▼△▼△ Lark VCR

Bio

Lark VCR (aka Lark Alder) makes speculative proposals to explore the pitfalls and possibilities of an increasingly digitized and bioengineered world. Working in hybrid forms of video and web-based media, they leverage humor as an entry point to engage audiences in nondidactic cultural critique.

VCR stands for Virtually Conflicted Reality - it is both an homage to analog video and a skeptical nod at the techno-utopian promises of virtual reality (VR). Experientially, it is the state of perpetual disconnect we navigate as cognizant individuals who have no choice but to participate in systems defined by injustice.

Lark received an MFA from UC Berkeley in 2016 and is currently teaching courses at intersections of art, technology, and queerness at San José State University and Stanford University in their home state of California.

TEACHING

2017-now Lecturer, San José State University. Courses: Intro to Queer Arts, Digital Media Art / Creative Code, Advanced Video Production, Advanced Projects (Augmented Reality), BFA Capstone Exhibition, Intro to Digital Video Art, San Jose, CA

2021-now Lecturer, Stanford University. Courses: Queer Technology and Speculative Design, Intro to Art & Technology, Stanford, CA

2018-2020 PRIDE Center Faculty Fellow, San José State University. Curated QuArtz queer arts events and workshops, San Jose, CA

2017 Lecturer, SAE Expression College, Multi-Media and Web Development, Oakland, CA

2016 Lecturer, UC Berkeley, Courses: Video Production, 2D Digital Animation, Berkeley, CA

PUBLICATIONS

2021 "Queer Time, Productivity, and Failure in Interactive Media", Chapter in Interactive Storytelling for the Screen, Routledge

2021 “Honoring the Moon’s Otherwordly Presence – Virtual Moon Altar” Lark Alder in conversation with Denise Helene Sumi, On the Occult and Supernatural (Journal), Akademie Schloss Solitude

2021 Network Imaginaries, Publication by Hackers and Designers, article co-written with Xin-Xin

EDUCATION

2016 MFA, Art Practice with certificate in New Media, UC Berkeley

2006 BA, Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University

LECTURES / PRESENTATIONS / WORKSHOPS

2022 Lecture, Stanford Art + Tech Salon, Stanford University, CA

2022 Projection Mapping Jam!, workshop in video projection mapping with KT Duffy, Project Artaud, SF

2021 Panelist, Queer and Transgender Identities in Expanded Realities, Interactive Storytelling for the Screen Book Launch

2021 Panelist, On Female Prophecy Akademie Schloss-Solitude

2020 Experimental Chatroom Workshop, Hackers & Designers Summer Academy 2020: Network Imaginaries. Collaboration with Xin Xin

2020 Artist Talk, Tuesday Night Lecture Series, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

2019 Speaker, Code Kitchen, Parsons School of Art and Design, New York, NY

2019 Interview, State of The Art podcast with guest host Dorothy Santos

2019 Workshop Organizer, “Human-Computer Love: Liberatory applications for future sex technologies”, Gender Bodies and Technology Conference: TechnoLogics - Power and Resistance, hosted by Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Virgina Tech, Roanoke, VA, April 2019

2019 Panelist, “Playing with Ourselves: Examining Life Through Virtual Media”, Gender Bodies and Technology Conference: TechnoLogics - Power and Resistance, Roanoke, VA, April 2019

2019 Lecture/Presentation, “Incantation in Code,” Processing Community Day, sponsored by the Processing Foundation, Los Angeles, CA

2018 Visiting Artist Lecture, Forum Lecture Series, CSU East Bay, Hayward, CA

2018 Panelist/Presentation, “Human-Computer Love,” Gender, Sex & VR Panel, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA

2018 Keynote, Creative Coding Fest (CC Fest), San Francisco

2018 Artist Talk, Talking Art: NEXTNEWGAMES, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2018 Panelist, Queer Technology Panel Discussion, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

2018 Artist Talk, 'Virtually Living: The Tamagotchi Effect,' LASER Art and Science Series, San Jose State University (SJSU), San Jose, CA

2018 Visiting artist in discussion with “Queer Wiki” class, Mills College, Oakland, CA

2017 Artist talk, Living Room Light Exchange, Oakland, CA

2016 Artist Talk, 'Stake in the Heart,' LASER Art and Science Series, University of San Francisco, CA

2016 Artist Talk, Survivors' Symposium, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

2015 Lecture/Presentation, 'Big Data Meets the Beating Heart' Manufacturing Transparency Conference, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

2015 Lecture/Presentation, 'Health Data for Employers,' Graduate Research Hot Topics, Berkeley EECS Annual Research Symposium (BEARS), Berkeley, CA