Studio 207 · 20 - 23 November, 10:00am–6:00pm
In I Act Comfortably With Others distorted figures drift across the screen, each one carrying a constellation of invisible needs, traumas, desires, and hopes. Floating checkboxes accompany them – diagnostic frameworks we use to categorize, assess, and define mental state and identity. The sketch visualizes the complex interplay between individuals and the systems that seek to quantify their experiences. The figures move randomly, occasionally intersecting with one another, their trajectories influenced by invisible forces: vulnerability, curiosity, compassion, or avoidance. The work was coded in p5.js (LGPL) and the artwork is Creative Commons licensed.
Lee Tusman is a New York-based artist working with computational media. His works exist beyond traditional gallery contexts as playable software, online projects, sound broadcasts, and community-building tools, challenging conventional boundaries between art object, organizing practice, and digital experience. His practice evolves at the intersection of individual expression and collective action, proposing alternative models for digital culture that prioritize sustainability, accessibility, and community self-determination.
Tusman creates game poems, interactive narratives, net art, albums, radio stations, and archival projects. These works emerge from a methodology that centers on the development and use of alternative computational tools, including his ongoing work with L5, a language designed for longevity and compatibility with older machines. This approach aligns with the emerging permacomputing movement, which addresses the environmental and social costs of digital production while asserting computation's potential for liberation and community building.
The artist's commitment to alternative infrastructure extends beyond individual practice to encompass collective organizing within artist-run communities. As an active participant in creative coding networks including and through his involvement with spaces such as Flux Factory, Babycastles, KCHUNG Radio, and Little Berlin, Tusman engages in what he characterizes as non-hierarchical organizing that challenges dominant modes of cultural production and distribution. This includes online spaces such as the solar powered server Compost.party and alternative game community Glorious Trainwrecks.
Tusman studied at Brandeis University and received his MFA from UCLA in Design Media Arts. He is Associate Professor of New Media and Computer Science at Purchase College, SUNY. He hosts the podcast Artists and Hackers, examining intersections of art, code, and community. Recent exhibitions and residencies include ZK/U Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik (Berlin), Pioneerworks (Brooklyn), Signal Culture (New York), Bangkok Art and Culture Center (Thailand), and ARoS Museum (Denmark).