Shawn Lawson

Arizona State University
Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
School of Art
Professor
Animation Program Director
Affiliate Faculty at Media Immersive Experience Center
shawn [dot] a [dot] lawson [at] asu [dot] edu

Education:

2003 MFA. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Art and Technology, Chicago, IL.
2000 BFA. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. with study abroad at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France.

Appointments:

Academic:

2023 to present. Professor, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
2020 – 2023. Associate Professor, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
2017 – 2020. Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2010 – 2017. Associate Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2004 – 2010. Assistant Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2003 – 2004. Visiting Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.

Administrative:

2023 to present. Animation Program Director, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
2020 – 2023. Animation Area Coordinator, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
2019 – 2020. Head, Department of Arts, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2016 – 2018. Graduate Program Director, Department of Arts, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

Selected Live-Coding Performances, Solo*:

2023 ACM DIS, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
2023 Algochill*, Wonderville, New York, NY.
2023 NYCEMF, The Sheen Center, New York, NY.
2023 Algorave, Tivoli Vredenburg, Pandora Hall, Utrecht, Netherlands.
2022 Trobada 3, HANGAR space, TOPLAP Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
2022 Liveware*, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, ISEA 2022, Barcelona, Spain.
2021 Liveware*, Louis P. Ciminelli Recital Hall, Buffalo State University Music Department, Buffalo, NY.
2021 Currents.FM Common, live streaming event, Livecode.nyc.
2020 Streamfest Night 2, streaming event, infrequentseams.
2020 TOPLAP MX VR Algorave, streaming event, Network Music Festival.
2020 Wonderverse Algorave, live stream event, Wonderville, NY.
2020 Equinox Stream, global streaming event.
2020 Algorave, Flannery’s, International Conference on Live Coding, Limerick, Ireland.
2020 GLSL Anywhere,* International Conference on Live Coding, Limerick, Ireland.
2020 Cibo v2, International Conference on Live Coding, Limerick, Ireland.
2019 Open Studios,* Electronic Media Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), Studio 1, Troy, NY
2019 Liveware,* Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
2019 Liveware,* Areté Venue and Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
2019 Algorave, Worcester PopUp, Worcester, MA.
2019 Toplap 15, Algorave global streaming event.
2019 Live => Coding Music;, Instituto de Matemática Pure e Aplicadia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2019 Opening Concert, International Conference on Live Coding, Media Lab, Madrid, Spain.
2018 Death is Irrelevant – Opening Day Celebration, Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY.
2018 June Algorave, Sunnyvale, Brooklyn, NY.
2018 Shapeshifter Lab*, Brooklyn, NY.
2018 Art of Sound Festival, Composers Concordance, Spectrum, Brooklyn, NY.
2018 Time and Space Limited*, Hudson, NY.
2017 International Conference on Live Coding, Jeudi 27, Morelia, Mexico.
2017 Liveware*, Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2017 GENERATE!, Schlachthaus Club, Tübingen, Germany.
2017 Sample Music Festival 2017, Club GRETCHEN, Berlin, Germany.
2017 New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), Abrons Art Center, Playhouse, New York, NY.
2017 Cattivo, Pittsburgh, PA.
2017 We Are Five, Algorave global Streaming event.
2017 The Center for New Music, San Francisco, CA.
2016 Union College*, Schenectady, NY.
2016 International Conference on Live Coding, The Spice Factory, Hamilton, Canada.
2016 Algorave, Tech Valley Center of Gravity, Troy, NY.
2016 NIME, The New Globe Theater, Brisbane, Australia.
2016 International Conference on Live Interfaces, Bleach, Brighton, England.
2016 LPM 2016, XVII edition of the Live Performers Meeting, Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2016 Algorave 0x0F, Tech Valley Center of Gravity, Troy, NY.
2016 Minnesota Algorave #1, Hopkins Depot, Hopkins, MN.
2016 Source 2016, Supercollider 20th Anniversary Festival, New York University, New York, NY.
2015 Beast Code, Refest Hybrid Performance & New Media Festival, La MaMa, New York, NY.
2015 Algorave 0x00, Tech Valley Center of Gravity, Troy, NY.
2015 GENERATE! Festival, ShedHalle, Tübingen, Germany.
2015 ISEA Algorave, Fortune Sound Club, ISEA 2015, Vancouver, CA.
2015 Leeds Algorave #3, Wharf Chambers, Leeds, UK.
2015 Algorave, Access Space, Sheffield, UK.
2015 ACM CC, The Art School, Glasgow, Scotland.
2015 All Your Bass Are Belong to Us, Gamefest 2015, Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2015 CultureHub,* New York City, NY.
2014 International Conference on Live Interfaces, ZdB, Lisbon, Portugal.
2014 Radical dB Festival, E_Topia, Centro de Arts y Technología, Zaragoza, Spain.
2014 Celebration: JustPressPlay!, Gamefest 2014, Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

Selected Solo & Two Person* Exhibitions:

2013 Halfway to Infinity, Level Gallery, College of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI.
2013 Operation Human Shield, School of Art, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL.
2009 Discordant Data Emergent Patterns, Gallery 111, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2009 Art Machine,* The Arts Center Gallery, Saratoga County Arts Council, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2008 Biocryptography, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy,NY.
2008 Stereo-Lucidity, Dusk Gallery, Troy, NY.
2007 Algorist Musings, Multimedia Gallery, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
2006 Casting Bread,* Dean Jensen Gallery. Milwaukee, WI.
2004 Perseverance Implied, Computing Commons Gallery, Arts Media & Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
2004 The Dolan Center Art Gallery,* Friends Academy. Locust Valley, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2019 Dataism, Arts Westchester, White Plains, NY.
2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search Gala, National Building Museum, Washington D.C.
2017 ACM SIGGRAPH 2017 VR Village, Los Angeles, CA. July 30 – August 4. Exhibited Magic Bench with Disney Research team.
2016 30th Anniversary Invitational, Saratoga Springs Art Center, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2014 The Aesthetics of Gameplay, SIGGRAPH 2014 DAC, Vancouver, Canada.
2013 Re-New: Digital Arts Festival, PB 43, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2013 An Armory Show, The Oplaka Gallery, Sage College of Albany, Albany, NY.
2013 The Machine Starts, Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2012 TADAEX 2012, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran.
2012 S[around]OUND, Troy Gasholder Building, Troy, NY.
2012 Activist Technology Demo Day, Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, New York, NY.
2011 Hands-Off Arcade, First Night Saratoga – Art Unleashed 2012, Saratoga Springs City Center, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2011 What Matters Now? Proposals for a New Front Page, Aperture Foundation Gallery, New York, NY.
2011 Long Stories for Perm, Perm, Russia.
2011 Touch Interactive 2011, The Public, West Bromwich, United Kingdom.
2010 The Interrupted Image, Five Ways of Looking, Nicholas Robinson Gallery, New York, NY.
2009 Long Stories 7, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
2009 A Case for Wine from King Tut to Today, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
2009 Machine Dreams, Space CAN, Seoul, Korea
2009 Techno_Culture, Dowd Gallery, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY.
2009 Techno_Culture, The Redhouse Arts Center, Syracuse, NY.
2008 Slow Art, ACM Siggraph 2008 Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
2008 FLIK Interactive, Art Whino, National Harbor, MD.
2008 Illuminators, Koltsovo international airport, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
2008 Experiencing the War in Iraq, Pawtucket Armory, The Arts Exchange. Providence, RI.
2007 Global Eyes, ACM Siggraph 2007 Art Gallery. San Diego, CA.
2007 To Fear or Not to Fear, The Art Center of Highland Park, Highland Park, IL.
2007 Digital Subjects, Quarteirão das Artes/Block of the Arts, Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal.
2007 Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart with Dean Jensen Gallery. Chicago, IL.
2007 Collision 11, Stata Center. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
2007 Re-Surfacing, Technology Expanding the Horizon: a Reinterpretation & Investigation of the Landscape, The Silver Image Gallery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
2007 Web Biennial 2007, Istanbul Contemporary Art Museum, Space 1: Saime Izmiroglu Gallery. Istanbul, Turkey.
2006 Night with Digital Artists, Limkokwing University KL Center. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2006 ACM Graphite 2006, Art Gallery. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2006 FONLAD #2, Casa Museu Bissaya Barreto. Coimbra, Portugal.
2006 Bienal do Ano 3000, Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo. Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil.
2006 Intersections, ACM Siggraph 2006 Art Gallery. Boston, MA.
2006 Projecting Off the Wall, IEEE ProCams 2006 Art Exhibit, ITP, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. New York, NY.
2006 Slide Jam, The Arts Center of the Capitol Region. Troy, NY.
2005 The Institute Show, The Albany Institute of History & Art. Albany, NY
2005 Snap To Grid, Los Angeles Center for Digital Arts. Los Angeles, CA
2005 ICM Expo, The Chelsea Art Museum. New York, NY
2005 In the Shadow of the Surreal, Flatfile Galleries. Chicago, IL
2004 Intimachine, Art Interactive Gallery. Cambridge, MA
2004 Digital Boundaries: Multiculturalism, Identity, and Awareness, at ACM Multimedia 2004, Macy Gallery, Columbia University. New York, NY
2004 Transported, Hotcakes Gallery. Milwaukee, WI
2004 A Bar at the Folies Bergère, G2, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL
2003 Supervalitragilisticexcelluminaceous, Regina Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh, PA
2003 Immedia 2003, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI
2002 Mona Lisa, The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL
2002 Code, 1926 Halsted. Chicago, IL

Selected Screenings:

2023 Figuring the Invisible, REX Cinema, Lucerne, Switzerland.
2023 NYCEMF, Loreto Theater, New York, NY.
2023 Performing Media Festival, Sound Bend, IN.
2016 Transformers, College Art Association Conference, New Media Caucus, Washington, DC.
2010 What Happens Next Film Festival, The House Café, DeKalb, IL.
2009 The Collection of Fonlad, Internazionale Dinamico di Art Contemoranea, Chienti, Italy.
2008 Fonlad 4th Virtual Exhibition, Portugal.
2008 Madeira’s International Art Biennale, Museum Casa da Luz, Funchal, Portugal.
2008 FLIK Festival, Art Whino, National Harbor, MD.
2008 What Happens Next?, Time and Space Limited, Hudson, NY.
2008 Path of Light, Iridescence: More than Meets the Eye Conference. Basaha Library, Arizona State University,Tempe, AZ.
2007 Tosca Short Film and Video Mini-Festival, The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY.

Grants, Honors, and Awards:

2023 4S Conference 2022, STS Making and Doing Awards, Do Graphics Processing Units Have Politics? A Performance-based Inquiry, Honorable Mention. Ben Gansky, Colleen Pulawski, and Shawn Lawson.
2022 Leonadro Rebooted: Quantum Computing & Artificial Intelligence grant. XAI: Visual Guts project.
2019 NVIDIA Hardware Grant.
2017 National Endowment for the Humanities. alt.code: Building a Humanities Curriculum via the Synthesis of Critical Theory, Computer Science and the Digital and Physical Arts. Co-PI.
2016 National Institutes of Health with Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Conduits:MSHS Translational Science Hub. Co-PI.
2015 Pixie Award 2016, Gold Level. 7th Annual American Pixel Awards.
2013 Kamel Lazaar Foundation Grant. sPhoto.
2013 HASS Flash Grant. Halfway to Infinity.
2011 Audience Award for Speed Presentation at Art && Code 3D: DIY 3D Sensing && Visualization conference.
2011 Presentation Scholarship, Art && Code 3D: DIY 3D Sensing && Visualization conference, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
2008 Individual Artists Grant. New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) The Death of Sardanapalus.
2007 Electronic Media and Film Program at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and Experimental Television Center’s Finishing Funds Program. The Death of Sardanapalus.
2006 Best Overall Gallery Show 2006, Casting Bread. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
2005 National Science Foundation. Acquisition of System for Multi-Site Networked Motion Capture and Visually Immersive Laboratory for Social and Behavioral Research. Senior Project Personnel.

Lectures, Workshops:

2023 “Data Retrospective.” Figuring the Invisible – An Interdisciplinary Conference, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), Lucerne, Switzerland.
2023    “Film Moiré: Previews.” Algorithmic Pattern Salon 2023. 
2021    “Live Coding Deep Neural Nets” Sixth International Conference of Live Coding, Valdivia, Chile. 
2021 “Liveware, Process Intensity” Panelist on “Synaesthetic Syntax: Sounding Animation/ Visualising Audio” at Expanded Animation 2021 Tectonic Shift as part of Ars Electronica.
2019 “0 – 1” Plenary. Live => Coding Music;, Institute de Mathemática Pure e Aplicadia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2018 “The Dark Side” Demo. New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. 
2017 “Live-Coding Audio and Visual Performances” Lecture & Demo. Art & Technology Studies, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
2017 “Live-Coding Audio and Visuals.” Creative Coding NYC #3. Lecture & Demo at ZX-Venture, New York, NY.
2017 “Live Coding: Mathematics in Performance.” Lecture & Demo at Art_X Symposium on Music, Sound and Mathematics at EMPAC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2017 “Audio and Visuals Live Coding.” Workshop at GENERATE! Festival, FabLab Necker-Alb, Tübingen, Germany.
2016 Live Coding OpenGL Fragment Shaders. Department of Computer Science, Union College, Schenectady, NY.
2016 Live Coding Sound Responsive OpenGL Fragment Shaders. Lecture at Twin Cities Code Camp #20, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
2016 Live Coding GLSL Graphics with The Force. Source 2016. Supercollider 20th Anniversary Festival. NYU. New York, NY.
2015 Workshop. Live Coding Graphics, GENERATE! Festival, FabLab Necker-Alb, Tübingen, Germany.
2015 Panel. Disrupting audio-visual paradigms with real-time technology, International Symposium of Electronic Arts (IESA), Vancouver, Canada.
2015 Tutorial. T06 Introduction to Live Coding OpenGL Shaders, International Symposium of Electronic Arts (IESA), Vancouver, Canada.
2015 Performative Code: Strategies for Live Coding Graphics. 1st International Conference on Live Coding. Leeds University. Leeds, UK.
2015 Workshop. Fragments, Live Coding the OpenGL Fragment Shader with Audio Responsiveness. ICLC live-coding graphics. 1st International Conference on Live Coding. Leeds University. Leeds, UK.
2013 Presentation of Artwork. Art Department, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH.
2013 Presentation of Artwork. School of Art, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.
2013 Interactivity: Processing workshop. School of Art, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.
2013 Presentation of Artwork. School of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University. Southfield, MI.
2013 Art and Code: Processing workshop. School of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University. Southfield, MI.
2012 “Computational Sublime” in grouping of artist talks. Friday, September 21th at the Hotel Albuquerque: Sandia Room. ISEA 2012 Albuquerque: Machine Wilderness (International Society of Electronic Art) Albuquerque, New Mexico.
2012 Art and Code: Processing workshop, Children’s Museum of Science and Technology, (CMOST), Troy, NY.
2012 “Questioning Interactive Media,” virtual lecture from Troy, NY to TADAEX 2012, Tehran, Iran.
2012 School of Visual Arts, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
2011 Speed Presentations at Art && Code 3D: DIY 3D Sensing && Visualization conference, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
2009 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
2009 The Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2009 Workshop. Creating 3D Anaglyphs from concept to print. New York University, Department of Photography and Imaging, New York, NY.
2009 “Raytracings of the In Between,” New York University, Department of Photography and Imaging, New York, NY.
2008 Tongji University. Shanghai, The People’s Republic of China.
2008 “New Media and Education” panel within the “New Media Art and the Development of the Discipline” panel. National New Media Art Forum of University Deans, Shanghai, The People’s Republic of China.
2008 “What is Interactive Media?” University of Vermont. Burlington, VT.
2008 Skidmore College. Saratoga Springs, NY.
2008 Information Technology University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2008 “Measuring Affect in HCI: Going Beyond the Individual.””Evaluating User Experience in Games workshop. SIGCHI. Florence, Italy.
2007 “Exploring Visual Computation” Connecting Computing Educators Across Traditional Boundaries. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
2007 Workshop. OpenGL and Processing. Game Development. The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
2007 The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
2007 “A Look at Crudeoils,” within the “Towards a Culture of Collaboration” panel. Media in Transition 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
2007 “Raytracings of the In Between.” The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL.
2007 “Basic Computer Animation,” The Doane Stuart School. Albany, NY.
2006 Workshop. Digital imaging and procedural image generation. Graduate Media Skills. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Troy, NY.
2006 “Raytracings of the In Between” within the “Transforming the Image Plane: New Processes for Artistic Expression” grouping. ACM Siggraph. Boston, MA.
2004 Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
2004 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
2003 “They Walk and Talk,” Carnegie Mellon University, Regina Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
2003 “Offline and Real-time Video Compositing and Manipulation,” Advanced Compositing and Lighting. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
2002 “Flash Applications in Real World Projects,” Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL.
2002 Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL.

Patents:

Moshe B Mahler, John A Mars, James L McCann, Ali Israr, Shawn Lawson, Kyna P McIntosh, Job T Bedford. Multisensory augmented reality. U.S. Patent 10,431,006 filed April 26, 2017, and issued October 1, 2019.

Residencies:

2016 Signal Culture, Toolmaker in Residence, Owego, NY. January.
2015 CultureHub, Micro-Residency, New York City, NY. February.
2008 Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, BioArt Initiative. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. January – May.

Reviewer, Panelist, Judge, Juror, Curator:

International Conference of Live Coding (ICLC)
International Conference on Live Interfaces (ICLI)
International Symposium for Electronic Arts (ISEA)
Association Computing and Machine Creativity and Cognition (ACM CC)
Association Computing and Machine Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI)
Association Computing and Machine Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (ACM SIGGRAPH)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF)
Maryland State Arts Council Visual Arts: Media/Electronic/Digital Arts.
The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts with the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. New Genres.
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) – Computer Arts Division.
MIT Press Manuscript Reviewer
Co-Curator of CrudeOils.us on-line exhibition space, 2008 – 2002.

Commissions:

2019 Bubbling Horizon II, Arts Westchester Gallery for Regeneron Science Talent Search, Washington D.C.
2018 Bubbling Horizon, Arts Westchester Gallery for Regeneron lobby, Tarrytown, NY.
2005 Carnegie Mellon University. Five portraits of significant university donors.

Related Professional Activities:

2000 to present Creative and Technical Consultant. Clientele: independent artists, commercial, and research firms. Completed projects exhibited internationally at museums, festivals, and conferences. Managed teams of up to five people for budgets ranging from $1k – $120k.
Tasks within last 3 years: OpenGL; GLSL; WebGL; Video Compositor; Maya; Houdini; Touch Designer; Python.
Tasks greater than 3 years: Unity3D Programmer; CG; DX11; full-stack MEAN; Android; iOS; Hardware Interface Programmer; Raspberry Pi Programer; Kinect 2; Video Editor; Authored DVDs; Documentary Photographer; Web Designer; Museum Installer; Media Archeologist & Necromancer.
2002 – 2003 Teaching Assistant. Robert Morris College. Chicago, IL. Media Arts IV, Special Project, Video
2001 – 2003 Software & Hardware Instructor. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago department of Instructional Resources & Media Services. Chicago, IL. Media100, Final Cut Pro, and DVD Studio Pro.
2001 – 2003 Teaching Assistant. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL. www.experimental.program.edu, TICA, Intro HTML, Immersive Environments, Art of Surveillance.
1998 – 2002 Artist in Residence. Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh, PA. Virtual Reality Research group (Stage 3), Director Randy Pausch. Modeled & Painted 3D objects, Created web-based tutorial for painting 3D objects, Produced & Edited video, Designed Brochures & Posters for Siggraph 1998, Ported Alice 3D authoring tool to MacOSX, Created VR simulations for Science Applications International Corporation, International Space Enterprises, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Profitt lab at the University of Virginia
1999 Walt Disney Imagineering Internship Contributed creative input for DisneyQuest, Rapid-Prototyped in Virtual Reality upcoming attractions, Created, Edited, Composited and Cleaned graphics and video, Created in house presentations