[-empyre-] Final Week of May? What is Dystopia, Really?

[Byron Rich]

For the last week of May, I thought we could change it up and discuss curatorial practice as it relates to the current moment. KT, Alejandro and Ali are going to talk about heir current collaborative works, virtual exhibitions and open API tools, among other things.

KT is an artist that I first met while working with New Media Caucus probably three years ago. KT’s talent as a designer and artist is inspirational, but their enthusiasm, ambition especially in regard to laying bare the marginalizing forces behind code and actively trying to do something about it, is transformative for many, including me. KT will be joined by Alejandro Acierto and Ali Seradge, two equally talented folks who I am delighted to get the chance to know. 

I’m going to let KT take the lead and dive into the discussion and I’ll chime back in with some questions in a bit. 

Alejandro T. Acierto (US) is an artist/musician/scholar whose work is largely informed by the breath, the voice, and the processes that enable them. He has exhibited projects at the 2019 Havana Biennial in Matanzas, Cuba, Issue Project Room, MCA Chicago, and Art Institute of Chicago with upcoming projects at the Ann Arbor Film Festival and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Acierto has held residencies at Skowhegan, VCCA, and the Banff Centre. A 3Arts Awardee, he holds degrees from DePaul University, Manhattan School of Music, and an MFA from University Illinois at Chicago. He is currently Mellon Assistant Professor of Digital Art and New Media at Vanderbilt University.

Ali Seradge (US) is an Iranian-American from Oklahoma City. He currently lives and works in Chicago where he is the Co-Director of Langer Over Dickie Gallery and a member of the new media collective PIXELFACE. Seradge utilizes the framework of “old world” myths and examines them with a contemporary critical eye. He incorporates ideas of Persian ornament, North American flesh, and borderless culture in his work. As a 2nd generation American, he acts as an outsider between worlds. Not quite Iranian, and perceived as not quite American, Seradge finds himself in the limbo many children of immigrants inhabit. While many choose one side over the other, and some embrace both, Ali stares into the limbo. In that swirling void of culture, he believes lies the future of the still nascent American identity. 

KT Duffy (US) is a new media artist and educator from Chicago’s southwest side. They received their MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2014 and are currently an Assistant Professor of Art and Technology at Northeastern Illinois University and co-director of Langer Over Dickie Gallery in Chicago. Working in the space between labor and automation, Duffy conjures entities into existence via code-based processes and digital fabrication. Duffy’s social practice strives to demystify coding and technology for creatives, centering those underrepresented in STEAM fields. They have recently presented work at Ortega Y Gasset Projects, the South Bend Museum of Art, Terrault Gallery, Mono8 Gallery, and the Donnelley Foundation, with forthcoming shows at Ground Floor Platform, The Neon Heater, and the Elmhurst Museum of Art. Duffy also creates work as the new media collective, PIXELFACE, whose work has recently been shown at Comfort Station, and in the 2019 Terrain Biennial. They have been awarded recent residencies at The Vermont Studio Center, Latitude Chicago, ChaNorth, and Acre.

-- 
Byron Rich 
Assistant Professor of Art
Director of Art, Science & Innovation
Global Citizen Scholar Faculty Director
Affiliated Faculty - Integrative Informatics 

Allegheny College
Doane Hall of Art, A204
Meadville, PA
(o) 814.332.3381
www.byronrich.com

Allegheny Lab for Innovation & Creativity
www.sites.allegheny.edu/alic/

Co-chair of Exhibitions & Events - New Media Caucus
www.newmediacaucus.org

Reference letters require three weeks of lead time. 


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