Contemporary life is a digital life. It is a life of i-devices, computer games, GPS navigation systems, and wireless Internet. Social interaction and perception are increasingly mediated by the digital. The resulting individual and social practices have the potential to reshape commerce, politics, education, and our creative and aesthetic lives. Digital art is an inquiry at the intersection of media and human experience.

The new digital media art program at BAM/PFA is based on principles of innovation, critical inquiry, social participation, and open access, and is an integral part of BAM/PFA’s plans for a new building that connects the campus and city of Berkeley. As the epicenter of the information revolution, the Bay Area is a natural home for digital media art programs that serve inquisitive audiences.

BAM/PFA Digital Media Director Richard Rinehart has recently been named adjunct curator for this new program. We have begun building a program that invites you to become an active participant in interactive art exhibitions and new modes of learning that could arise only in the intellectual playground that is Berkeley.

Advancing this program, our growing Digital Vanguard includes leaders in the field of new media and culture such as:

Irene Chien
Ken Goldberg
Naut Humon
Jon Ippolito
Michael Johnson
Kevin Kelly
Jaron Lanier
Larisa Mann
Eric McDougall
Jane Metcalfe
Michael Naimark
Jon Phillips
Pam Samuelson
Beau Takahara