Roopa Vasudevan is a media artist, computer programmer and researcher, currently based in the part of Lenapehoking now known as Philadelphia. Her practice examines social and technological defaults; interrogates rules, conventions and protocols that we often ignore or take for granted; and centers humanity and community in explorations of technology’s impacts on society. Through a varied creative toolkit that includes data collection practices, systems design, web development, and remix, she seeks to emphasize personal and human experiences, often on an individual or local level, in a time of Big Data and surveillance capitalism.
Roopa’s work has recently been supported by Eyebeam (Brooklyn, NY); the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation (Philadelphia, PA); the Office for Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (Philadelphia, PA); the Philadelphia Area Creative Collaboratives (Haverford, PA); SOHO20 Gallery (Brooklyn, NY); the Arctic Circle Residency (Svalbard); China Residencies; SPACES (Cleveland, OH); and Flux Factory (Queens, NY). Her artwork has been exhibited and featured by media outlets nationally and internationally, and she has also participated in artist residencies, taught workshops and classes, and spoken about her practice around the world. She is a current member of NEW INC, the incubator for creative technology based at the New Museum (New York, NY).
Roopa received an MPS from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2013, and was selected as an ITP Resident Research Fellow in academic year 2013-14. Between 2016 and 2018, she was an Assistant Arts Professor of Interactive Media Arts at NYU Shanghai. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is researching the complex and involved relationships between new media artists and the tech industry.
