C.E.B Reas
Encyclopedia
C.E.B. Reas is an artist whose conceptual and minimal works explore ideas through the contemporary lens of software. Reas’s software and images derive from short text instructions explaining processes that define networks. The instructions are expressed in different media including natural language, machine code, computer simulations, and static images. Each translation reveals a different perspective on the process and combines with the others to form a more complete representation.
He has shown his work at the Whitney Museum of American Art
's artport, Ars Electronica
in Austria, ZKM in Germany, Transmediale
in Berlin, GAFFTA in San Francisco, Uijeongbu International Digital Art Festival in Korea, the Danish Film Institute, bitforms gallery
in New York and Seoul, IAMAS and ICC
in Japan, the Microwave International Media Art Festival in Hong Kong, and the Sonar Festival in Barcelona.
Reas was a graduate student and researcher in the Aesthetics and Computation Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
’s MIT Media Lab
from 1999 to 2001. Building on his professional experience and undergraduate studies in design at the University of Cincinnati, he spent the next two years developing software and electronics as an artistic exploration. After graduating, Reas began to exhibit his software and installations internationally in galleries and festivals.
In 2003, Reas moved to Los Angeles where he is currently an associate professor in the department of Design | Media Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Reas is also notable for having created the Processing
programming language. Together with Ben Fry, he created the software while at MIT, and it is now used by thousands of artists and designers worldwide.
He has shown his work at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
's artport, Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica is an organization based in Linz, Austria, founded in 1979 around a festival for art, technology and society that was part of the International Bruckner Festival. Herbert W. Franke is one of its founders. It became its own festival and a yearly event in 1986. Its director until 1995...
in Austria, ZKM in Germany, Transmediale
Transmediale
transmediale is an annual festival for media art and digital culture taking place for one week in February in Berlin, Germany. The festival engages in reflective, aesthetic and speculative positions in between art, technology and culture...
in Berlin, GAFFTA in San Francisco, Uijeongbu International Digital Art Festival in Korea, the Danish Film Institute, bitforms gallery
Bitforms gallery
bitforms gallery is a gallery in New York City, New York, United States of America devoted to new media art practices. Breaking new ground in 2001, bitforms gallery has become a destination for artists, curators, and collectors exploring new art forms that lie at the intersection of software and...
in New York and Seoul, IAMAS and ICC
NTT InterCommunication Center
NTT InterCommunication Center is a media art gallery in Tokyo Opera City Tower in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It was established by NTT to commemorate the 100th anniversary of telephone service in Japan and opened in 1997...
in Japan, the Microwave International Media Art Festival in Hong Kong, and the Sonar Festival in Barcelona.
Reas was a graduate student and researcher in the Aesthetics and Computation Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
’s MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
from 1999 to 2001. Building on his professional experience and undergraduate studies in design at the University of Cincinnati, he spent the next two years developing software and electronics as an artistic exploration. After graduating, Reas began to exhibit his software and installations internationally in galleries and festivals.
In 2003, Reas moved to Los Angeles where he is currently an associate professor in the department of Design | Media Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Reas is also notable for having created the Processing
Processing (programming language)
Processing is an open source programming language and integrated development environment built for the electronic arts and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching the basics of computer programming in a visual context, and to serve as the foundation for electronic sketchbooks...
programming language. Together with Ben Fry, he created the software while at MIT, and it is now used by thousands of artists and designers worldwide.
Further reading
- Bruce Wands, Art of the Digital Age, Thames & Hudson, 2006. ISBN 0500238170.
- Mark TribeMark TribeMark Tribe is an American artist. He is the founder of Rhizome, a not-for-profit arts organization based in New York City....
and Reena Jana, New Media Art, Taschen, 2006. ISBN 3822830410. - Joline Blais and Jon IppolitoJon IppolitoJon Ippolito is an artist, educator, new media scholar, and former curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Ippolito studied astrophysics and painting in the early 1980s, then pursued Internet art in the 1990s...
, At the Edge of Art, Thames & Hudson, 2006. ISBN 0500238227.