I am Assistant Professor of Computational Media and Arts in the Media and Culture Studies department. I studied Mathematics at the Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al, Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and hold a PhD in Cultural Analysis from the 木瓜福利影视 of Amsterdam. My work fosters original means of studying objects and phenomena by making transdisciplinary connections between different modes of inquiry stemming from these distinct cultural and scientific traditions.
My current research addresses computation by questioning what it is, and how, when, and where it operates. While some current research initiatives in the Humanities focus on developing tools and methods that instrumentalise software, these endeavours tend to overlook software鈥檚 intrinsic aspect: computation. In contrast, my work frames software not merely as a means to an end but as a locus where computation happens. Some of the empirical studies I devised intervene in computational processes while and where they are unfolding, staging direct encounters with software鈥檚 innate computational operations and their genealogies. I am particularly interested in computational acts, the way computing machines and software are made to perform and execute, which call for a different conceptual understanding of 鈥渁ct鈥� than our customary human-bounded understanding of action (such as speech acts, for instance).
Alongside (and influential) to my scholarly work, I am a practicing media artist (). Criss-crossing between academic scholarship and experimental artistic practice is central to how I approach conducting creative and original research. Through the production of artworks which have been commissioned and support by art institutions across Europe and North America, my engagement with computation spans cultural production and active participation in various cultural networks.
Some topics I am currently interested in include:
- Software/Computation Theory
Approaching software not merely as a tool/method but as a locus where computation acts require critical theories to be devised. In and in I formulate a critique of computer 鈥渓anguages鈥� that offer a conceptual framing of software 鈥渆xecution鈥� and 鈥渄ebugging鈥� as key, yet understudied, performative apparatuses that are central to the construction and deconstruction of computation. I also co-authored chapters tackling the multifaceted notion of execution in and the productiveness of computational errors in .
- Computational/Software Diagnostics/Archaeology
I devise various open-source interventions where computational techniques are exploited to directly intercede with the computational phenomena under study. I have co-authored various articles on these interventions: addressing contemporary processes of 鈥渃apture/captivation鈥� in , processes of versioning in and processes of archiving electronic records in .
- Media Arts
As stated above, I am a practicing media artist (). I believe not only in viewing artworks as mere case studies, but more so as experimental opportunities to delve deeply into how theoretical, practical, aesthetic, and cultural artefacts and knowledges are intricately produced and conjugated together. I have written about some of my projects in art journals and books, including, , Circuits, Essays (FOCUS), the co-authored , and the assembled experimental artbook .
- Creativity after automation
I am currently collaborating with Anna Poletti on the project that explores the current anxieties about generative artificial intelligence and authenticity by creating artificial clones of our voices. Part life writing, part performative in nature, the outcome of this inceptive research is linked to the AI in Cultural Inquiry and Art SIG of the Human-centered Artificial Intelligence focus area.
If some of the above topics resonate with your (RMA, PhD) research, interests, or curiosity, please feel free to contact me.
Prior to joining Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 I was a Senior Lecturer in New Media and Digital Cultures at the 木瓜福利影视 of Amsterdam. During my doctoral studies I was a PhD fellow of the funded by the . I held various research positions in the past, including researcher for the ERC-funded , research assistant at the , research associate at , and researcher at the .
Links