refractions of the self / exploring the digital self portrait

​A workshop where together we imagine different forms of self portraiture across the traditional and digital arts spectrum, and then create our own!

The self portrait has long been an art form through which we understand ourselves and our lives -- and now that our lives are in some part digital, what does it mean to capture them through art? In what ways can technology extend, or better reflect, the self portrait? Can a screen be both a canvas and a mirror? In this workshop, we'll explore various answers -- through datasets, selfie filters, camera rolls, character-makers, etc. -- and ground them in the human history of the self portrait.

We'll provide starter code and templates for the examples mentioned (including low- or no-code!), so workshop attendees can come away with their own unique portraits. 

​Bring your laptop and/or drawing materials, if you want! Or just bring yourself!

​(Provided materials will likely include: paper, physical art materials, Computer Vision + Webcam example code, html character maker example code, personal dataset curation & visualization example …)

​About us: we're two friends and artists / coders / poets / painters / researchers / technologists / beholders!

​Shm Garanganao Almeda is an artist, computer scientist, and human-computer interaction researcher in the Berkeley Institute of Design Lab @ Berkeley EECS. Currently, they’re building artistic support systems –– including alternative systems for engaging with artwork, visualizing creative behavior, and empowering artists to teach us what our technology can really do, through artistic practice.

​Isabel Yue Li is a creativity researcher, poet, and artist-in-residence at Now Place in SF Chinatown. They're currently investigating how technology can better serve art education, building tools help artists to "see" creatively, and making zines about queer bilingualism.

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​tiat ​is the intersection of art and technology! we are a 501c3 nonprofit creating places for creative technologists to experiment, exhibit, and expand their practice. ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ Learn more about tiat: https://tiat.place/