Curriculum Vitae – Jason Brown

Instructional Technologist – Pomona College
Research Director – Superbunker
Janitor – Betalevel

Education

MFA : Writing / Integrated Media: California Institute of the Arts : 2000
BA : Religious Studies / Digital Art: University of California Santa Barbara : 1998

Lectures

Errata Salon: Texas: Betalevel, Los Angeles. Los Angeles. 13 October 2016
Errata Salon: Forgetting: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 24 September 2015
LA Atlas: Beach Invasions: Annenburg House, Santa Monica. 15 September 2015
Errata Salon: Automatons: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 04 June 2015
Errata Salon: Science: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 25 September 2014
Errata Salon: Science: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 25 September 2014
Errata Salon: Slowness: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 24 April 2014
Errata Salon: Roads: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 01 January 2014
Errata Salon: Bullshit: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 11 July 2013
Errata Salon: Subterrenean: Betalevel, Los Angeles. 10 January 2013
Paranoid Machines: TigrisNet: Satellite Space, Santa Monica. 18 November 2012.
Southern Machine Exposure Project: Cybernetics! (Oh silver-ravey blinken-goggly boo-boo child of the quaintly 90s cybery-cyber Cyber!!) and musical collaboration with Wobbly
Southern Exposure. San Francisco. 03 June 2012
http://soex.org/Event/377.html
&Now 2012: New Writing in Paris: Exchanges and Cross Fertilizations: Infomorphs and Authorship. (Architectures of Absence)
Université de la Sorbonne, Paris. 06 June 2012
http://andnowfestival.com/
Battle of Los Angeles: 70th Anniversary Commemoration: Machine Project, Los Angeles. 24 February 2012.
Paranoid Machines: Pacific Standard Time: The Pacific Standard TimePerformance and Public Art Festival Episode Of Paranoid Machines (Los Angeles 1946-1981), Broadcasting From Machine Project
Machine Project. 21 January 2012.
http://pacificstandardtimefestival.org/events/los-angeles-1946–1981-by-jason-brown/
Paranoia, Mania and Melancholy: Triway Hyperlecture Cage Match: Berkeley Art Museum. 06 May 2011.
http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/late050611
Paranoid Machines: LA Noir/MOCA edition: Machine Project, Los Angeles. 08 January 2011.
Arse Elektronika sex and technology: Endosymbiotic Cha-Cha
San Francisco. 02 October 2010.
When Ghost Ships Sailed the Skies!: a shipwreck lecture: Machine Project, Los Angeles. 09 September 2010.
On the Operatic Origins of the American Space Program: a Basement Wagner lecture: Machine Project, Los Angeles. 12 June 2010.
Paranoid Machines: SIGINT: Cologne, Germany. 22May 2009.
http://events.ccc.de/sigint/2009/Fahrplan/events/3121.en.html
Elves: a magic forest lecture: Machine Project, Los Angeles. 18 April 2009.
Paranoid Machines: MIT: MIT. Cambridge. 07 April 2009.
http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=10549474
Paranoid Machines: Cabinet: Cabinet. Brooklyn. 04 April 2009.
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/events/paranoid_machines.php
Arse Elektronika sex and technology: The Mind Diddlers
San Francisco. 28 September 2008.
Paranoid Machines: paraflows: Metalab. Vienna, Austria. 19 September 2007.
http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=10549474
Space Paranoids: Machine Project: Machine Project, Los Angeles. 07 July 2007.
Farmlab Projects: Space Paranoids: Pasadena Armory. 16 June 2007
Symptomology and Mnemotechnics: Machine Project, Los Angeles. 06 December 2006.
narr@tive digital storytelling conference: NTNTNT: constructing a fragmented history of art, activism and technology.
UCLA Hammer Museum. 22 April 2004
http://dc-mrg.english.ucsb.edu/gradconf.html
Saturday School at NYU: Space Paranoids – performative examination of technology and paranoia
New York University. 18 February 2003
http://www.finishing-school.net/satschool/space.html
MemeFest: Infoporn, Memes, and Contagion – performative tracing of contamination and perversion
c-level, Los Angeles. 01 November 2002
http://www.c-level.org/memefest/index.html
Genius Loci symposium: Discussion roundtable on issues of geography and technology in Los Angeles.
Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles. 17 March 2002
Liberal Education of Artists national conference: CalArts Northeast – presentation of the 2000 LEA cultural policy research residency in New York City.
White Oak Plantation in Yulee, Florida. 26-29 October 2000
Unnatural Acts conference: Space Paranoids – performative examination of technology and paranoia
UC Riverside
23-24 April 1999
http://ideasandsociety.ucr.edu/acts/
Undergraduate Research Colloquium: The Myth of Virtuality – performative examination of contemporary gnostic mythologies
UC Santa Barbara. 1996
Undergraduate Research Colloquium: Scratched Silver: The Returned Gaze in Orientalist Painting – slide lecture
UC Santa Barbara. 1994

Publications

Fortifications and Catacombs of the Conquests of LA: LAttitudes: An Angeleno’s Atlas. Heyday, 2015
https://heydaybooks.com/book/latitudes/
The Invisible Playground: Phone Phreaking and the Criminalization of Curiosity.: Review of Phil Lapsley’s Exploding the Phone. Los Angeles Review of Books, 2013.
Talking to Machines: interview with Brody Condon. Kaleidoscope Magazine. September 2012.
Fungal Cocktail Recipes: FungiFest. Machine Project. 2010.
FungiFest: Introduction: FungiFest. Machine Project. 2010.
New Machines: Machine Project: A Field Guide to LACMA. LACMA/Machine Project. 2009.
The Ones that Got Away (sestina): Machine Project: A Field Guide to LACMA. LACMA/Machine Project. 2009.
I Only Know These Things: Do Androids Sleep with Electric Sheep? RE:Search/Monochrom. 2008.
The Mind Diddlers: Do Androids Sleep with Electric Sheep? RE:Search/Monochrom. 2008.
Valencia Starbucks 2003.03.19 / 1320-1340: Chronometry. 2008.
Machine Project Guide to Cultural History and the Natural Sciences: Introduction: with Mark Allen. Pomona College Museum of Art. 2006.
Trepan 5: Monstrous: co-editor.
Trepan 5: Monstrous: Introduction: with Mathew Timmons. Superbunker, 2006.
NTNTNT – editor and illustrator: A book of net.artifacts. 396 pages, 54 illustrations.
Published by the CalArts School of Art. 2004
“Joker Runs Wild” – design, illustration and code: A web installation with Mady Schutzman
American Communications Journal v.6:3, Spring 2003
http://acjournal.org/holdings/vol6/iss3/schutzman/index.html
CalArts MFA Writing Showcase – publication design: A book documenting the graduating thesis reading of the CalArts Writing Program.
2001
“Paranoid Machines: Conspiracy Games and Desire Control in Tron“ – author: An essay for the Game-Art issue of the journal Switch which examines gnostic systems of control in game architectures and hypercapitalist mythology.
July 1999
current Switch: http://switch.sjsu.edu/nextswitch/switch_engine/front/front.php?artc=47 original v.12: http://switch.sjsu.edu/web/v5n2/index2.html
Trepan v.3 – editorial board member: Literary arts journal of the CalArts Writing Program.
2001
Trepan v.2 – editorial board member: Volume 2 of Trepan on the theme of “resistance.”
2000
CalArts Writing – site designer and webmaster: The website for the CalArts MFA Writing Program.
1999 – present
http://www.calarts.edu/~writing/
BlebNet – founder and co-founder: A website investigating systems of infomatic contagion.
1999 – present
http://www.bleb.net/
Microcosms– site designer, illustrator: Online version of an art exhibit which examined the University as a “curiosity cabinet.” 1998.
http://microcosms.ihc.ucsb.edu/
Terminals 2 – site designer: An expansion of the first Terminals project into a website, CD-ROM, and book which included the final diaries of Kathy Acker, Bob Flanagan and Christine Tamblyn. 1998
http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/Terminals/t2/main.html
Thresholds: viewing culture v.11 – editorial board member: “Panic and Paranoia” issue. 1998
archive
“Food Folks and Fire: interview with Kal Spelletech of SEEMEN” – author: Thresholds: viewing culture, v.11
1998
“Fun No More: Appropriation for Profit” – co-author: Co-authored as/with “Wobbly”.
Thresholds: viewing culture v.10
1997
_SPEED_ v.1:3 – design and production: “Airports and Malls” issue.
1996
https://nideffer.net/proj/_SPEED_/1.3/
“Cultural Prosthetics: the Mutational Aesthetic of the Late Organic” – co-author: Co-authored with Gabriel Watson.
_SPEED_ v.1:3
1996
https://nideffer.net/proj/_SPEED_/1.3/product/brown-watson/hex.html

Performances / Exibits

Corpse Bludgeon: Game performance fest. Betalevel. 08 December 2012.
Paranormal Olympics: Game performance fest. Betalevel. 29 October 2011.
One Box, Two Box, Red Box, Blue Box.: Historical overview and sound performance. Errata Salon. 11 July 2011.
Horn-O-Plenty: Game performance fest. Betalevel. 26 November 2010.
5th of St. Robot: Game performance fest. Betalevel. 15 May 2010.
Darkness… of Spring!: Live music in total darkness. Betalevel. 27 March 2010.
Darkness… of the Dead!: Live music in total darkness. Betalevel. 01 November 2008.
Duration for the Dark: Live music in total darkness. Betalevel. 22 March 2008.
Thought Bunker: Game performance fest. Betalevel. 09 June 2007.
Ambient Haircut: Performance fest. Betalevel. 18 February 2007.
Thought Bunker: Game performance fest. Betalevel. 02 December 2006.
Ambient Haircut: Performance fest. Betalevel. 06 August 2006.
Zombie vs. Vampire: Game performance fest. Betalevel. 13 May 2005.
page_space – installation and digital collaboration: A physical show and collection of digital work investigating substrates of inscription, co-curated with Braxton Soderman.
Machine Project, Los Angeles. 28 Feb 28 – 14 Mar 2004
http://www.superbunker.com/machinepoetics/page_space/show_machine.html
LAMOO – software/installation: A textual Los Angeles with an adventure game interface, co-produced with Eddo Stern.
Genius Loci, SCI-Arc. Feb-Mar, 2002
http://www.c-level.org/lamoo.html
Polyjewel – installation: Multinodular audiovisual installation using obsolete information technology.
CEAIT Festival, CalArts. 2001
Orange – video: Video investigating the aesthetics of Empire in decay.
New Video Works, Side Street Projects. 2000
Santa Barbara Noise Festival: Festival organizer.
Santa Barbara. 1998
Symptoms of Death – live weekly radio performance: KCSB FM, Santa Barbara. 1993 – 1998
Genomes, Hearts and Flowers – installation and performance: Cafe Sienna, Santa Barbara. 1997
The End Times – film and performance: Silent film with live sound accompaniment.
Reel Loud silent film festival, UC Santa Barbara. 1996
Prosthesis – performative installation: Collaborative wide-area audiovisual event.
E.A.T. Lab, UC Santa Barbara. 1996

Editorial

Terminals – site designer

A conference and a series of art exhibits investigating death and technology.
1996
http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/Terminals/t1/

Trepan

Literary arts journal of the CalArts Writing Program.
Editorial board member: 1998 – 2001

Thresholds: viewing culture v.10 – “Copyright, Fair Use and Appropriation”

1997
archive

Thresholds: viewing culture

Journal of art and cultural theory, based at UC Santa Barbara.
Editorial board member: 1995 – 1998

_SPEED_

An online journal investigating art, technology and networked culture.
Contributing editor and designer: 1995 – 1998
http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/_SPEED_/

Professional

Instructional Technologist, Pomona College: 2005 – current
Janitor, Betalevel: 2005 – current: Betalevel is located in a basement in Chinatown Los Angeles and plays host to various media events such as screenings, performances, classes, lectures, debates, dances, readings and tournaments.
Assistant Director, Machine Project: 2005 – 2012: Machine Project is an educational non-profit, existing to encourage heroic experiments of the gracefully over-ambitious.
Technical Coordinator, CalArts Critical Studies: 2001 – 2005: Responsible for maintaining technical resources for the School of Critical Studies, and direct responsibility for all facilities and equipment of the CalArts Writing Program. Duties include: annual budgeting and researching a wide array of software, hardware and audiovisual equipment; assisting graduate students and faculty in audio, video, and imaging software and hardware; design of Critical Studies promotional material, including the MFA website, print advertising, and event posters. Major accomplishments include: design, construction oversight and operational management of the Cube exhibition and studio space; connecting the MFA Writing Program to Los Angeles based cultural resources such as c-level/betalevel, machine project and superbunker; and focusing the Writing Lab towards the integration of media technology into the everyday practice of experimental writers.
Graphic Designer, NATPE: 2001-2002: Produced ad campaigns, corporate identity and marketing materials for a non-profit television member services organization.
Founding Member, c-level: 2000 – 2005: Part studio, part club, part stage and part screen, c-level created a wide array of projects and hosted countless fabuolous events in it’s Chinatown basement headquarters (re-organized as Betalevel in 2005)
MFA Writing Lab Director, CalArts: 1998 – 2005: Responsible for maintaining, upgrading, and facilitating the use of the Critical Studies graduate student computer lab. Duties include assisting students, managing lab assistants, researching and budgeting hardware and software, and consulting on school-wide technology acquisitions.
Research Residency, Liberal Education of Artists : 2000: A three week residency in New York City which examined cultural policy and the interactions of cultural institutions and individual artists with their communities. Research focused on more than thirty interviews with artists, poets, teachers, museum and gallery directors and academics. Major projects included a visit to high school students imprisoned at Riker’s Island and a writing workshop with recently released teenagers.
Freelance Web Designer: 1996 – 2001: Focus on large-scale arts projects, with sole responsibility for visual design, site architecture, back-end code and server maintenance.
Electronic Arts Technology Lab Assistant, UC Santa Barbara: 1995 – 1997: Responsible for maintaining a studio art computing facility and assisting the lab users
Production Director, KCSB FM: 1995 – 1996: Responsible for helping maintain UC Santa Barbara’s FM radio station, and for training station personnel in the use of audio production equipment.