Ali Santana is a director and multi-disciplinary artist working with video, sound, collage, installation, and performance. Santana, a native Brooklynite is influenced by community, natural patterns, music and, ancient cultures. His work often explores topics related to Black American identity, observations of nature, and sensory perception. Ali's audio-visual works combine video art, performance and experimental cinema with booming beats, sound design and original recordings which are chopped, looped, and arranged in real-time to create an abstract method of storytelling that he dubs Boom Bap Cinema.Ali is an award winning educator having received the 2019 award for 'Innovation in Teaching Artistry' from the Association of Teaching Artists for his work with The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Teens Program. He enjoys sharing his artistic practice with students of all ages, teaching video art, collage, and beatmaking. He prioritizes accessibility, creative problem-solving and resourcefulness, emphasizing that anyone can use art as a tool for change.Visit his website: http://www.alisantana.com/Follow him @boombaye

State Of The Art

The Art of Ali Santana

Brett Volker and Steve Milton are the founders of Listen, a cultural innovation agency rooted in sound and music, but seasoned at the strategic use of cultural programs to make an impact. They work with brands and innovative artists to craft boundary-pushing creative projects. Learn more about them at www.wearelisten.comFollow them @wearelisten

The Art of Brett Volker and Steve Milton

Ziv Schneider is an artist and designer working with new and emerging technologies, often in the context of non-fiction storytelling. She is an alumna, former research fellow, and sometimes lecturer at NYU ITP.Ziv is currently a Creative Technologist at The Brown Institute for Media Innovation.Her recent project Sylvia is a storytelling experiment that disrupted the virtual influencer landscape for a short period of time. Unlike her “peers” who are designed to appear young forever, Sylvia was designed to age rapidly. She posted to Instagram from July to November 2020, and during these five months, her image aged five decades, from 30 to 80 years old.Check out @myfriendsylviaLearn more about Ziv's work https://zivschneider.com/Follow her on IG @zivschneider

The Art of Ziv Schneider

Vivian Greven’s painting is based on an adept play with various notions of bodies, being and representation, with concepts of classical antiquity merging with pop art and digital image worlds. Vivian Greven’s painting is characteristic of our present times, which are shaped by the internet and social media and thus dissolve the hierarchies between original, reproduction and simulation. The art historical and contemporary historical nestling corresponds with Greven’s painterly treatment of surfaces. Parts of her painting rise as actual reliefs that encounter sprayed or painted fictions of bodies and space. The aesthetic of her pictures vacillates between the vocabulary of physical painting and the ethereal illusion of LCD windows.Learn more about her work http://www.viviangreven.de/

The Art of Vivian Greven

Yuge studied drawing under Chinese contemporary painter Kaixi Cui 崔开玺 and eventually moved into Video Art after earning her Master of Fine Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Yuge’s work addresses connections, isolation and longing across urban and natural environments. She creates immersive experiences through digital collaging and sculptural reliefs. Yuge also directs and curates the 3300-square foot 150 Media Stream, a unique public digital art installation in Chicago. In addition to her MFA, she holds a masters degree in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University.Yuge has exhibited her work nationally and internationally including the Grand Rapids Art Museum; Elmhurst Art Museum; Spartanburg Art Museum; Ars Electronica Center at Linz, Austria; Chicago Cultural Center; SIGGRAPH Asia in Kobe, Japan; Microscope Gallery in NY among many others. Yuge’s work has been featured in various publications such as the New York Magazine, HYPEBEAST, and The Atlantic Monthly. Yuge received the Santo Foundation Individual Artist Award in 2017 and Honorary Mention in the 2020 Prix Ars Electronica. She is currently an artist at NEW INC, the world's first museum-led incubator for art, technology and design founded by New Museum. Follow her work @yugezhouLearn more about her work http://yugezhou.com/

The Art of Yuge Zhou

Greg is the co-founder and CEO of Backyard Brains, an Ann Arbor-based company started as a neuroscience graduate student at the University of Michigan. Greg is a published neuroscientist and engineer and develops tools, curriculum and experiments that allow the general public participate in neural discovery.  He is an award-winning investigator at the National Institute of Health, a Senior Fellow at TED and the recipient of the White House Champion of Change award from Barack Obama for his commitment to citizen science.Learn more about Backyard Brains here: https://backyardbrains.com/about/Follow @backyardbrains

The Art of Greg Gage

In this episode, Peruvian artist Efraín Rozas talks with us about his career, projects, how he uses software programming to produce sound installations and his experience dancing with robots.-About Efraín Rozas-Peruvian performer/composer and robotics/software developer. His work was described as “A heady confluence of technology, culture and cognition” by The New Yorker, and “A deep psychonautic dive” by Wire Magazine. He will be resident at The Kitchen on 2021. He is recipient of the NY State Council on the Arts/ Wavefarm Media Arts Assistance Fund, Jerome Foundation/Harvestworks New Works Commission, and Knockdown Center (NYC) residency for time based art.He has performed at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum, Levitation Festival, Museum of Contemporary art of Lima and Central Park Summerstage Fania Records 50th anniversary. His album Roza Cruz was named one of the best Latin American albums of the decade by Zona Sucia and Estereofonía. Featured at CNN, BBC, Washington Post, Daily News, and NPR.He holds a PhD (NYU) on new integrations of body, mind and technology through ritual and rhythm. He published the book “Fusión: a soundtrack for Peru”, and released albums via Names You Can Trust (NYC), Futura Resistenza (Amsterdam) and Buh Records (Lima).He produces the radio show “La Vuelta al día en 80 mundos” nominated to best “World Sounds” by Mixcloud.com. He was a professor at NYU music department and directs Tangible: Sound Research Lab (Lima). Based in Lima and NYC. Learn more about Efraín at http://efrainrozas.com/Follow Efraín @efrainrozasListen to his project ¨I enjoy the world¨ 

The Art of Efraín Rozas

In this episode, multidisciplinary artist, Saks Afridi discusses his collaborative projects with artisans and technologists across the globe to create sociopolitical and thought provoking works of art. These collaborations range from the creation of intricately designed traditionally woven rugs featuring UFOs to explorations with archaeological leanings, and something Saks calls "Sci-fi Sufism".-About Saks Afridi-Saks Afridi is a multi-disciplinary artist living in New York City. Saks’s art practice is two-fold: Collaborative and Personal. His personal work investigates the predicaments and perplexities of the life of an ‘Insider Outsider’. This is the practice of achieving a sense of belonging while being out of place, finding happiness in a state of temporary permanence, and re-contextualizing existing historical and cultural narratives with the contemporary.His latest project ‘SpaceMosque’, exists in a new genre he terms as ‘Sci-fi Sufism’. Here he explores the idea of ‘Spiritual Machines’ that fuse mysticism and technology, bringing humanity closer to understanding itself. He draws inspiration from Afrofuturism, South Asian folklore, Sufi Poetry, Islamic mythology, architecture and calligraphy. Saks likes to let the concept lead the medium he works in, often working with architects, artisans, modelers and fabricators to bring the work to life. He comes to art with a background in advertising, as a Creative Director on brands such as Mercedes-Benz, MTV and White Castle. He studied advertising at the Academy of Art and later sculpture at the Art Students League of New York. He speaks English, Urdu, Pashto and conversational Arabic.He is the proud recipient of 2 Gold Cannes Lion Awards, 3 D&AD Pencils, 2 OneShow pencils and a United Nations Award for Peace & Understanding. His work has also been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, CNN and The Colbert Report.Learn more about Saks at http://www.saksafridi.com/Follow Saks @saks__

The Art of Saks Afridi

In this episode, we speak with video artist Kameron Neal who uses his body and personal narratives to explore intimacy and to challenge socio-political ideologies. -About Kameron Neal-Kameron Neal is a queer Black video artist, designer, and performance-maker based in NYC. Forbes described Kameron’s solo exhibition at Detroit Art Week 2019 as “an absurd escape that simultaneously provokes and entertains.” Kameron is currently in residence at CultureHub, The Public Theater’s Devised Theater Working Group, and the Bemis Center. As a Resident Artist at Ars Nova, he co-created MukhAgni, an irreverent multimedia performance memoir, with Shayok Misha Chowdhury; the piece was curated in Under the Radar 2020. His stop-motion self-portrait Liquid Love was awarded Best of Show at Digital Graffiti Festival 2017 where he returned in 2018 as an artist in residence. Kameron’s video art has been featured in music videos for Billy Porter and Rufus Wainwright. His work has also been seen in National Geographic, HYPEBEAST, Studio Magazine, and at BAM, New York Theatre Workshop, SohoRep, La Mama, Bushwick Starr, New Orleans Film Festival, Blue Balls Festival, the Type Director’s Club, Vox Populi, and Williams College Museum of Art.Learn more at kameronneal.comFollow Kameron @kamer_n

The Art of Kameron Neal

In this episode, SOTA host Gabriel Barcia-Colombo speaks with David Goodman, former VP of  Digital Development & Marketing at Sothebys about the role of media in the arts, his work at Sotheby's, his trajectory into the art world, and how art infiltrates many corners of everyday life.-About David Goodman-Experienced C-Suite executive who has spent 30+ years running divisions of global multi-media organizations, spearheading/overseeing growth, revenue, marketing, content creation, production, product/technology innovation/services, distribution and oversight of some of the worlds most recognizable brands and properties. Most recently he served as Executive Vice President, Marketing and Digital Development at Sotheby's where he and his team (advertising, technology, content creation, audience development, exhibition design/creative services, sponsorship, membership) were responsible for numerous initiatives which resulted in record growth in audience (physical/digital), revenue, e-commerce sales, on-line audience, content creation (web, mobile, social, video, print, AR/VR) while incorporating best-in-class technology into client-facing products and processes.

Digital Expansion in Art with David Goodman, former Executive Vice President of Digital Development & Marketing at Sothebys

Today we speak with Mona Kasra, new media artist, interdisciplinary researcher and Assistant Professor of Digital Media Design at the University of Virginia. Mona uses her tech to explore, document, and augment nature, culture, theater and more. Together, Mona and Gabe discuss her trajectory into the arts initially through video experimentation, the significance and history of selfie-rallies, and her collaborative interactive and immersive VR projects which merge nature and music, and preserve and present traditional aboriginal dances.Projects DiscussedIt's Misogyny That's Humiliating Gif Animation (2013) Dwelling in the Enfolding (2020) created in collaboration with Matthew Burtner (composer)Embodied Cultural Practices & Immersive Media (2019-Present) created in collaboration with Luke Dahl (UVA Music Dept) and the indigenous community of Peppimenarti-About Mona Kasra-Mona Kasra is a new media artist, interdisciplinary researcher, and Assistant Professor of Digital Media Design at the University of Virginia (UVA).Her research trajectory involves exploring the confluence of media technologies, art, and culture, reflecting on the impact of emerging media on personal, political, and creative expression, and experimenting with affordances of such media for artistic practices of performance and installation. Currently, she is researching representational, affective, and creative possibilities of immersive media, and designing experimental and performative experiences in Virtual Reality (VR/360). One of her latest projects is in collaboration with music prof Luke Dahl where we will be exploring how motion capture,  spatial audio, and interactive XR environments can represent and transmit embodied cultural practices. Mona was born in Tehran, Iran. I hold a Ph.D. in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication from the University of Texas-Dallas, an M.F.A. in Video/Digital Art from California State University Northridge, and a B.A. in Graphic Design and Visual Communication from the Art University of Tehran.Learn more about Mona at https://www.monakasra.com/Follow Mona @monaism

The Art of Mona Kasra, New Media Artist

Morehshin Allahyari is an Iranian media artist, activist, educator, and curator uses technology as a philosophical toolset to explore the social, political, and cultural. Her projects are often research heavy and employ new media as a method of documentation and as acts of resistance. In this episode we discuss Allahyari's use of 3D printing to recreate and preserve cultural artifacts destroyed by ISIS, and her exploration and reframing of Middle-Eastern myths and folklore to include female/queer figures.Projects DiscussedMaterial Speculation: ISISShe Who Sees the Unknown-About Morehshin Allahyari-Morehshin Allahyari is an artist, activist, writer, and educator. She was born and raised in Iran and moved to the United States in 2007. Her work deals with the political, social, and cultural contradictions we face every day. She thinks about technology as a philosophical toolset to reflect on objects and as a poetic means to document our personal and collective lives and struggles in the 21st century. Morehshin is the co-author of The 3D Additivist Cookbook in collaboration with writer/artist Daniel Rourke. Morehshin has been part of numerous exhibitions, festivals, and workshops around the world including Venice Biennale di Archittectura, New Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Pompidou Center, Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal, Tate Modern, Queens Museum, Pori Museum, Powerhouse Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, and Museum für Angewandte Kunst. She has been an artist in residence at BANFF Centre (2013), Carnegie Mellon University’s STUDIO for Creative Inquiry (2015), Autodesk Pier9 Workshop in San Francisco (2015), the Vilém Flusser Residency Program for Artistic Research in association with Transmediale, Berlin (2016), Eyebeam’s one year Research Residency (2016-2017) in NYC, Pioneer Works (2018), and Harvest Works (2018). Her work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, Huffington Post, Wired, National Public Radio, Parkett Art Magazine, Frieze, Rhizome, Hyperallergic, and Al Jazeera, among others.She is the recipient of The Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant (2019), The Sundance Institute New Frontier International Fellowship, and the leading global thinkers of 2016 award by Foreign Policy magazine. Her 3D Additivist Manifesto video is in the collection of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and recently she has been awarded major commissions by The Shed, Rhizome, New Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Liverpool Biennale, and FACT.Learn more at http://www.morehshin.com/Follow her Morehshin @morehshin 

The Art of Resistance & Documentation: Morehshin Allahyari, New Media Artist

Multidisciplinary artist, Emilio Chapela uses a diverse range of mediums and media to delve into concepts around time. Together, Emilio and SOTA host Gabe BC, discuss cosmic micro waves, the Big Bang and its relation to white noise, and the construct of time.Projects DiscussedUsumacinta Noise PaintingsAsk GoogleThe Earth is dying… (from the "Ask Google" series)-About Emilio Chapela-Emilio Chapela is a visual artist with a background on mathematics, photography and the moving image. His work explores intricate connections between science, technology and ecology through the art practice. He enquires on notions of time and space that are manifested through various forces and agencies such as astronomical phenomena, light, gravity, rocks, plants, volcanoes and rivers.Challenging our fixed notions of time and space, Emiio aims to develop a practice that visualizes our bonds and connections with humans and nonhumans to reconcile with the world’s temporalities and movements.Emilio is interested in the poetic possibilities of the visual arts as a means to establish a connection with the world. Emilio enjoys writing, walking, hiking and stargazing, which are tools that he deploys in his art practice.Learn more by visiting http://www.emiliochapela.com/Follow Emilio @echapela

The Art of Time: Emilio Chapela, Artist

Web artist Molly Soda's work delves into our internet identities, our online legacy and archiving the internet.In this episode, Molly shares her thoughts on growing up on the internet, the evolution of her work, how and why she embraces past online iterations, and why she thinks the internet has become boring. Projects DiscussedInbox FullWrong BoxHouse Tour-About Molly Soda-Amalia Soto, known as Molly Soda, is a Brooklyn-based artist and internet celebrity. Soda works across a variety of digital platforms, producing videos, GIFs, zines, and web-based performance art, which are presented both online and in gallery installations in a variety of forms. Molly Soda's work explores the technological mediation of self-concept, contemporary feminism, cyberfeminism, mass media and popular social media culture. Molly Soda is the co-editor with Arvida Byström of the 2017 book, Pics or It Didn't Happen: Images Banned From Instagram.Learn more at https://mollysoda.exposed/Follow Molly @bloatedandalone4evr1993

The Art of Molly Soda

AIYA is a digital human that analyzes the world’s problems and philosophically weighs in with knowledge from our greatest thinkers and problem-solvers. Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, creators Lady PheOnix and Jacqueline Assar designed AIYA to emote and age as she consumes media content in real-time.In this episode, we discuss how Project AIYA explores heightened humanity in AI, the future of grieving, and the role digital humans may play in our future. -About Lady PheOnix-LADY PHEONIX is a curator of contemporary art and a passionate producer of creative works at the intersection of visual art and technology. She elevates and amplifies the work of artists through curated group shows organized in her virtual gallery, @yesuniverse.art on Instagram. She has organized exhibitions for the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, 836M in San Francisco, Library Street Collective in Detroit and HuffPost Arts. As an autodidact, she began curating in 2015 as a form of creative self-care. #theyesuniverse has reached a global audience of millions, making it a virtual institution. Lady PheOnix is regarded as one of the most influential virtual gallerists and curators, having built an engaged community of dynamic artists and collectors by leveraging virtual space’s ability to generate and facilitate new forms of collaboration. She currently lives and works in the Bay Area.Follow Lady PheOnix @yesuniverse.art-About Jacqueline Assar-JACQUELINE ASSAR is an XR creator with an academic background in cognitive science. Her work explores the relationship between humanity and emerging technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. She currently works at Magic Leap. Prior to Magic Leap, she founded Coresights, a virtual reality healthcare platform with real-time biometrics backed by MIT Play Labs. She was selected as a 2016 Oculus Launchpad Fellow, a Microsoft SH//FT Spotlight recipient and her work has been shown at the MIT Tech Conference, Institute of Contemporary Art, TEDxYouth and Games for Change. Her most recent project AIYA explores the creation of digital humans with traditionally non-digital traits such as empathy, grief, and aging.Follow Jacqueline @wonderxmotion

The Art of AIYA: Lady PheOnix, Artist & Curator, and Jacqueline Assar, XR Creator & Cognitive Scientist

Each week, host Gabriel Barcia-Colombo speaks with a new artist, curator, technologist, AI, collector, innovator, about the ever-changing relationship between art and tech.

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State Of The Art

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