Artists and Hackers

In our final episode of the season we reconnect with Michael Weinberg, Director of the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy, for the recent legal cases revolving around generative AI models and the continuing impact of the monkey selfie legal case. Episode page with notes and transcript This season of the podcast was produced with the Engelberg Center for Innovation Law and Policy at NYU....

In today’s episode, we’re looking at issues that come up in Indigenous communities, and one initiative to respond to the limitations of the law and to reassert cultural authority in one’s own heritage, culture and data. Episode notes In this season of the podcast we’re working with the Engelberg Center for Innovation Policy at NYU Law. In this episode, Dr. Jane Anderson talks about how she found “...

In this episode we speak to Brewster Kahle, the Founder and Chief Librarian of the Internet Archive on the occasion of Public Domain Day. We also speak to Amanda Levendowski, Founding Director of the Intellectual Property and Information Policy Clinic on the concept of fair use, its history and application for artists. Full episode notes, transcription, links and bios can be found on the episode n...

Kat Walsh from Creative Commons joins us to talk about the history of Creative Commons as a 'hack on copyright.' Marc Weidenbaum speaks on the history of the Disquiet Junto, a long-running online distributed community creating new music in response to a weekly online composition challenge. Episode notes, credits and transcript In this season of the podcast we’re working in collaboration with the E...

This episode kicks off our season working with the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy. We talk about copyright and its limits; licenses and ethical open source; and the infamous monkey selfie legal case. This episode features conversations with Michael Weinberg, the Executive Director of the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy at NYU School of Law. We also speak with compute...

This episode features our special live podcast recording event we held February 2023 in New York City. Four of the artists from this season engage in a roundtable discussion on their art practice, teaching, pedagogy and more. Episode notes, transcript and links This season we’ve partnered with the New Media Caucus, an international non-profit formed to promote the development and understanding of...

A Father's Lullaby is the name of an expansive ongoing research and storytelling project established by the new media artist Rashin Fahandej. Working with the formerly incarcerated, as well as her undergraduate students, the project highlights the role of fathers in raising children, and creates a space for paradigm shifting and social equity through a process of community co-creation. Program not...

Speculative Design is an area of artistic and creative exploration and future-casting. Practitioners dream future possibilities to address societal challenges through design and create experimental projects in new territories. New media artist Sue Huang creates artworks addressing collective experience. Her projects probe ecological intimacies and explore the fluid borders between humans and A.I....

Shawné Michaelain Holloway is a new media artist with a "noisy, experimental practice." Her performances and practice make use of constraints, pain and pleasure, speaking to issues of power, both in private, intimate space as well as in the public sphere. Full episode notes, transcript and credits Her projects often feature animal training, algorithmic scores or controls, and a reference to or use...

KT Duffy likes to say they conjure entities into existence via code-based processes and digital fabrication. They consider themselves a 'duct tape programmer' and have a background in DIY community, which is evident in their many collaborations and their fondness for projects using 1990s green slime. Episode notes, transcript and credits This season of the podcast is produced with the New Media Ca...

Chelsea Thompto is a transdisciplinary artist and educator working at the intersections of art, trans studies, and technology. We talk about the Transcode Manifesto, digital preservation, and how software is not like sculpture. Episode notes, transcript and credits This season of the podcast is produced with the New Media Caucus for New Rules: Conversations with New Media Artists. You can find out...

We’ve teamed up with the New Media Caucus, an international non-profit association that supports the development and understanding of new media art. They work with artists, designers, practitioners, historians, theorists, educators, students, and scholars - so a perfect partnership with our show. New Rules: Conversations with New Media Artists Friday, February 17, 2023  7:30pm - 9pm  FREE  RSVP Th...

Chris Klimas is the original creator of Twine, a popular open source expanded toolset for creating branching narratives and interactive experimental stories and game. He talks about its creation, community and where it's going next. episodes notes Art Tools are our series of mini episodes with the creators of innovative and experimental software and hardware tools for creative expression. Twine is...

In this Art Tools episode we interview Thea Flowers of Winterbloom, an open source music hardware company producing hackable music modules and kits for synthesizers. And we try out the Big Honking Button. Episode notes Art Tools are our series of mini episodes with the creators of innovative and experimental software and hardware tools for creative expression. Our guest today is Thea Flowers of Wi...

The final in a trio of episodes we’re doing on artists working with bots and conversational agents. We speak to Emily Martinez of QueerAI on their work in bots and their collaborative AI chatbot experiment trained on erotic literature, feminist and queer theory, and an ethics of embodiment. We also talk with Jessica Garson, a Senior Developer Advocate at Twitter. Episode notes Note: This episode a...

Art Tools is our new segment on experimental digital tools of creation. We speak with Olivia Jack on her browser-based visual live coding synthesizer called hydra. Episode notes Today we’re kicking off a new segment called Art Tools, a series of mini episodes with the creators of innovative and experimental software for making art, music and other creative expression. In our very first episode Cri...

Ryan Kuo is an artist and writer creating projects that are diagrammatic and evoke a person or people arguing. In this episode I speak with Ryan and his collaborator Tommy Martinez about Faith, an 'easily triggered' AI voice assistant. Episode notes

Stephanie Dinkins is a transmedia artist creating platforms for dialog about race, gender, aging, and our future histories. In this episode we speak about her conversations with the advanced AI Bina48 and her work building conversational agents based on oral history.   Show notes

Since 2007 artist Wok The Rock has run Yes No Wave, a Javanese net audio record label that makes music available for free legal download. Yes No Wave albums are released under a creative commons license allowing free non-commercial use and the freedom to remix the music. Episode page

The Iyapo Repository is a digital resource library built to preserve the digital histories and legacy of people of African descent. Our guest is Ayodamola Tanimowo Okunseinde (Ayo), co-creator along with Salome Asega. Episode page

In this episode we talk about the phenomenon of the offline internet in Cuba known as El Paquete Semanal or The Weekly Package. Our guests are Cuban artist Nestor Siré and American artist Julia Weist who research, intervene and make art about El Paquete. Episode notes

In this episode we're digging deep into the past of a radical history of personal computers, community networks and the rise of people's technology. Our guest is engineer Lee Felsenstein, who relates a story of activism and engineering. Episode information

p5.js is the name of a creative coding library and platform that aims to make coding inclusive and accessible for a wide range of people. We speak to the team that supports the language on how they make space for contributors within its nurturing, intentional community.

In 2021 what it means to be an artist working with technology is wide open, and we're here to explore it in detail, especially looking at issues of creativity and equity. In today's episode we're talking about art and activism, toolbuilding and technology.

In this episode, we meet artists and hackers that aren't satisfied with the limitations of programming languages. Our guests are Sarah Groff Hennigh-Palermo, Ramsey Nasser, Daniel Temkin, and Anuoluwapo Karounwi.