BCNM 20th Anniversary Alumni Conference
A BCNM conference co-sponsored by the School of Information, the Arts Research Center (ARC), and the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies
For the full schedule with biographies & abstracts, click here!
with BCNM alumni Andrea Gagliano, Andrea Horbinski, Bo Ruberg, Brooke Belisle, Caitlin Marshall, Cesar Torres, David Humphrey, Hsin-Hsien Chiu, Jiaxuan Koi (Ren), Katherine Chandler, KC Forcier, Kris Paulsen, Kyle Booten, Laura Devendorf, Margaret Rhee, Naomi Bragin, Reginold Royston, R. Stuart Geiger, T. F. Tierney, Tiffany Ng, Tory Jeffay, Will Payne, Xiaowei Wang (and more!)
A two-day conference consisting of keynote lectures, artistic performances, readings, screenings, and panel discussions critically examining the field of new media at large and celebrating the work of BCNM alumni across the following topics and themes: computer vision, human-computer interaction, algorithms, race and popular media, urban space, and new media art.
Registration requested. Please register here!
Schedule
Thursday, April 10
9:00am - 10:00am: Coffee and Breakfast
10:10am - 10:30am: Opening Remarks: “20 Years in 20 Minutes”
BCNM past and present directors share some of the highlights of BCNM over twenty years.
with Ken Goldberg, David Bates, Greg Niemeyer, Nicholas de Monchaux, Abigail De Kosnik, and Tom McEnaney.
10:30am - 12:00pm: Seeing, Reading, and Feeling with AI: Histories and Aesthetics of Algorithmic Media
with David Humphrey, R. Stuart Geiger, Kaitlin Clifton Forcier, Kayla Rose van Kooten, Ken Goldberg (Faculty Respondent)
This panel examines AI-driven technologies from emotion recognition and large language models to AI-generated art and music. Panelists address the histories, aesthetics, politics, and interpretive frameworks through which we make sense of algorithmic media.
12:00pm - 1:30pm: Lunch | Alt Ac Roundtable at Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation
Michelle Carney, Andrea Horbinski, Molly Nicholas
Learn more about navigating a career outside of academia with BCNM alumni who have forged their own paths. Training for a PhD provides an exceptional foundation for a wide range of careers.
1:30pm - 3:00pm: Technology and Visuality
Brooke Belisle, Katherine Chandler, Andrea Gagliano, Zina Wang, David Bates (Faculty Respondent)
This panel examines how computational technologies shape the ways we see, produce, and interpret images. Addressing topics ranging from astrophysical simulations and drone warfare archives to generative AI, panelists explore the material and technical processes behind visual mediation.
3:15pm - 4:45pm: Race and Popular Culture
Naomi Bragin, Caitlin Marshall, Andrea Horbinski, Vincente Perez, Abigail de Kosnik (Faculty Respondent)
This panel explores how race is constructed, contested, and performed across popular media forms, from musical performance to manga. Panelists examine the racialized politics of sound, visual culture, and authorship, analyzing how media serves as both a site of racial inscription and a space for creative resistance.
5:00pm - 7:00pm: Reception (with art and performance) at Platform Artspace
Featuring Jeremy Hunt, Eda Er, Kyle Booten, Margaret Rhee
Friday, April 11
9:00am - 10:15am: Breakfast/ Academia Roundtable at Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation
with Hsin-Hsien Chiu, Margaret Rhee, Reginold Royston
Learn more about navigating a career in academia as an interdisciplinary scholar with BCNM alumni at a range of stages in their careers.
10:30am - 12:00pm: Geospatial Technologies and the Organization of Urban Space
Will B. Payne, T. F. Tierney, Ziwei Chen, Jillian Lee Crandall, Nicholas de Monchaux (Faculty Respondent)
This panel explores how digital geospatial technologies shape urban spaces, examining their impact on land use, governance, and the politics of development. Panelists investigate crowdsourced data flows in the platformed city, the evolution of corporate media campuses, the intersections of physical and digital infrastructures in China’s residential compounds, and the role of cryptocurrency in imagining new forms of urban space.
12:00pm - 1:30pm: Lunch/ Carillon Performance ("To The Sun") at Sather Tower
featuring Greg Niemeyer & Tiffany Ng
Two elements make life possible: the Sun’s energy and abundant water. Yet, the Sun's power remained obscured by enormous distance, light, and heat.
Until now. In 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun and study the Sun's atmosphere. In 2024, the Probe reached the closest orbit. A team of artists and scientists asked what this epic journey feels like, looks like, and sounds like. The result: a unique vision of the Probe’s entire journey, condensed into 10 minutes, with a concert for Carillon and Cellphones at UC Berkeley's Campanile. You get to listen, watch, and play along. Come join the journey to the Sun.
1:30pm - 3:00pm: Contesting Technology, Intelligence, and Participation in New Media Art
Xiaowei Wang, Kris Paulsen, NAMI, Caleb Murray-Bozeman, Greg Niemeyer (Faculty Respondent)
This panel explores how artists engage with new media technologies to challenge dominant narratives of computation, intelligence, and interactivity. Panelists discuss artistic interventions—from speculative botany and AI-driven experiments to digital curation and participatory media—that open up alternative ways of thinking about computational media.
3:15pm - 4:45pm: Craft, Material, and Creative Practice in Computational Design
Laura Devendorf, Cesar Torres, Eric Rawn, Eric Paulos (Faculty Respondent)
This panel explores the intersections of design, computation, and creative practice, examining how materiality, technology, and automation shape the work of designers, artists, and researchers.
4:45pm - 5:00pm: Closing Remarks: "The Next 20 Years"
From current Director Tom McEnaney.