Roopa Vasudevan is an artist and creative coder best known for her #bellwether project. She is interested in how computer programs can expose patterns and biases in our collective thinking to create new awareness and understanding of the ways our smallest actions affect the larger scope of our lives.

We have come to rely on technology for most of our day-to-day lives, often spending hours and hours in front of the computer posting to social media, Skyping using the webcams on our laptops, or searching for things on the Internet, all while leaving behind some kind of digital footprint. One of the questions Roopa explores in her artistic practice is whether or not examining our own digital footprints as well as those of various demographics, communities, and cultures can reveal anything about human nature. What can technology tell us about our own ingrained behaviors, belief systems, and views of others? 

Join Roopa for an exploration of her recent work addressing these issues, including projects that algorithmically picked apart popular hip-hop lyrics, dissected the amount of hatred found on mainstream social media outlets, inspected the dominant physical makeup of our Congressional representatives, and examined the sentiments of the Twittersphere in the thick of the 2016 presidential primaries.

This event is part of the Haresh and Joan Shah Lecture and Performance Series. All events in this series are available to CIIS students, staff, and faculty free of charge.

Roopa Vasudevan (http://rouxpz.com/) is an American artist, creative coder, and researcher currently based in New York and Shanghai. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and has been featured by Reuters, PBS NewsHour, Slate, the Huffington Post, Hyperallergic, Jezebel, Complex, PSFK, the FADER, and more, as well as on American, French and German television. Roopa is a member of the Flux Factory artist collective and community (based in Queens, NY) and is currently an Assistant Arts Professor of Interactive Media Arts at NYU Shanghai.