthkit. For
example, with Rada Film Group and the Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab, Scatter
used Depthkit to explore VR as a collective healing device for generational trauma caused from racial
oppression. This immersive experience, debuting at Sundance Film Festival 2021, will accompany
the documentary film, The Changing Same.
Fireflies: A Brownsville Story is an interactive VR experience, fueled by Depthkit, in collaboration with
Peoples Culture Collective and Brownsville Community Justice Center of the Center for Court
Innovation. “The team literally built the computers they used to make the project,” said Alexander
Porter. “It’s a really special example where the outcomes of the project are really gorgeous andextraordinary, but the methodology very much matches our intentions with the tool.”Now full-fledged artist-entrepreneurs, Scatter collects funding streams from product sales, venture
capital backing, and grants for individual projects. Grants and in-kind support from PBS, Fledgling
Fund, Tribeca Institute’s New Media Fund, and Knight Foundation have been invaluable contributions
enabling the production of new works. Arts incubators and fellowships programs, such as EYEBEAM,
Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon, and NEW INC, also have been criticalresources needed to continually develop Depthkit’s capabilities, sharpen the team’s businessacumen, and build creative
partnerships with fellow artists
and industry leaders. James
George affirmed that such support
helps Scatter stay “beholden to
the artistic intentions, not only thebottom line.”

Our ultimate goal is to makesure that really surprising,
generative, experimental work
gets made with our tool. We
really think of it as a community,
not as a group of customers.

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CASE STUDY

Lance Weiler
ONLINE VIDEOARTIST PROFILE
Lance Weiler is a storyteller, entrepreneur, and thought leader in the entertainment
industry, who creates unconventional experiences with an interdisciplinary cohort ofcollaborators and the participation of audiences around the world. He is a professor ofpractice and the director of the Digital Storytelling Lab at Columbia University’s Schoolof the Arts (Columbia DSL), a “next generation media lab harnessing the arts, humanities
and emergent technology to tackle some of the world’s impossible problems.”
Adept at merging storytelling and technology, Lance
Weiler has pioneered cinematic innovations thatincorporate multiple genres and formats. Steeped in his
film industry experience, Weiler’s interdisciplinary,cross-platform, and collaborative process is part of alarger ecosystem of practice, with discrete projects
feeding the whole.
Early in his career, Weiler established an experimental
approach to his film productions, mixing elements ofexperience design, theatrical performance, and gaming
into the work. For example, his 2006 feature, Head
Trauma, toured to museums instead of movie theaters.
Screenings incorporated elements of immersive theaterand augmented-reality gaming—with a live band,
costumed performers, and participatory elements thatallowed audience members to interact with the film’s
characters through their mobile phones. Audience
members also were invited into a tent to describe theirgreatest fears, which then were streamed online. Thistransmedia approach—of building a “storyworld”—hasbecome common, but at the time was a breakthrough.
Building on his forward-thinking practice, Weiler
launched the Digital Storytelling Lab
at Columbia University’s School of theArts. The lab explores how “the mass
democratization of creative tools—code,
data and algorithms—have changed
the relationship between creator andaudiences” and serves as a catalyst forinterdisciplinary collaboration among
students, faculty, and industry innovators.

Frankenstein AI: A Monster
Made by Many is aninteractive experience
which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival
2018 as part of the New
Frontier exhibition program.
Top: Show poster. Bottom:
A person interacts with the
AI at the Sundance Film
Festival. Images courtesyof the artist

Much of Weiler’s work is open source or“copyleft,” developed through generative
prototyping processes where participants
are invited to carry the work forward.

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

99Sherlock Holmes and the Internetof Things had about 2,600
collaborators in 60 countries and 180
self organized events, and we justloved the chaos and freedom of it—
the excitement of combining learningand storytelling and challenging
authorship and ownership of stories.

Sherlock Holmes and the Internetof Things involved roughly 2,600
collaborators in 60 countries and180 self-organized events.
Frankenstein AI: A Monster Madeby Many, which premiered at
Sundance Film Festival, invited
participants to teach an AI entity
about human emotions throughface-to-face interactions withother audience members. The
project then evolved into a dance
performance choreographed by
the trained AI entity.

Game designer Nick Fortugno has
worked with Weiler to co-create
these and other experiences, stating, “I only really work collaboratively. I don’t know how not to.
What’s really, really fun about this collaboration [with Weiler] and being part of that world is that
we’re all making brand new work, and that’s incredible.” He explained that the duo’s hybrid approachtranscends discipline by focusing on goals and process, allowing them to jointly refine designprinciples for audience engagement across projects.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Weiler has been co-designing From the Futures, a virtual
community “dedicated to the exploration of better futures in a time of extreme change” that has
provided an opportunity for more than 1,000 participants around the world to connect in a time ofphysical distancing.96 From the Futures embraces speculative design, enabling participants toimagine possible futures through the co-creation of stories, games, and artifacts.

Sherlock Holmes and theInternet of Things is one of
the largest projects fromthe Columbia University
School of the Arts’ Digital
Storytelling Lab. Left: Eventposter. Right: Participants
creating artifacts (VR,AR, IoT) and narratives
that fit within the massive
connected crime scene.
Images courtesy of Lance
Weiler

96

100“From the Futures”

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CASE STUDY

Amelia Winger-Bearskin
ONLINE VIDEOARTIST PROFILE
Amelia Winger-Bearskin is an artist, technologist, and community-builder. Working inimmersive media such as VR, performance, and participatory events, Winger-Bearskin
invites audiences to reflect on the social and emotional dimensions of life in a techsaturated society.
Winger-Bearskin is Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation of
Oklahoma, Deer Clan. Her practice includes examining ways Native and Indigenous
perspectives and values systems can inform foundational components of the techindustry.
Amelia Winger-Bearskin’s multifaceted
career creatively bridges the arts andtechnology sectors, encompassing
technologies from VR to 3D modeling,
billboard design, and more. This expansive
practice is underpinned by a collaborative
spirit, nurtured early on in opera companies
where, as a singer, she developed an affinity
for working as part of a team. Collaboration
has since become a through-line in her
approach, and she regularly develops
forums and shares platforms with otherartists.
Such collaborations range in tone andformat, but frequently take on a playful
character. Your Hands Are Feet, a VR
collaboration with Sarah Rothberg, hadaudiences maneuvering through cartoonish
metaphors. Monsters, a 360-degree video/
installation with Wendy Red Star, explored
Seneca and Crow mythologies of keepersof the land. Her Wampum.codes podcast
sparked thought-provoking conversations
with Native and Indigenous creatives
and technologists. She also convenes
technology enthusiasts through the Stupid
Hackathon, a humorous one-day event
co-founded with fellow artist Sam Lavigne,
which has taken place annually since 2013.
Winger-Bearskin’s ability to use theseskills to reach across sectors led Ralph
DiBart, executive director of the Business
Improvement District for the city of New

Amelia Winger-Bearskin
in an immersive art piece
while a student at NYU ITP.
Image courtesy of Amelia
Winger-Bearskin

Artist Matthew Ganttshowing the 2018 IDEA
New Rochelle cohort andresidents Barak Chamo
and Bayete Ross Smith oneof his VR projects in the
IDEALab. Photo courtesy of
Amelia Winger-Bearskin

Tech as Art: Supporting Artists Who Use Technology as a Creative Medium

101Rochelle, New York, to reach out to her about his goal to develop a technology district, including
an artist community. Just 25 minutes from Manhattan, New Rochelle had a lot to offer but lacked
an understanding of how their assets could be transformed into a vibrant center for arts andtechnology.

Image by Amelia WingerBearskin for her article,“Indigenous wisdom as amodel for software designand development,” 2020.
Image courtesy of Amelia
Winger-Bearskin

Stepping into a new role as director of IDEA New Rochelle (Interactive Digital Environments Alliance),
Winger-Bearskin noted that the city’s underutilized spaces would be a perfect setting for artists
experimenting with augmented and virtual reality. IDEA New Rochelle’s artist residency program,launched in 2018, provided an artist cohort with live-work space and access to development labs.
The program soon expanded to include a day program in response to artist demand.
Building on IDEA, the city applied to
the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge
to engage residents in city planning
through immersive technologies suchas VR/MR/AR. After a yearlong test
program, New Rochelle won $1 million
to expand these efforts, work that
hinged on the abilities and expertiseof IDEA artists.
Through such projects, WingerBearskin exemplifies the many
creative and technological skills that
artists bring to cross-sector work, aswell as a distinctive ability to engage
communities in imagining new
possibilities together.

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I know how to be an
administrator and I know
how to be a fundraiser
and I know how to be acommunity organizer. And I
think it’s my responsibility
to use those skills, inaddition to my artistic skills,
for my artistic community.

APPENDIX B

Glossary of Terms
360-degree (3D) video
Technology in which omnidirectional cameras grab a spherical video capture of a space. The
perspectives are stitched together to generate an immersive experience that places the viewer within
the context of a scene with the ability to control the orientation and direction of the experience.
3D Printing
The process of making a three-dimensional object, including sculptures, from digital sketches,
drawings, or photographs.
Algoraves
Events where attendees dance to music and visuals generated through live coding, named througha combination of “algorithm” and “rave.”
Algorithms
Set of instructions designed to perform a specific task. This can be a simple process, such as
multiplying two numbers, or a complex operation, such as the design and execution of an artwork.
AnalogIn art, a reference to older, hand-crafted formats such as painting or sculpture as compared tothose created using a computer or other digital device.
Anti-disciplinary
An approach in which work or research takes place outside of the boundaries of establishedacademic or artistic disciplines.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require
human intelligence.
Augmented Reality (AR)The practice of layering digital information—usually sound, video, or graphics—-onto the real,
physical world through a screened interface like a phone, tablet, or specially designed headset.
Co-creation
An approach to creating art or media that sees subjects or audience members as collaborators, as
opposed to an approach that sees the creator as having sole authority to define the work.
Code
The symbolic arrangement of data or instructions in a computer program or the set of such
instructions.
Computation
The processing of information by digital devices or software.
Creative Coding
Both the practice of using code for expressive purposes—design, animation, music, visualization,
robotics, games, and more—and a community dedicated to this practice.

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Data
Quantifiable or characterizable inputs that serve as the material for computation.
Data Visualization
The graphical representation of information and data. By using visual elements like charts, graphs,
and maps, data visualization tools provide an accessible way to see and understand trends, outliers,and patterns in data.
DigitalElectronic tools, systems, devices, and resources that generate, store, or process data.
Digital Art (see electronic art)
Art that is created or displayed through a computer or another digital device such as a smartphone,gaming console, or VR headset.
Disciplinary
Research or work relating to a particular field of study or creative output. Intradisciplinary work
occurs within a single discipline; cross-disciplinary work uses one discipline to examine an aspectof another discipline; multidisciplinary work adds insights from two or more academic disciplines
but remains grounded within the root discipline; interdisciplinary work integrates knowledge andmethods from two or more disciplines; transdisciplinary work unifies intellectual frameworks that
go beyond existing disciplinary perspectives.
DIY Electronics
A practice in which makers assemble and code their own electronic devices, wearables, gadgets,and interfaces using prefabricated circuit boards and components—a subset of the much larger DIY
maker movement.
E-textiles
Fabrics that contain digital components and electronics such as microcontrollers and sensors.
E-textiles can be wearable or found in other fields such as interior design.
Electronic Art (see digital art)
Art that makes use of electronic media or requires electricity to run. Broader than “digital art,” thisterm has expanded to cover many different formats over the past 40 years, including television,
video, radio, projections, computers, games, interactive screens, and more.
Experiential art (see immersive art)
Installations, performances, and environments (both physical and digital) designed to engage thesenses of audience members and transport them, often with the purpose of evoking a sense of wonder.
Extended Reality (XR)
An umbrella term for immersive technologies (augmented, mixed, and virtual) that superimpose
digital information onto the physical world through the use of computer or wearable technologies.
GamingGaming combines technology with traditional and digital art forms—3D modeling, illustration,
writing, music, and animation—to create virtual worlds with which players interact using computersand other electronic devises.
Generative Art
Artistic projects and processes that are automatically generated by an algorithm that shapes thework. In earlier forms, they were generated through other autonomous or random input, such as theroll of a dice, a set of mathematical equations, or combinatorial systems.

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Hackerspace
Community-operated physical spaces in which people with an interest in computing or technology
can work individually or collaboratively on projects while sharing equipment and knowledge.
Haptics
Any form of interaction involving touch. Haptic technology uses a sense of touch (vibrations,motion, or force) to control and interact with computers and devices.
Hashtag
A word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#) used on social media to identify a topic of interestand facilitate a search for it.
Immersive art (see experiential art)
Experiences, performances, and environments that surround and involve participants, engaging
multiple senses and creating an alternate world or reality. Such projects can be fully digital, fully
analog, or a mix of both.
Interactive Art
An approach to artmaking that invites users to manipulate the work or make structured choices
in order for it to evolve to a new or finished state. Goals include making art more accessible,
introducing play, creating personalized experiences, and exploring the dynamics of author andaudience agency.
Interdisciplinary (see Anti-disciplinary)
An approach in which work or research takes place across the boundaries of two or moreestablished academic or artistic disciplines.
Live Coding
A practice during live performances of projecting the code that is driving audio and visual effects, toreveal the creative process and celebrate coding itself as a virtuoso act.
Makerspace
A shared space—accessible for free or for a fee—which offers specialized equipment, training, andfacilities for people to create various digital, electronic, scientific, and craft projects, and a way toconnect with one another.
Media Arts
A term defined by the National Endowment for the Arts as follows: “Media arts is defined by all
genres and forms that use electronic media, film and technology (analog & digital; old and new)as an artistic medium or a medium to broaden arts appreciation and awareness of any discipline.
For example, this includes projects presented via film, television, radio, audio, video, the internet,
interactive and mobile technologies, video games, immersive and multi-platform storytelling, andsatellite streaming.”
Mixed Reality (MR; see extended reality, virtual reality, augmented reality)
An overlay of synthetic content that is anchored to and interacts in real time with objects in the realworld.
Net Art or net.art“Net art” is a general term for art in which the internet is the primary medium, which can only be
encountered and engaged with online. The more specific term “net.art,” which has been attributed
to Belgrade-based artist Vuk Ćosić in 1995, refers to a tongue-in-cheek art movement from the mid1990s to the early 2000s.

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Photogrammetry
A technology for capturing 360-degree still images based on a series of measurements scanned
from various points around the subject, which are then “stitched” together to form a 3D digital model.
Post-internet art
Art created after the capabilities and dynamics of the internet had already become well-established.
These capabilities include networked distribution well beyond the traditional art world, infinite
replicability of artworks, collaborative authorship, cross-format experimentation, the dissolving ofboundaries between the physical and the digital, and the presumption of audience participation.
The term was coined by artist Marisa Olsen around 2009.
Robotics
Technology involving the design, construction, and operation of robots in automation.
Sensors
A device that detects and responds to input from the physical environment (i.e., heat, light, sound,pressure, or motion) and transmits information to other electronics.
Software
A set of instructions, data, or programs used to operate computers and execute specific tasks,
procedures, and routines.
Time-based art
Art that unfolds over time and involves technology, including film, audio, computer games,
slideshows, and more.
Transmedia
Art and media projects that expand across multiple formats, linking together a narrative or theme
through different expressions or moments of engagement.
User experience design
Often abbreviated as “UX” (which stands for “user experience”). A cross-disciplinary practice that
focuses on refining the ways in which people interact with digital interfaces, devices, processes,
and environments.
Video mapping
Also known as projection mapping and spatial augmented reality, this projection technology maps
images onto a non-flat or non-white surface, turning common objects—such as buildings, runways,
stages and even water—into interactive displays.
Virtual Reality
An artificial reality accessible through either projections or head-mounted displays that completely
surround the viewer.
Volumetric Filmmaking
The use of techniques and equipment to capture three-dimensional objects, spaces, performances,and people for use in immersive films, games, and interactive experiences; coined by the team from
Scatter.
Wearables
Electronic devices that can be worn as accessories, embedded in clothing, implanted in the user’s
body, or tattooed on the skin that detect, analyze, and transmit body signal data.

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APPENDIX C

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107Candy, Linda, Ernst Edmonds, and Fabrizio Poltronieri. Explorations in Art and Technology, Second
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APPENDIX Dx

x

Adafruit Industriesx

Adobe Augmented Reality Residencyx

Adobe Creative Residency
AfrotectopiaxxAlliance for Media Arts + Culture
Allied Media Projects

x

x

x

x
x

x

x

Apple AI/ML residency programx

Ars Electronicaxx

Art && Codexx

ARTECHOUSEx

ArtFuturax

Arts2Work: National Apprenticeship Program in Media
Arts and Creative TechnologyxAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)xAthens Digital Arts Festival

x

x

x

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Autodesk Technology Center Residency Programx

Babycastles

x

x

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Before It’s Too Late: Climate Change through VR

x

x

x

bitforms galleryxBlack Girls Code

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Black Public Mediaxx

Boston Cyberartsx

x

BRIC Arts Mediaxx

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

xx

Atlas V: Immersive Experiences

BUFU

x

x

An Artist’s Guide to Computation
Ann Arbor Film Festival

ResidenciesxAbandon Normal Devices Festival

Sponsorships andcommissions

Resource hubs,
workshops, and/or
artist support orgs

3-Legged Dog

Organization

Fellowships andfunding

Exhibitions,
Festivals,
Conferences

Organizations Mentionedxxx

Burning Manxx

Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation and Art Housexx

Carl and Marilynn Thoma Art Foundationxx

Residencies

Sponsorships andcommissions

Fellowships andfundingResource hubs,
workshops, and/or
artist support orgs

Exhibitions,
Festivals,
Conferences

Organization
Cannes XR

Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS)x

Centre for Indigenous Futures, Concordiax

Choreographic Coding Labsx

Chronus Art Centerxx

Clinic for Open Source Arts (COSA), University of Denverxx

Code Liberationxxx

Color <Coded>xx

Conference for Research into Choreographic InterfacesxxCreative Applications Networkx

Creative Capitalxxx

Crux XRxx

CultureHub

x

x

x

Currents New Media Festival

x

x

x

Cycling ‘74

x

CYNETART Festivalx

Dallas AURORAxx

Dames Making Gamesx

Data & Societyx

Derivative (TouchDesigner)x

Design Justice Networkx

Detroit Narrative Agencyxx

Different Games Collectivexx

Digital Museum of Digital Art (DiMoDa)x

Digital Research in Humanities and Artsx

Digital Storytelling Lab at Columbia University
DLECTRICITY

x

x

x

x

x
x

x

Dynamiclandx

E-FluxxElectric Africa: VR Festivalx

Electric South

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x

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Emergence Media
Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center(EMPAC)xx

Experiments with Google

x

x
x

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EYEO Festivalxx

Fab Lab Network

x

x

x

x

x

x
x

Fanguito eStudiox

fearless360ºx

FEMMEBITxx

Flux Factory

x

x

x

Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie
Mellon University

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x

x

Future of StoryTellingx

x

Game Devs of Color Expox

Games for ChangexGirls Who Code
GLI.TC/Hx

Glitch City LA

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x
x

x

Google’s Artists and Machine Intelligence
Gray Area Festival & Foundation for the Artsxx

Google Creative Labs
Google IO

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x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Hackster.ioxHarvestworks Digital Media Arts Centerxx

HeK: House of Electronic Arts Baselxx

HTC Vivex

Immerse: Creative discussion of emerging nonfiction
storytelling

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

xx

Guild of Future Architects

IndieCadexx

Google AR/VR

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x

x

Eyebeam Art and Technology Center

Facebook Connect Conference

ResidenciesxSponsorships andcommissions

x

Fellowships andfundingResource hubs,
workshops, and/or
artist support orgs

Electrofringe Festival

Exhibitions,
Festivals,
Conferences

Organizationxxx

Indigenous Matriarchs 4 Media Lab (IM4)Residencies

Sponsorships andcommissions

Fellowships andfundingResource hubs,
workshops, and/or
artist support orgs

Exhibitions,
Festivals,
Conferences

Organizationx

Initiative for Indigenous Futuresxx

Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology, Virginia Techxx

Institute for Electronic Arts, Alfred University School of
Art and Designxx

Institute of Network CulturesxxIntelligent Mischief

x
x
x

x

International Conference on Motion and ComputingxInternational Symposium of Wearable Computersxx

ISEA Internationalxx

Itch.iox

Journalism 360

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Kaleidoscope: Immersive Production Studio
KIKK Festival

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x

x

x

x

Leonardo/ISASTx

LIKELIKEx

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Art +Technology Labxx

Magic Leapx

Make+Think+Code, Pacific Northwest College of Art

x

Maker FairexxMana Contemporary

x

x

x

Media + Emerging Technology Lab, University of North
Carolina School of the Arts

x

x

x

Meta.Morf X: Trondheim International Biennale for Art
and TechnologyxMicroscope GalleryxMicrosoft Garagexx

Microsoft Research Artist in Residence Programx

MIT Center for Advanced Virtualityx

MIT Media Lab

x

x

x

x

MIT Open Doc Labx

Mobile & Environmental Media Lab (MEML), University ofSouthern California School of Cinematic Artsxxx

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Residencies

Sponsorships andcommissions

Fellowships andfundingResource hubs,
workshops, and/or
artist support orgs

Exhibitions,
Festivals,
Conferences

Organizationx

MOCO: Movement and Computing Communityxx

Monira Foundationx

x

MozFestx

x

Mozilla Foundationxx

MUD Foundation ArtLabx

Museum Computer Networkx

Museum of Other Realities

x

MUTEK

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National Theater’s Immersive Storytelling Studiox

NEW INCxxx

New Media Caucusx

New York Electronic Art Festivalx

Nokia Bell Labs: Experiments in Art and Technology(E.A.T.)

x

x

x
x
x

x

NYC Media Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering
NYC Resistorx

NYU Tandon MakerSpacex

NYU Tisch ITP/IMA Project Residencyxx

Oculus Launch Pad

xOpen Signal Portland Community Media Centerx

openFrameworks

x

p5.js

x

x
x

PaceX Galleryx

PHI Centre

x

x

x

Pioneer Works

x

x

x

Portland Community College Fab Lab

x

POV Sparkx

x

POWERPLNTx

x

Processing Foundationxx

Radical Networks conferencexx

Rap Research Lab
Recess Art

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x

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x

x
x

x

x
x

x

x

x

Research Centers, Arizona State University Herberger
Institute School of Arts, Media and Engineeringx

Research Labs, University of Southern California
Cinematic Artsx

Rhizome.orgxx

Rlab NYCx

Scatter/Depthkitx

School for Poetic Computation

x

x

x

Residencies

Sponsorships andcommissions

REFRESH: Art and Tech Collaborative

Fellowships andfundingResource hubs,
workshops, and/or
artist support orgs

Exhibitions,
Festivals,
Conferences

Organizationx

x

School of Machines, Making, and Make Believex

Signal Culturexx

Simultan Festivalx

Sonar+Dx

South by Southwest (SXSW) InteractivexSpecial Interest Group on Computer Graphics andInteractive Techniques (SIGGRAPH)xx

Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center

x

x

x

Stochastic Labsxx

Strange Foundation

x

x

x

x

Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM)x

Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Lab Programx

Tata Innovation Center, Cornell University

x

x

x

teamLab: Art Collectivex

The Current Museumxxx

The Cybernetics Library
The Leonardo Museum of Creativity and Innovationx

The Paseo Projectxx

The Recalibrated Institution at ArtCenter/South Florida
The Wrong Biennale

x
x

x

x

Times Square Artsx

TOPLAP: The Home of Live-Codingx

Transfer GalleryxTransmedialex

TRANSMIT³ residency project at The CUBE

x

x
x
x
x

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119Trash Hackers Collective

Residencies

Sponsorships andcommissions

x

Tribeca Film Festival and Virtual Arcadexx

Troika Ranchxx

TroikaTronix/Isadora
Trondheim Electronic Arts Centre

Fellowships andfundingResource hubs,
workshops, and/or
artist support orgs

Exhibitions,
Festivals,
Conferences

Organizationxx

Twitchxx

UCLA Department of Design Media Artsxx

UCLA REMAP: Center for Research in Engineering, Media,
and Performancexx

USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and Civic Media
Fellowshipx

V2_Lab for the Unstable Mediax

Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) Immersedx

Venice International Film Festival - VR Expanded
Programx

VR Worldx

x

Watershed Pervasive Media Studio
Wave Farmxx

x

Wexner Center for the Arts’ Film/Video Studio
Residencies

x

x

x

Withinx

World Building Media Lab, University of Southern
California School of Cinematic Arts

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XR for Change Summitxx

Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media

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x

Z.K.M. Center for Art and Media

x

Zero1

x

National Endowment for the Arts | arts.gov

x

x
x

x

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