PLASMA Presents: JOEL ONG, Computational Media Artist.

Monday, March 14th, the Department of Media Study's PLASMA (Performances, Lectures, And Screenings of Media Artists)​ will feature a remote-lecture by JOEL ONG, Computational Media Artist. The Zoom Meeting ID for the lecture series is 939 5189 1859. Email paigesar@buffalo with PLASMA2022 in the subject line for the password.​ 

JOEL ONG is a media artist whose works connect scientific and artistic approaches to the environment, particularly with respect to sound and physical space.  Currently Assistant Professor of Computational Arts at York University in Toronto, Professor Ong’s work explores the way objects and spaces can function as repositories of ‘frozen sound’, and in elucidating these, he is interested in creating what systems theorist Jack Burnham (1968) refers to as “art (that) does not reside in material entities, but in relations between people and between people and the components of their environment.”

A serial collaborator, Professor Ong is invested in the broader scope of Art-Science collaborations and is engaged constantly in the discourses and processes that facilitate viewing these two polemical disciplines on similar ground.  His graduate interdisciplinary work in nanotechnology and sound was conducted at SymbioticA, the Center of Excellence for Biological Arts at the University of Western Australia and supervised by BioArt pioneers and TCA (The Tissue Culture and Art Project) artists Dr Ionat Zurr and Oron Catts.  In his doctoral studies, he was mentored by Dr Edward Shanken, author of the canonical “Art and Electronic Media” published by Phaidon Press in 2009, and was his Research Assistant in the “Systems” publication in the Whitechapel Documents of Contemporary Art series.  Since 2014, Professor Ong has been a visiting artist at the UCLA ArtSci Center.  His works have been shown at festivals and conferences around the world including Ars Electronica, Currents New Media Festival, the Ontario Science Centre, ISEA and Siggraph.  Previously he has held residencies at locations such as the Coalesce Centre for Biological Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Toronto, and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Brief remarks addressed to the students who are enrolled in PLASMA as a course will begin at 6:00 PM sharp. JOEL ONG's presentation will begin at 6:10 pm EST with a brief introduction by UB Professor of Art, Stephanie Rothenberg.

As always, PLASMA lectures are free and open to the UB community and the public.​ 

PLASMA is sponsored by the University at Buffalo's Department of Media Study and funding is provided by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The series is curated by Dr. Paige Sarlin, Assistant Professor of Media Study, in collaboration with Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center.