London / jesse@s01e01.xyz
Education
- MA • Information Experience Design - Royal College of Art - London
- MBA • Business Administration - Piedmont College - Athens, GA
- BA • English Literature - Rollins College - Winter Park, FL
Selected Projects
- Heaven to the Cloud final MA research project as exhibition and live performance exploring digital rituals as culturally familiar forms of ceremony in an attempt to better illuminate the complexities of the commodified internet and the algorithmic integrity of artificial intelligence.
- Amid sound installation @ Dyson Gallery sonifying real-time pollution data in collaboration with Inés Cámara Leret @ the Royal College of Art.
- Rrose Selavy's Dada Extravaganza group installation, live performance and production for the Royal Academcy of Arts celebrating the Salvador Dalí / Marcel Duchamp exhibition.
Experience
- Processing Foundation (2016-2017) Director of Innovation
- The Foundation promotes software literacy within the arts by developing and distributing a group of related software projects, which includes Processing (Java), p5.js (JavaScript), and Processing.py (Python), and facilitating partnerships and collaborations with allied organisations and individuals, to build a more diverse community around software and the arts. During my time there, I conducted the first community survey and launched the online membership drive and website redesign in collaboration with Folder Studios. I was a co-mentor, along with Lauren McCarthy, for an afterschool and summer camp program called DIY Girls. The artist-led partnership created code-based curriculum for future community initiatives. With board members, Casey Reas, Ben Fry, Daniel Shiffman, and Lauren McCarthy, I organised and helped select Processing Foundation Fellowships, which are annual awards for ambitious software development and community projects with funding and guidance from the Foundation.
- David Lynch Foundation (2013-2016) Program Strategist
- The nonprofit organisation aims to reduce stress and the side effects of trauma to support cognitive and emotional well-being through meditation programmes. Over the three years I was with the organisation, I led Los Angeles outreach efforts and participated in numerous projects [ e.g. board meetings and minutes, events and digital fundraising efforts, grants, celebrity and high-income donor management, regional budgeting ]. With the help of school leadership, teachers, and parents, I launched and led the Quiet Time Program [ the specific title for school initiatives ] in South Los Angeles at Frederick Douglass Middle School. I tracked statistical and subjective outcomes such as attendance, behaviour, and performance to strategise and optimise future initiatives. Teacher and family buy-in was vital for success, so it was crucial to foster relationships based on consistency and trust. I also researched, edited, and wrote grants. I dealt with high-profile donors, which required a high level of sensitivity because of their public status. For Los Angeles fundraising events, I provided production assistance for The Music of David Lynch at The Theatre at Ace Hotel, 2015; Lifetime of Peace & Love Concert feat. Ringo Starr, 2014; Lifetime of Harmony Gala feat. Rick Rubin, 2014. I served as the Los Angeles-based assistant director for the development office based in New York City.
Talks + Teaching
- Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art (2019)
- Presentation for the Pokémon CEO and board of trustees in Tokyo headquarters (2019)
- Blue{shift} Creative Code Instructor (2018-2019)
- P5.js coding workshop lead @ Royal College of Art (2018)
- Sound workshop for RCA MA Sound Design students (2018)
- Artist presentation and talk @ Flagler College (2016)
- Sound workshop @ Sewanee: University of the South (2015)
- St. Benedict's Prep Resident Tutor and Advocate (2011-2013)
- Link Charter School Middle School Classroom Teacher (2011-2013)
Art
- DataScent an AI-derived fragrance
- Tectonic Apperception an interactive sound installation @ Crisp-Ellert Art Museum @ Flagler College with Greg Pond
- Britbot Chatbot production assistant [ research, data scraping, website front-end development ] for the Sky Arts commissioned Machine Learning project with Artist + Quantum Physicist Libby Heaney
- 10 Reasons Why Popcorn Will Make You Feel Better research project on data commodification @ Royal College of Art
- Not Just A multimedia exhibition @ 202 Gallery @ Central Saint Martins
- May The Light Come Back @ La Tôlerie Gallery in Clermont-Ferrand, France in collaboration with Judith Deschamps
- Flat Earth Folded sound installation @ Big Medium Gallery in Austin TX with Greg Pond
- Sirens in the Blank Hockney Gallery @ the RCA voice synthesis installation in collaboration with Judith Deschamps
- Flat Earth Unfolded exhibition @ University Gallery @ Sewanee: University of the South with Greg Pond
- Stereoma sound installation @ Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, TN with Greg Pond
- Cloudbase Foundation + Keen Footwear documentary score for Supporting Paragliding in Malawi, Africa *
- Vogue Paris music for video of Fashion Week Milan and Paris and Chanel's 100th Anniversary Cruise to Singapore
- No Fear of Pop staff writer for Berlin-based music website
- International touring and recording artist (2008-2011)
Self-Taught Skills
- HTML, CSS, Javascript, p5j.s, Processing, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Ableton Live, Logic, Max, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Sketchapp, three.js, Scratch App, Adobe Premiere, Pure Data, Data Scraping and machine learning research.
Experience Continued
- Royal College of Art SU Board of Directors (2018-2019) Student Trustee
- St. Benedict's Prep (2011-2013) Resident Tutor and Advocate
- The preparatory school prepares adolescents in and around Newark, New Jersey to fulfill their potential as emotionally mature, morally responsible and well-educated citizens. Approximately 50 students live on-site. These students tend to come from volatile home environments that impede their ability to academically perform well. I was one of several live-in tutors and mentors and gave both academic and holistic support on weeknights.
- Link Charter School (2011-2013) Middle School Classroom Teacher
- Shortly after the 1967 Newark Riots, Link was founded as “Project Link,” a non-denominational school, by the Sisters of St. Dominic, Caldwell. It provided community education, both adult and youth, to bring together the city's fractured population. From June 2011-13, I worked as a classroom teacher for English and US History.
- Schools That Can (2011-2011) Regional Coordinator
- STC works with a network of urban schools to enhance and expand real-world learning opportunities for low-income students in order to revitalise the education-to-employment pathway and ensure young people are prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing world. I organised community roundtables with local government officials, philanthropic and academic leaders, and other nonprofits. I led outreach for the Newark, New Jersey region, writing nationally distributed newsletters and oversaw local network school recruitment, which expanded from three to ten schools from December 2011 to June 2011.
- Open Door Community of Atlanta (2010) Weekend Manager
- Part of the Open Door Community at large, the Atlanta branch was a residential community formed in the original ecumenical, pacifist, anarchist spirit, and gentle personalism of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, which seeks to dismantle racism, sexism, hetero-sexism, and abolish the death penalty. I served in a temporary role as the summer weekend manager overseeing the grounds, the homeless in residence, and community activities such as food handouts and medical exams provided by Emory University Med students.
Performance Highlights
- All Tomorrow’s Parties Curated by Animal Collective, UK ∆ J. Paul Getty Museum, LA ∆ Isle of Wight Festival, UK ∆ Midi Festival, France ∆ Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, Spain ∆ Sasquatch! Music Festival, Washington State ∆ Parklife Festival, Milan ∆ Bestival, UK ∆ End of the Road Festival, UK ∆ SXSW, Austin TX ∆ The Bowery Ballroom, NYC ∆
Discography
- Traditions, Vol. II compilation: “Avatar Feels” je5c feat. El Mir, Memory No. 36 Recordings (2016) *
- A Cool Kind of Love LP: Tommy Toussaint, Chill Mega Chill Records (2015) *
- #cc10 mixtape: “I Don’t Wanna Cry” Tommy Toussaint, Creative Commons + Bad Panda Records (2013) *
- Traditions, Vol. I compilation: “Floating Islands” Tommy Toussaint, Memory No. 36 Records (2013) *
- Portals Summer II mixtape: “Summer of Love” Tommy Toussaint, Portals, Chill Mega Chill Records, Miscreant Records (2013) *
- Computer Snacks EP: Tommy Toussaint, Bad Panda Records (2013) *
- Summer USA EP: Tommy Toussaint, Make Mine Records (2011) *
- Cosmic Caverns EP: Tommy Toussaint, Cats Purring Collective (2010) *
- The Good Feeling Music of Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele: Dent May, Paw Tracks (2009)
- * Wrote, Produced, and Performed by me *
- ∆ With Dent May ∆
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