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Robert Spahr
http://www.robertspahr.com
rob@robertspahr.com

Education

Parson's School of Design
Master of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude, New York, NY 1991
Vera List Sculpture Award, 1989 - 1991

Art Academy of Cincinnati
Bachelors of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude, Cincinnati, OH 1988
Stephen H. Wilder Traveling Scholarship, 1988
Art Academy Scholarships, 1984-1988

Current Research

Computational Art (CRUFT)
Generative and procedural art made from the digital leftovers of the media. Borrowing the computer hacker term "Cruft" I have applied it to my current series of images. I create these CRUFT images by writing 'recipes' (also known as an algorithm). An automated system follows the instructions, first harvesting selected source material from the Internet, and then processing that information into a CRUFT, generating images and video 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Evolutionary Computing and Genetic Algorithms
Researching and developing the use of evolutionary computing and genetic algorithms inspired by Darwinian biological models. The process is analogous to natural selection, mutation and reproduction, with the basic idea of creating a population of candidate images that evolve under a selective pressure favoring the better solutions. Parent images are combined to produce offspring images, which then enter the population, are evaluated and may themselves produce offspring. As the process continues more successful solutions are found, ultimately producing a final work of art.

Selected Exhibitions

2010

Urban Interventions, Group Exhibition at the Reed Gallery, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, University of Cincinnati, Jan. 14 - Feb 19, 2010

2009

Generative Art International Conference, GA2009, Politecnico di Milano University, Milan, Italy
Genetic algorithms creating artworks and a performance score, documented in a paper. Dec 15-17, 2009

Combined Faculty Art Exhibition, University Museum,
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, Nov 12 - Dec 13, 2009

7th Annual Process, Performance, Projection
Surplus Gallery, SIUC, Carbondale, IL Nov 10-13, 2009

Group Exhibition: Domestic, presented by AC [Institute Direct Chapel]
547 W. 27th St, #519 New York, NY 10001, Mar 19 - Apr 11, 2009

2008

VERSION>08 Dark Matter
Version Festival is an annual international convergence of activists and artists showcasing emerging, progressive trends in art, politics, technology and music.
Chicago, Illinois, Apr 17-27, 2008

Hunter_Gatherer
http://stock-site.org.au/node/156
presented by CAST Gallery and Stock-site.org.au
Tasmania, Australia, 1st Apr–1st Jun 2008

Ubuntu.Kuqala: An Online Digital Media Arts Exhibition
http://www.ithaca.edu/fleff/exhibitons/ubuntu/
Curatored by Dale Hudson and Sharon Lin Tay
Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
Ithaca College NY, 31 Mar–06 Apr 2008

Computer Art Congress 2008, CAC.2
Mexico City and Toluca City, Mexico, Mar 26, 27, 28, 2008

Iraqi Memorial, Commemorating Civilian Deaths, 2008
Created "Crude Cruft (1 minute memory tondo)" specifically for this memorial.

International Workshop on Asia and Commons in the Information Age, ACIA
Presentation by Christopher Adams, writer and critic based in Taipei
"CRUFT: The generative and procedural artwork of Robert Spahr"
Media Exchange 2, VT Art Salon, Taipei, Taiwan, January 18, 2008

2007

Generative Art Conference, GA2007
Milan Polytechnic University, Milan, Italy 2007

Worldwide Moving Image III, E32 NIGHT
5C Cultural Center 5C Cafe, NYC 2007

Secret Artworks
Time Warner ArtWorks Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 2007

2006

[R][R][F]200x--->XP - Version 3
Digital Art Festival Rosario/Argentina, 2006

Perform.Media
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 2006

Faculty Exhibition
Hartford Art School, Joseloff Gallery, West Hartford, CT, 2006

International Conference on Information Visualization, IV 2006
London, England, 2006

Computer Graphics, Imaging and Visualization, CGIV 2006
Sydney, Australia, 2006

PLAY, Drainmag.com
A refereed on-line journal published biannually. 2006

Trampoline Event #19
Nottingham, United Kingdom, Broadway Cinema. 2006

Adding Insult to Imagery? Artistic Responses to Censorship and Media
Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania, & Central Missouri State Univ. 2006
Curated and with a catalog essay by Dr. Robert W. Sweeny

2005

CRUFT, Solo Exhibition, Manifest Gallery
Cincinnati, Ohio, 2005
Catalog published for the exhibition by Manifest Press.

#7: December edition of Hz Journal (Mire Cruft)
Stockholm, Sweden. 2005

Pendu Gallery
Online Exhibit, 2005

2004

Hourly Cruft included in the ArtBase
Rhizome.org at the New Museum in New York City 2004

6th International Salon of Digital Art
Havana, Cuba 2004
Catalog published for the exhibition.

Digital Art Gallery 2004, an International Conference on Information Visualisation
London, England 2004

Computer Graphics, Imaging and Visualization
Penang, Malaysia 2004

The Profession of Art, National Juried Exhibition
Foundry Art Centre, St.Charles, MO, 2004

brainWrench.com  1998 - 2003

A website of digital images that can be sent as electronic greeting cards. brainWrench.com founded by Robert Spahr in June of 1998, is subversive and is best described by the "brainWrench Manifesto." The sacred and profane are all expressed through innocent-appearing eCards, that turn the BlueMountain.com and American Greetings format upside down. Thousands of people have used these images to share with others ideas not easily expressed.

Expanded Arts  1995 - 1997

Expanded Arts was founded by Jennifer Pias and Robert Spahr in February of 1995, at 85 Ludlow St. NYC. The critically acclaimed theatre company produced numerous productions in it's "Storefront Theatre". Expanded Arts presented "Free Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot" in the Municipal Lot across the street from the theatre. The successful off-broadway "Shakespeare's R&J" was first produced by Expanded Arts in September of 1997. It is now the longest running Romeo & Juliet in the history of Broadway. Every summer Expanded Arts produced "94 plays in 94 days" the marathon production of original plays presented over the 94 days of summer.

Selected Film & Video - Directed & Edited
Sharmy the Scab, (digital film 72 min.) Aug 1997
Alice in Wonderland dream sequence, Video(4 min) Oct 1996
Beatrice, original adaptation of Rappacini's Daughter (15 min) Aug 1996
The Balcony (scene 8) Super 8mm (3 min) Oct 1995
Oedipus Interpreted, Super 8mm (5 min) Sep 1994

Selected Plays - Directed
Macbeth, William Shakespeare, Mar 1997
Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, original adaptation, October 1996
94 plays in 94 days, several short original plays, Summer Festival 1996
Lotteria, Roy Friedman, Jun 1996
King Lear, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot, Jun 1996
Elephant Calf, Bertolt Brecht, Apr 1996
Christie in Love, Howard Brenton, Mar 1996
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, original adaptation, Dec 1995
The Balcony, Jean Genet, Oct 1995
Bread & Circuses, several short original plays, Fall Festival, 1995
Medea, Euripides, Sep 1995
Edgar Allen Poe Shorts, original adaptation of several stories, Oct 1995
94 plays in 94 days, several short original plays, Summer Festival 1995
Midsummer Nights Dream, William Shakespeare (co-directed), Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot, 1995
The Lesson, Eugene Ionesco, Mar 1995

Selected Set Design - Designer
King Lear, William Shakespeare, Jun 1996
Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett, Mar 1995
Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare, Nov 1994
Exit the King, Eugene Ionesco, The Kraine, Sep 1994
Bald Soprano, Eugene Ionesco, The Kraine, (includes video), Jun 1994
End Game, Samuel Beckett, The Kraine, Jun 1994
Machinal, Sophie Treadwell, Atlantic Theatre/N.A.W., Mar 1994

Live Art Workshop  1993 - 1994

Moderator of a group of multi-disciplinary artists, who would meet regularly for a weekly seminar to develop collaborative performance. Reading texts such as Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto, Artaud's The Theatre and it's Double, Dadaist writings, John Cage on the use of chance & Allen Kaprow on Happenings, we developed "Strategies of Live Art" that were then used to create live art performances. The workshop developed unique frameworks structured by linear events, chance generated non-linear events, as well as events of thematic repetition. Each framework was the container of individual participants live art.

Selected Performances
Oedipus Interpreted, The Red Room, Sep 1994
Oedipus (an excerpt work in progress), Event Series #11, Aug 1994
Inert, The Kraine Theatre, Jun 1994
Inert (an excerpt work in progress), Event Series #10, Jun 1994
Fluids, The Red Room, May 1994
Untitled, (cone,box,light), Benefit Show for The Kraine, May 1994
Fluids (an excerpt), Event Series #8, Mar 1994
Untitled, (cone,box,light), Event Series #7, Feb 1994
An Environmental Fashion Show, The Red Room, Feb 1994

Art Actions  1992 - 1993

Reading "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin, had such a profound effect on my thinking, that I began to re-evaluate my entire strategy of making art. I started doing "Art Actions", public events resulting in various art objects created as residue, or a form of physical documentation. I no longer felt limited to traditional materials; xeroxed images, sounds, smells, language, and time became part of my vocabulary. The artwork was now variable, changing over time, unlike my previous static art objects.

Selected Actions and Exhibitions
Untitled (America), Event Series #6, Jan 1994
Flash Apparently Official, Event Series #5, Dec 1993
American Dream Cycle (2), Event Series #4, Oct 1993
American Dream Cycle (1), Event Series #3, Sep 1993
My Fellow Americans, Event Series #1, Jun 1993
Placebo, Kraine Theatre Gallery, Mar 1993
Action/Documentation, Kraine Theatre Gallery, Dec 1992

Gallery & Event Series Curator
Kraine Theatre Gallery, NYC 1992 - 1994
Curated monthly exhibitions as well as organized evenings of theatre, music, dance, film, and performance art which coincided with the gallery openings.

Traditional Media  1988 - 1992

Selected Exhibitions
Placebo, Solo Exhibition, Kraine Theatre Gallery, NYC, Mar 1993
Group Show, Kraine Theatre Gallery, NYC, Jun 1993
Group Show, Kraine Theatre Gallery, NYC, Dec 1992
Small Works, 80 Wash. Sq. East
Juror: Arnold Glimcher, Pace Gallery, (Received Jurors Award) 1992
MFA Thesis Exhibition, NYC, 1990
MFA Drawing Show, NYC, 1990
Two Person Show, Carnegie Art Center, Covington, KY, 1989
Two Person Show, KZF Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 1988
13th Annual Competitive, Arts Consortium,
Juror: Danial Brown, KZF Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 1988

Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor, New Media
Department of Cinema and Photography
College of Mass Communication and Media Arts
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2009
New Media Studio^*
Digital Communication Production^*
Live Art: Explorations in Intermedia^*
Web Portfolio^*

Lecturer, Graphic Design
SUNY, Purchase College, 2008-2009
Design for the Web^*
Digital Media for Designers 1^*
Interactive Design^*

Lecturer, New Media
SUNY, Purchase College, 2005-2009
Creating Web Documents^*

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Multimedia
University of the Arts, 2007
Special Topics: Propaganda and Persuasion in a Digital Age^*

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Media Arts
Hartford Art School, 2006
Introduction to Media Arts^*
Explorations in Live Art/Digital Video^*

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Visual Arts
Dowling College, 2005-2006
Designing with the Computer I (3 sessions)
History of Graphic Design

Guest Lecture, Robert Spahr: CRUFT
Art Academy of Cincinnati, 2005

Visiting Artist, Digital Media Seminar
Xavier University, 2004

Guest Lecture, Benjamin: Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Art Academy of Cincinnati, 2004

Instructor, HTML, Illustrator, Photoshop & Quark
Career Center, New York City 1998

Moderator, Live Art Workshop
The Kraine 1993-1994

Teaching Assistant of Professor Donald Porcaro
Parson's School of Design, 1990-1991
Introduction to Sculpture

* courses developed

Travel

Milan, Italy, Dec 2009
Cross Country (NYC-San Francisco) United States, Jul-Aug 2004
Rome and Florence, Italy, Mar 2000
Southwestern United States, Jul 1992
Italy, Greece and Germany, Mar - Apr 1989

Technical Employment

Associate Manager of Educational Technology, Art+Design, SUNY Purchase College 2008-present
Webmaster, Siegel+Gale, strategic branding firm, 2006-2008
Web Producer, Beliefnet.com and Soulmatch.com, web portal, 2004-2005
Usability Designer, QA Manager, Global Education Network, 2000-2004
Web Producer, Product Manager, About.com, web portal, 1999-2000
Intranet Coordinator, RIA Group, 1998-1999