Events

Bryan Konefsky is a cultural worker dedicated to the advancement of undependent, experimental media arts through his work as a moving image artist, teacher, lecturer and film festival director. Konefsky is the founder and director of Experiments in Cinema, an annual international film festival in Albuquerque that showcases cinematic experimentation from around the world. Additionally, he is the president of Basement Films, one of the few remaining first generation micro cinemas in the United States.

From 1995–2020, he taught moving image production and critical studies through the Department of Cinematic Arts at the University of New Mexico, where he was honored in 2009 with a university-wide Teacher of the Year award. Konefsky was an invited lecturer in the Department of Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz from 2003–2018. Presently, he lectures at Dongguk University in South Korea.

bryankonefsky.com

Presented by:
• ARTSLab 20th Anniversary

Join us at ARTSLab for the Lunar Arts Award Exhibition on Friday, January 24, from 4–7pm, celebrating artistic innovation inspired by the mysteries and beauty of the Moon. This exhibit features 5 new works from winners of the Fall 2024 Lunar Arts Award: 

•  “Dust to Dust” by Lila Steffan & Quinton Vitelli-Hawkins 
• “Phasing” by Elan Retzlaff 
• “Lunacy Enabled Synodic Realignment (LESR)” by Austin Tecks & Amanda Stormyr 
• “madre luna” by Isabella Romero 
• “Grounding Moonlight” by Madison Hailey Emond 

 Enjoy an evening of art, conversation, and lunar wonder as we recognize the achievements of talented student artists. 

Pippin Barr is an Associate Professor and department chair in the Department of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University in Montréal, where he is also a member of the Technoculture, Art, and Games (TAG) Research Centre. Barr has collaborated with artists like Marina Abramović and @seinfeld2000, creating games on diverse topics such as airplane safety, chess, and parenting. Barr holds a Ph.D. focused on video game values and an M.Sc. on user-interface metaphors from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He is the author of The Stuff Games Are Made Of from MIT press.

pippinbarr.com

Presented by:
• Gale Memorial Lecture Series
• ARTSLab 20th Anniversary

Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson are artists who use collaborative processes to explore the transformations of biological and mechanical elements, often animating materials like metals and fluids to create works that question empathy with synthetic intelligence. Their projects investigate the intersections of environment, computing, robotics, and artificial life, and they have exhibited internationally at venues such as the Biennale of Sydney, the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Germany, and Moderna Museet in Sweden. Both recipients of a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship, they teach at Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute, with their work being featured in major publications and held in collections like the Centre Georges Pompidou. Both artists are from New Mexico and Aaron is a UNM alumni.

dubbin-davidson.com

Presented by:
• Gale Memorial Lecture Series
• ARTSLab 20th Anniversary