No Title; No Deed is the first iteration in a series of artworks that seeks to combine, as well as problematize, the energy and organizational tactics of mutual aid with the provocations of socially engaged art practices.
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A game of dominoes reimagined as a collective effort to create a community bank.
Summer 2020’s waves of volunteer-run, mutual aid efforts and skill sharing inspired me to create an low-fee/sliding-scale workshop using “mutual aid” examples as pedagogy.
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After the workshop, I mentored and funded the prototype development for a voting-accessibility app designed in class by a participant.
Build the Love You Deserve is a series of performances and workshops exploring the fantasy of robot companions and that which could be learned from the human desire for them.
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At the New Museum x Bell Labs artist residency, I created prototypes and conducted research around possible robotic futures.
I ran TRYTOBEGOOD Radio—a podcast of interviews with artists, writers, community organizers, and social entrepreneurs interested in methods and frameworks for creating positive social and ecological impact.
educator
BFA Core Studio Participation
Spring 2018, 2024
This course focuses on ideas of collaboration, participation, social interaction, and play in the context of emerging technologies. Students work in groups to research, design and build hardware and software projects geared toward facilitating participatory, playful experiences.
Designing for Usability
Spring 2021, Spring 2022
An introduction to the user experience design process: from research, to interface design, to a testable prototype.
In Spring 2021, I was asked to take over the course planning and rewrite the course description. I also piloted and personally funded a teaching assistantship position for this class. Here is what TA artist Cary Hulbert said about the position:
TAing for Fei Liu's Spring 2021 Designing for Usability was an informative and helpful experience. I had taken short UX courses before and knew the minimum while the class began and learned new relevant information alongside the students. My role as TA reinforced the information I already knew and made it possible for me to gain new understandings and new concepts pertinent to the field.
MFA Major Studio 1 and 2
2017-2021, 2023
These courses start with a primary introduction to the creation of work within a design and technology context and should be seen as the interface for MFADT core topics - Narrative, Computation, and Interactivity - as well as the tripartite of the program: design, technology, and society. The courses are run in a studio format with an emphasis on the making, discussion, and critique of work. Students in Major Studio 2 refine the investigation that guides their practice in preparation for their Thesis year.
In Fall 2021, I continued the teaching assistantship and increased the TA payment to be commensurate with the workload.
BFA Core Studio: Systems
Fall 2020
This course is an intensive project-based studio, focusing on the organization of systems and investigates networks, ecosystems, urban landscapes, and large-scale, immersive environments along varying degrees of scale & contexts. Emphasis is on a critical awareness of new technologies, an articulated design process, creative engagement with the medium and adaptation to interactive methods