ted

Ted grew up in California. He’s very soft spoken but has an electric mind – he’s curious in an obsessive way. As a kid he was interested in math but had a bad teacher and so he began exploring other interests. In junior high Ted would build websites for people. After college he worked for a design studio and after that he decided to move to Switzerland on a whim and pursue a master’s degree at the HGK. It is during this chapter of his life that Ted really began to dive into the world of media art.

At first it began with “glitching” – or intentionally corrupting image files for aesthetic purposes. Soon Ted started programming tools that allowed him to automate various processes involved in glitching which eventually became the foundation for his thesis. Hooked on someone and a city, he learned German and decided to stay.

Today, Ted is a lecturer at the university from which he graduated. His media art has continued to grow and involves a combination of digital and analog methods to push his understanding of images and how they can be experienced. Ted’s studio is in a large basement in the city and he refers to the work he does down there as “R&D”. He is a big believer of sharing the things he discovers and champions the open source ethos. There have been times when Ted was interested in something new and experienced imposter syndrome when starting out. Ted’s advice is to do the work and engage the community.

[43] June 24, 2021