Shaping Experimental Arts @ Harvestworks NY 1982-2025
Carol Parkinson, Executive Director of Harvestworks, NY, for 37 years since 1987, has focused on the development of experimental artworks that explore sound, data, and other emerging technologies. Parkinson’s professional services include panel participation at the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Parkinson is the Executive Producer of the New York Electronic Art Festival, a series of workshops, concert performances, and exhibitions centered on art and technology. Parkinson is a founding member of TELLUS, the Audio Cassette Magazine, a cassette–based magazine of experimental music and sound art published between 1982 and 1996.
In her talk, Shaping the Experimental Media Arts in New York City, former Executive Director and current Board Member Carol Parkinson will discuss works from artists in the collection, including Blue Morph by Victoria Vesna in the New York Electronic Art Festival (2011), Alan Rath in The Interactive Show (1992), and Christian Marclay in SoundWave NYC (1987), as well as a few current exhibitions.
Following the talk,
Carol will be joined by special guests: PAUL GELUSO and IVANA DAMA
Gustavo Alfonso Rincon, Ph.D., is an architect, artist, curator, and media arts & design-engineering research scholar. He is an advocate for education and research as a human right. His academic and creative work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, while his professional practice has served clients across the globe.
---
Curating Immersive Worlds: AI Visions, Spatial Narrative, and Speculative Media Architectures
A rethinking of the New Media Architectures (NMA) conceptual framework emerges as media arts research and technology continue to evolve through a series of curatorial investigations situated at the intersection of art, design, education, and immersive virtual environments (IVE) research. This presentation explores a journey through the language of experimental media design practices and speculative spatial systems that examine the future of artistic production, technological and sensory culture, and interdisciplinary research.
The presentation frames an Art, Architecture, and Media Arts & Sciences research practice grounded in immersive design-engineered environments, computational worldmaking practices, and augmented media curatorial experiments. A range of creative research collaborations will be discussed, from investigations developed through the AlloSphere Research Facility to exhibition and community engagement initiatives presented through ACM SIGGRAPH conferences. The presentation will also reflect on a continuing series of online dialogues initiated at the beginning of the pandemic that explored AI, architecture, emerging media cultures, and science, organized in collaboration with Digital Futures.
Finally, the presentation revisits a series of ongoing curatorial projects as philosophical and experimental instruments for institutional critique, cultural reflection, and public engagement, offering a snapshot of the complex technological and social conditions shaping our world today.
We are excited to share our newest publications in person at the Jersey Art Book Fair on May 2-3, 2026 at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ. We are excited to share new Hox Zodiac prints, postcards, and journals designed by Maryam Razi who hosted the most recent Hox Zodiac online dinner honoring the Lunar New Year of the Fire Horse, with the guest artist CC Hart. We will also feature the limited edition [Alien] Star Dust Artist Book and postcards designed by Ivy Lovett.
On Sunday, May 3 from 4:30-6pm, Victoria and Maryam will lead a participatory performance, "HOX Year of the Fire Horse: A Tasting Ritual" at the Framing Gallery at Mana Contemporary at the JAB Fair. Presented as a live, durational tasting ritual, the experience unfolds in cycles, allowing visitors to enter and exit freely. Centered on the Fire Horse—an emblem of intensity, transformation, movement, and passion—participants engage through taste, smell, sound, and collective ritual. Each tasting becomes a portal, linking the body to planetary cycles, mythology, and contemporary life.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the Horse is associated with the Heart—governing blood and consciousness (Shen).
This is not a demo. It is a shared activation.
If you are in NJ / NY area, drop into our booth and join us for the performance!
Presented by the UCLA Art|Sci Center in collaboration with the Advanced Light Microscopy & Spectroscopy (ALMS) Lab at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and the Smart Image Content Research Center at Chung-Ang University, South Korea.
LightFest 3.0 brings together artists, scientists, medical researchers, and cultural practitioners to explore light across scales—from AI microscopy and spectroscopy to media arts, sustainability, and contemplative cultural practices. Organized in conjunction with UNESCO International Day of Light, the two-day symposium examines how imaging technologies are transforming medicine, scientific research, and creative expression.
The 2026 UNESCO theme of Light for a Sustainable Future, frames the symposium’s focus on the relationship between light, health, environmental awareness, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Across scientific imaging, AI research, medicine, and media arts, the program asks how technologies of light can contribute to more sustainable and interconnected futures.
Held each May in honor of the first successful laser demonstration on May 16, 1960, in Malibu, California, the program also highlights emerging collaborations between UCLA CNSI, Leica Microsystems, the UCLA Art|Sci Center, and Chung-Ang University’s Smart Image Content Research Center, Yangchenma Arts, and the Gaden Shartse Monastic University, connecting AI research, scientific imaging, and media arts through interdisciplinary exchange.
Dr. Paul Thomas, Honorary Professor at UNSW Art and Design and founder of the Studio for Transdisciplinary Art Research as well as the founder and series-chair of the Transdisciplinary Imaging Conference series 2010-2022. In 2000 he instigated and was the founding Director of the Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth 2002, 2004 and 2007. As an artist he is a pioneer of transdisciplinary art practice. His practice led research takes not only inspiration from nanoscience and quantum theory, but actually operates there.
Throughout the 20th century, radical experimental artists have challenged the fundamental questions brought to the surface by quantum mechanics, highlighting the invisible forces at play. Here, the observer is integral to quantum physics, becoming part of what is observed, shaping the visualisations of the elusive quantum phenomena. Drawing examples of two artists, Thomas Wilfred, and Takis from the David Bermant Foundation, and artwork from Dr. Paul Thomas' own practice, he will discuss the concepts of duration from a quantum perspective in connection to related visualising phenomena. The artworks create visual sensations and expressions of the immense complexity of visualising the invisible, ineffable, and intangible.
Following the talk, we will be joined by special guests: Kurt Hentschläger, Andrea Rassell, and Bill Seaman
Using their phones, visitors can activate AR by pointing at a star embedded in the pavement, capturing an image of themselves surrounded by shimmering gold dust—a nod to the area’s Gold Rush roots and the universal truth that we are all made of stardust. With their permission, participants will have the option to contribute their photos to a digital gallery on the Santa Clarita town website, creating a collective celebration of the community’s spirit.
What do we value? What is value? To address this question, we are using gold atoms as a metaphor and as an actual material that has arrived on Earth from space. Through storytelling, projections, and food experiences covered in edible gold, the audience participates in a speculative narrative about value, matter, and the future of humanity. The project unfolds through four scenes, each accompanied by a tasting ritual and visual narrative: Cosmic Gold, Gold Rush, Atomic Gold, and Space Tourism.
As hosts of the HOX Zodiac Celebration, we welcome you into the spirit of the Year of the Fire Horse — a lunar cycle that carries energy, movement, and transformation. In the language of HOX, the horse represents momentum and connection, bringing together art, science, and cultural imagination. We invite you to gather with us across shared digital space: bring a dish to share virtually, tell a story, reflect on your experiences, and exchange culture and knowledge as we celebrate this vibrant new cycle together.
12PM PT, February 22, 2026 | From wherever you are,
Join us as we celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Fire Horse alongside inspiring artists, scientists, scholars, and the vibrant community born under the sign of the horse. This special gathering brings together creativity, knowledge, and cultural spirit, inviting you to connect, reflect, and begin the new cycle with energy, curiosity, and shared celebration.
Recently, Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts (SIVA) hosted a distinctive and immersive HOX Zodiac intensive workshop. Invited by the DeTao Masters Academy and jointly organized by the School of Future Design at Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, internationally renowned media artist and UCLA Design Media Arts professor Victoria Vesna led students in an in-depth dialogue centered on genetic science, zodiac culture, and contemporary art.
The HOX ZODIAC project has evolved over the past 18 years and has previously been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tsukuba, Vienna, Paris, Motovun, and Slovenia. Rooted in Chinese zodiac culture and coinciding with the transition from one lunar year to the next, this marked the project’s first presentation in mainland China — both a cultural homecoming and a timely, symbolically resonant moment.
A Performative / Participatory Luncheon
The workshop culminated in a performative luncheon that brought together faculty and students from SIVA, alongside invited artists, engineers, and scientists. Seated at a long table according to their zodiac signs, guests became part of a carefully staged interdisciplinary performance. Students presented each dish in sequence, pairing food with concise narratives that linked zodiac symbolism to genetics, ecology, and evolving relationships between humans and animals.
Using the zodiac as a shared language, the event unfolded as a warm yet intellectually charged exchange between art and science. Conversation flowed freely, and ideas collided across disciplines.
In his closing remarks, Lin Min, Executive Vice President of SIVA, praised the students’ work and emphasized the importance of engaging with traditional Chinese culture through contemporary, interdisciplinary approaches. He encouraged students to develop cultural confidence and to contribute new Chinese narratives within a global context. He also highlighted the workshop’s underlying philosophy of non-anthropocentrism, where humans and animals are understood as equal participants in a shared ecological system — an idea with growing relevance for our collective future.
Honored Guests (by Zodiac cycle):
Rat—闫金丽 Yan Jinli; Ox—马麟鸿 Ma Linhong; Tiger—熊洁 Xiong Jie; Dragon—吴俊 Wu Jun, 薛刚 Xue Gang, Soeun Bae; Snake—张弘 Zhang Hong; Horse—陈月浩 Chen Yuehao, 刘玉婷 Liu Yuting; Sheep—金豪 Jin Hao, 陈迪辉 Chen Dihui; Monkey—张恒 Zhang Heng; Rooster—林敏 Lin Min; Dog—木巾 Mujin.
工作坊组织 (Workshop Coordinator):
Dragon—李天娇 (Li Tianjiao)
摄影 (Photographer):
Pig—赵奕瑶 (Zhao Yiyao)
翻译(Translator)
Dragon—张婷婷 (Zhang Tingting)
特别致谢 (Special Thanks):
Rat—闫金丽 (Yan Jinli)
Students: Mouse—丁奕程 Ding Yicheng; Dog—查恒烨 Cha Hengye, 丁予宁 Ding Yuning, 刘一涵 Liu Yihan; Monkey—陈定鸿 Chen Dinghong; Rooster—刘慕瑶 Liu Muyao; Pig—郝婕 Hao Jie, 刘宇琦 Liu Yuqi, 马千画 Ma Qianhua, 沈乐然 Shen Leran, 汪欣月 Wang Xinyue.
In this presentation, Beavers will discuss Nam June Paik’s Virtually Wise (1994), a work from the David Bermant Foundation Collection, and Anne Niemitz’s Kihikihi (2024), which was supported by a David Bermant Foundation grant. Drawing from these pieces, Isabel will explore how hybrid media, ecological awareness, and embodied experience can shape new frameworks for resilience and collective imagination.
Isabel Beavers (they/she) is a transdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles working at the intersections of new media, ecology, and collective action. Across artistic production, curatorial practice and teaching, their research challenges us to imagine adaptive climate futures–ones that rely on alternative modes of knowing as structures for living. Embodied and site-specific research are central to their practice through which they have explored Arctic sea ice melt, plant and human adaptation to wildfire in the American west, deep sea mining, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and eco-feminist re-imaginings of Western mythologies.
Beavers’ work on deep sea mining was recently included in Getty's 2024 PST Art + Science Collide as part of Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean. Beavers is the Artistic Director of Supercollider LA, and the Hixon-Riggs Early Career Fellow in STS at Harvey Mudd University. Through artistic practice, teaching, and curating, they foster communities of care and experimentation, inviting audiences to sense the unseen and imagine new eco-futures.
