Lee Tusman, 2021, The Aging Process, Generative Software, Screenshot

Lee Tusman

Artist-in-Residence
December 2021–January 2022

Lee Tusman is an artist and educator applying the radical ethos of collectives and D.I.Y. culture to the creation of, aesthetics, and open-source distribution methods of digital culture. He works in code, collage, sound and text. His artistic output includes installations, interactive media, video art, experimental games, sound art, websites, bots and micro-power radio stations. His work has been shown at museums, galleries, artist-run spaces and virtual environments. He studied at Brandeis University and received his MFA at UCLA in Design Media Arts. He is Assistant Professor of New Media and Computer Science at Purchase College. Lee is an organizer with Babycastles, a NYC-based collective fostering and amplifying diverse voices in videogame culture as well as a collaborator with artist-run community Flux Factory. He co-founded Processing Community Day NYC. He is a past organizer at Hidden City Philadelphia, Little Berlin and KCHUNG Radio. Recent residencies include Pioneer Works, Aarhus Public, Signal Culture. He is currently a fellow at NYU's Engelberg Center.

Artist Statement & Residency Projects

Lately I have been creating generative works by crafting software ecosystems and feeding in my own drawings, writing and voice. These produce ever-changing artworks, stories, games and simulations, and the output surprises and excites me. To create the work I stand on the shoulders of many who have come before me by sharing tools and code and art freely and I use and contribute to software tools and communities. Last year I started Artists and Hackers, a podcast focusing on art and technology and this community of people participating in this ecosystem.

For this residency I'm finishing up the end of season 1 of Artists and Hackers, working on episodes about artists working with bots. I find working on the podcast also motivates me to work on my own artwork. This month I'm creating a series of small game-like works that live in the web-browser, using a minimal 8bit videogame aesthetic to create ambient narratives accompanied by generative chip music in the interface of an interactive videogame.