Additional Speakers TBA
This session will present the highlights from four SPARKS (Short Presentations for the Kindred Spirit) Sessions. The “Sensing the Body to Expand Possibilities in Art and Performance” session moderated by Elizabeth Jochum, Alan Macy and Bonnie Mitchell explored how artists push creative boundaries utilizing computational tools to augment the body in artistically expressive ways. “AI and Artistic Autonomy”, moderated by Mauro Martino, Rebecca Ruige Xu and Gustavo Alfonso Rincon investigated how the dependency on models and algorithms developed by others influences creative practice. “Artistic Interpretation of Digital Cultural Heritage” moderated by Fan Xiang and Victoria Szabo, explores how the choices visual artists make in sourcing, composing, and styling historical imagery affects our understanding of the past. And lastly the “First Nations’ Futures” SPARKS session, moderated by Rewa Wright and Clarissa Ribeiro, discusses how digital art is used as a gateway to share stories about culture, community, and identity.
SIGGRAPH 2025 Website: https://s2025.conference-schedule.org/presentation/?id=thea_110&sess=sess334
Bonnie Mitchell is a new media artist and Professor at Bowling Green State University in Digital Arts, in Bowling Green, Ohio, USA. Mitchell is a member of the ACM SIGGRAPH History and Digital Arts Committee where she focuses on the development of the SIGGRAPH archives and coordination of the SPARKS lecture series. Mitchell’s artworks explore spatial and experiential relationships to our physical, social, cultural, and psychological environment through interaction, abstraction and audio. Her current creative practice focuses on development of physically immersive environments using interaction via electronics and special FX to reveal change over time. Her work has been exhibited internationally at numerous venues.
Rebecca Ruige Xu currently teaches computer art and animation at Syracuse University. Her artwork and research interests include experimental animation, visual music, artistic data visualization, interactive installations, digital performance, and virtual reality. Her recent work has been shown at: ISEA; Ars Electronica; SIGGRAPH Art Gallery; IEEE VIS Arts Program, Museum of Contemporary Art, Italy; Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, USA; FILE– Electronic Language International Festival, Brazil; International Digital Art Exhibition, China; Boston Cyberarts Festival, USA. Xu is the co-founder of the ChinaVIS Arts Program, Co-Chair of the IEEE VIS 2023 and 2024 Arts Program, and currently serves as Chair of the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Committee.
Victoria Szabo is a Research Professor of Visual and Media Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University. She also directs the Information Science + Studies Program and the PhD in Computational Media, Arts & Cultures. She has a PhD in Victorian Literature and Culture and works in digital humanities and media art, with an emphasis on location-based urban histories, multimodal cultural heritage, and digital storytelling. Before moving to Duke, she worked in Academic Technology at Stanford University. She is also part of the Psychasthenia Studio Art collaborative and the international Visualizing Cities consortium. She has been involved in a variety of SIGGRAPH Art-related roles, including SIGGRAPH Art Gallery Chair, Art Papers Chair, Art Papers Chair for SIGGRAPH Asia, Chair of the Year-Round Digital Arts Community for the Org, and is the current Chair of the Arts Advisory Group. She is also part of the SIGGRAPH Governance Committee. Victoria is the Art Papers Chair for SIGGRAPH 2025.