Creative Computing Studio: Studio Assistants
Project Description
The Creative Computing Studio explores the intersection of computing, technology, and art through the production of original artworks. This year, I am looking for Creative Computing Studio Assistants to work with me on the design, construction, programming, debugging, fabrication, and installation of a collection of ongoing and new artworks.
This is structured more like an artist's studio than a traditional independent study / research project. Students will primarily work on projects that I have conceived and am developing, rather than developing their own independent projects. Within those projects, however, students will take responsibility for substantial technical and creative components and will have opportunities to influence how particular problems are solved and works are realized.
The work will be highly varied. A student might spend several weeks programming an interactive component of an installation, designing and fabricating an enclosure, wiring and debugging electronics, implementing a computer-vision system, building a strange mechanical contraption, processing video, creating a web interface, preparing something for exhibition, or figuring out how to make an idea actually work or whether it is even feasible.
Tasks and techniques may include:
- Creative and interactive programming
- Electronics and microcontrollers
- Computer vision
- Web programming
- Video, image, and audio processing
- 3D modeling and 3D printing
- Laser and waterjet cutting
- Machining and woodworking
- Mechanical design and construction
- Audiovisual systems
- Installation and exhibition preparation
- Debugging, prototyping, experimentation, and lots of figuring things out
The particular projects and division of work will depend partly on the skills, interests, and backgrounds of the students selected.
An example of a previous artwork, to give a sense of the general "vibe," is the Autopoietic Turing Machine:
https://www.cs.hmc.edu/~bang/archive/blog/2025.04.07_16.02.30_autopoeitic_turing_machine.html
Students will be credited for their contributions to any artworks in public presentations, exhibitions, publications, websites, and other appropriate contexts.
Application Essay Prompt
In 500 words or less:
- Describe one or more creative technology projects you have worked on in the past. These could include art, design, fabrication, installations, games, websites, robots, audiovisual work, electronics, or other projects combining computing, engineering, mathematics, media studies, or technology with creative practice.
- Optional but strongly encouraged: Share a link to something you have made or helped make, and explain specifically what you contributed to it.
- What technical and/or creative skills could you contribute as a Creative Computing Studio Assistant?
- What kinds of tasks would you particularly enjoy taking responsibility for when helping realize and produce someone else's artwork?
The Creative Computing Studio is an experimental studio for making art with computers, electronics, machines, fabrication tools, and other technologies. The goal is to create a space where programming and engineering can function as creative media alongside more traditional artistic materials and practices.
Studio Assistants will get unusual hands-on experience working across disciplinary boundaries. Rather than spending an entire semester on a single narrowly defined technical problem, you might move between software, electronics, fabrication, audiovisual media, mechanical construction, and installation as different artworks require different solutions.
The studio is located adjacent to the Harvey Mudd College Makerspace, making it particularly well suited to projects that move back and forth between computation and physical construction.
This is also part of a longer-term experiment in developing a studio, lab, or center devoted to creativity, art, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at Harvey Mudd. Students participating now will help establish the working practices and culture of the studio as it develops.
The work connects directly with Harvey Mudd's mission of educating scientists, engineers, and mathematicians with a strong understanding of the impact of their work on society. We will approach technology simultaneously as something to build with, something to make art with, and something to think critically about.