Jen Lewin
jl@blueink.com

For the last 15 years Jen Lewin has been creating large, immersive, interactive art pieces for the public. From interactive sound and light sculptures that inspire people into play, to woven fiber video curtains that reflect movement, or giant, robotic, ethereal moths that dance based on human touch. Lewin’s ability to utilize technology as a medium is rare and unprecedented. She brings an organic, feminine quality to her electronic work that leaves viewers enchanted and surprised.

As a trained architect, Lewin’s pieces are often the scale of buildings and rooms. She creates experiences and environments that are both part of, and integrated into, a physical space. For example, herwork “The Pool” spanned almost a quarter acre and involved 120 interactive, glowing, outdoor light platforms that when stood upon, interact with each other. Her 2008 piece “The Moths,” was composed of three giant, translucent, silk robotic moths set to movement based on how someone moves under them.

While Lewin’s pieces may seem very technically complex, she has developed a system that uses her own custom simple raw tools to create complex, robust, interactive works with longevity. Her works can be waterproof and weatherproof. They can survive harsh conditions, and do not require enormous technical maintenance. She uses small microcontrollers and custom electronics, that allow her pieces to run for years without upkeep and provide her with infinite ways to capture user feedback, such as how a person is moving through a space or touching an object. With these tools, Lewin is capable of creating an infinite variety of work that allows her to create magical pieces that capture viewers and engage them in a space.

All of Lewin’s work is done in-house, at her studio in Boulder, Colorado.

Bio:
MPS New York University (ITP), BA Architecture: Computer Aided Design. Served as Creative Director for the Ceren Project and Ivee Project at The Sundance Laboratory for Advanced Computing in Design as well as a lead designer for ITN (Saber) in Palo Alto . Her art work has received a number of grants including the 1996 -1997 Presidents Fund For Teaching in Technology Research Grant and a 1996 CASI (Colorado Advanced Software Institute) Fellowship. Her design and multimedia work has been published in sources such as National Geographic, Siggraph 1998, IEEE, Computer Assisted Architectural Design Futures, and Automation in Construction. She has been invited as a speaker at Siggraph 1998 Educators Forum, The Center for Innovative Learning Technologies, Berkeley California and has worked as an adjunct professor teaching advanced Multimedia, interactive Design, sculpture, three dimensional modeling, and physical computing (microcomputing) at the University of Colorado, Boulder and New York University Graduate Program in Interactive Telecommunications (ITP). She currently works as an interactive sculptist and has shown her work throughout the country at exhibits including the Tisch School of the Arts, Lincoln Center , IEEE, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and Wireds NextFest.

Press
Interactive Moths- January 2008 The Daily Camera [page 1]
Interactive Art: September 2005 The Daily Camera, cover article [page 1] [page 2]
Architecture: July 2006, Food and Wine [design work]
Architecture:http://www.thekitchencafe.com/reviews.shtml [design work]

Exhibits:

-2008 The Pool, Honorarium Artist and featured exhibit, Burning Man 2008
-2008 The Moths, Visiting Artist Series, Atlas Center, Boulder CO 2007
-2007 GwangJu Design Biennale (featured exhibit), Gwangju, South Korea
-2007 Wired Magazines "NextFest"; invited exibit, "Long Harp", Los Angeles
-2007 Burningman, "Light Arcs"
-2006 The Dairy Center for the Arts, Solo Show, The McMahon Gallery
-2006 Wired Magazines "NextFest"; invited exibit "Light Arcs" New York Javits Center
-2006 University of Colorado, Museum "Light Harps"
-2006 Burning Man 2005 Laser Harps, Grant Awarded Commission and featured exhibit.
-2006 Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, South Room, "Light Curtain" and "The Butterfly"
-2004 “Elevator Shaft” Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
-2002 "Butterfly", New York University, ITP Gallery , NY , NY
-2001-2002 "The Ribs ", New York University, ITP Gallery , NY , NY
-2000 "Dancing Curtains", New York University, ITP Gallery , NY , NY
-2002 Tiche Galla, Lincoln Center , NY , NY: Laser Harp
-1998 SIGGRAPH: Orlando Florida The Ceren Project

Awards
-1996 CASI ( Colorado Advanced Software Institute) Research Grant.
-1996-1997 Presidents Fund For Teaching in Technology Research Grant: “The Ceren Project”
- 2005 Burning Man artists grant: “Outdoor Laser Harp”
- 2008 The Pool, Honorarium Artist and featured exhibit, Burning Man 2008

Publications (by Jen Lewin):

-1997 Lewin, J. and M.D. Gross, "Resolving Archaeological Site Data With 3D Computer Modeling: The case of Ceren," J. Automation in Construction, 6(4).

-1997 Lewin, Jenniffer, M. Erhardt, and M. D. Gross "Not Just Another Pretty Face: Image and argument in an archaeological web site ", Computer Assisted Architectural Design Futures 97, Academic Publishers, Dordrecht .

-1998 Lewin, J. Mark Ehrhardt, and Mark D. Gross "The Ceren Web Resource: Enabling Students to Become Anthropologists In A Virtual Site," SIGGRAPH '98 Educator's Conference, Orlando Florida .

-1998 Gross, M., J. Lewin, E-Yuen Do, K. Kuczun, and A. Warmack "Drawing as an interface to Knowledge Based Design", final report of a Colorado Advanced Software Institute Undergraduate Research Grant.

-1998 Lewin, Jenniffer. " Ceren Village Illustrations". Microsoft Encarta 1997. Computer renderings and reconstructions.

-1998 Lewin, Jenniffer. "Structure 1 rendering". National Geographic. May 1998. Computer renderings and reconstruction’s.
- 2003 Stephen Cass, “Electronic Realism: The Ribs, Jen Lewin”, IEEE Spectrum