Residency 2024
2024 Theme: Symbiotic Perceptions
The act of perceiving is not a solipsistic endeavor—it depends on the intricate and interdependent nature of human sensory and cognitive experiences. This year’s theme explores the limits and possibilities of perception, probing at how these constraints have informed, transformed, and reformed our perspectives on ourselves, each other, and the world around us. Through experimenting with “more-than-human” perceptions in the context of interspecies communication, human-nature and human-machine interaction, and extrasensory augmentation technologies, we challenge residency fellows to embrace the perceptual system of another—be it human, animal, or object; animate or inanimate; natural or synthetic. Final projects will center on how interacting with a variety of perceptual systems might expand our ways of being in and believing in perceptual coexistence.
Tentative Schedule
Over the course of 2 weeks, fellows will live and collaborate in a tight-knit community of students from across humanities, arts, and engineering disciplines. They will explore the contemporary art tech scene, and engage with leading artists and technologists in speaker events and meals. They will learn and hone a range of creative techniques and technologies in expert-led, hands-on workshops. They will be personally mentored by working art tech professionals to conceptualize and create their own art tech project, and collaborate to curate a public showcase of residency work.
In the first phase of the residency, fellows will be introduced to the field of art tech through artist talks, studio visits, and exhibition tours with invited guests. During this time, fellows will also engage in a variety of team exercises to strengthen their collaborative mindsets, and prepare them to work in cross-disciplinary teams.
In the second phase of the residency, fellows will engage in hands-on workshops to learn foundational art tech skills such as site-specific design and implementation, audiovisual performance, sustainable design, Bio-sensing, Bioacoustic and Interspecies Design. Fellows will apply these skills to design and implement prototypes, which will be reviewed by mentors.
In the third phase of the residency, residency fellows will work in small, cross-disciplinary teams on art tech projects transforming perceptions of their choice into something more-than-human, with mentorship and critique from guest artists. Residency fellows will then collaborate on creating a cohesive exhibition showcasing their work from the program.
Deliverables
During this residency, fellows will produce both individual and collaborative works, including:
- Individual art tech mini-projects
- Several art tech installation prototypes
- A final, public exhibition of work completed during residency
- Multimodal documentation of design & engineering processes
Fellows will emerge from the program with a deepened understanding of their own artistic philosophies, and the ways in which technology may augment or extend them. More than that, fellows will emerge with a broadened understanding of how art tech may be used to investigate and expand our understanding of our lives and the world around us.
Directors
Skye (Xinyi) Gao is a creative technologist, designer, and multi-disciplinary artist. She holds a B.Sc in Interactive Media Arts from NYU Shanghai, and is currently pursuing a Master of Design Studies degree with a concentration in medium/technology at Harvard Graduate of Design. Skye’s research and creative endeavors encompass a wide spectrum, including interactive technology, computational art, and speculative design. Her primary focus lies in investigating the intricate and dynamic relationship amongst human beings, non-human beings, and their surrounding environments. She delves into the realm of responsive environments, human-machine interaction, and recently bio-inspired design and arts to examine how technology transforms experiences and understanding from a more-than-human perspective. Furthermore, through her interactive media art practice, Skye seeks to visually and conceptually articulate profound contemporary concerns, such as the juxtaposition of life and death in the digital era, while critically reflecting on the (post)human condition and its implications.
Rainee (Yunyi) Wang (she/they) is a trans-media designer, creative director, and digital artist. She holds a B.Sc in Interactive Media Arts at New York University Shanghai and is currently a master student at Harvard Graduate School of Education studying learning design and technology. Her works pioneer immersive, interactive, and playful learning experiences through the human-media interactions between spatial dimensions (XR, installations, performative spaces) and sonic interfaces (soundscapes, computational music, real-time a/v performances). She aims to democratize art education, connecting diverse media, people, and cultures for societal impact.
Mentors (in alphabetical order): Aida Baradari, Peggy Yin
The program is directed by Peggy Yin ‘25.
Support provided by: metaLAB (at) Harvard, the SEAS Teaching and Learning Group, the Harvard Library Creative Technologies group based at Cabot Science Library, the Visualization Research and Teaching Laboratory (Harvard Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences), the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and the Radcliffe Public Art Competition, the REEF makerspace at SEAS, the Music Lab (Harvard Department of Music), the Computing in Engineering Education (CEE) group, and the Office for the Arts at Harvard.