About
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Louise Lessél is a Danish New Media Artist and Creative Technologist based in New York. She creates sculptural artworks, digital projections and interactive installations and scenography, and has been involved in the live performance industry for 10 years, mostly working with music, light and theater artists, to bring new visions to life.

 

Louise is an expert in designing experiences that utilize the possibilities (and limits) of the human perceptual system, and in using tracking technologies for input – You won’t see any button presses anywhere near the things she programs, and if a technology doesn’t exist yet, she creates it.

 

She is the lead technologist on interactive projects for companies like DE-YAN, Candystations, ZeroSpace, James Clar StudioFuture Media Lab, for clientele like Disney, Amazon Studios, Snap Inc., and Superblue, and has spent the last few years working with big names artists and fringe performances alike, from experimental opera to live motion captured performances.

 

Louise holds two degrees in Interaction Design and Computer Science from Aalborg University and the IT University of Copenhagen, and a degree in Interactive Arts, from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

 

Her background covers R&D in Camera & Sensor technologies, VR, AR, Motion capture, Volumetric capture, Game Design, Exhibition design, Projection mapping and Live performance technologies, Physical computing and Lighting design.

 

She teaches workshops and creates educational resources for the university and open source community.

 

Previously exhibited New Media artworks include the internationally renowned installation ‘The Wave’, made at the artist collective Vertigo, in Denmark. She is currently working on a series of sculptures around the communication patterns of fireflies and a VR piece on environmental collapse.

 

She is an avid programmer in Touchdesigner, Unreal Engine and Unity, and a certified Laser Safety Officer.

I am interested in creating artworks that tell tales of non-human perceivable phenomenons, be it computer algorithmic thinking or plant system symbiosis. I base my artworks on scientific discoveries and exploration of the blind spots in human perception and the unnoticed social conditions under which we live.

 

Then I try to create new social spaces that humans can attempt to exist in, based on rules extracted from these phenomenons. All with the aim to describe the human condition and how focused we are on making things exist on human terms.

 

Programming

C#, Processing, Javascript, Arduino, Python, GLSL, CG, C++, MATLAB, p5.js, SonicPi, Open Frameworks

 

Software

Touchdesigner, Unreal Engine, Unity, Madmapper, VDMX, Max MSP, Ableton, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop

Education

 

2018 – 2020 :: MPS. Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University, Tisch, USA
Graduate degree in digital media art and interactive technologies.

Camera & Sensor technologies, VR, AR, Motion capture, Volumetric capture, Special effects, Open source software, Data collection and visualization, Machine Learning, Exhibition design, Projection mapping and Live performance technologies, Physical computing and Lighting design. Thesis: Homo ex Humo. Interactive sculpture with luminous robotic branches forcing humans to slow their presence to plant time scales.

 

2015 – 2018 :: BSc. Medialogy, Aalborg University, Denmark
Undergraduate degree in researching, programming and prototyping interactive installations.

Interaction design and programming, Augmented reality, Sensor technologies, Sound design, Signal processing, Computer graphics, Rendering, Game theory, Animation, 3D modeling, Virtual reality, Interactive storytelling, AV production. Bachelor project: The Black Queen.  Creating a system for autonomous agents and projection mapping in Unity, within the context of interactive live theatre.

 

2009 – 2012 :: BSc. Digital Media & Design, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Undergraduate degree in interaction design, user research, digital media strategy and communication.

Interaction design, Co-design, Research, Innovation and entrepreneurship, E-business, Prototyping, Project management, Concept development, Crossmedia, Storytelling, Communication strategy and Social media. Bachelor project: Ebooks and eye tracking. Transforming ebooks into interactive reading experiences, using eye tracking and attention theory to let natural reading patterns propel the narrative.

 

Exhibitions & Residencies

 

Myta Sayo Gallery: The New New, August 18-September 18 2022
Canada, Toronto,  link

 

LMCC Arts Center on Governors Island, May 26 – August 20 2022
Artist in residence, USA, New York,  link

 

Roskilde Festival, June 24-July 2 2022
Denmark, Roskilde Festival,  link

 

Illumination Light Art NYC, October 2021
Under the Kosciuszko Bridge, Brooklyn, New York,  link

 

SFA Projects, January 21 – March 30 2021
Manhattan, NYC, SFA Projects,  link

 

Invited showcase for Engineering Everywhere event, February 22, 2020
Liberty Science Museum, New Jersey,  link

 

Processing Day NYC, February 8, 2020
The New School, New York,  link

 

NYC Media Lab, September 26, 2019
NYU Tandon School of Engineering, New York,  link

 

Figment Festival NYC, June 1 – 2, 2019
Roosevelt Island, New York, Figment Festival,  link

 

NYCxDesign Exhibition, May 10 – 22, 2019
Times Square, New York, American Design Club,  link

 

ITP Spring Show 2019, May 21 – 22, 2019
NYU Tisch, New York,  link

 

ITP Winter Show 2018, December 17 – 18, 2018
NYU Tisch, New York,  link

 

NYC Media Lab, September 20, 2018
The New School, New York,  link

 

Digital Arts Festival, December 12 2018 – January 7 2019
Stavros Niarchos Park, Athens, Greece,  link

 

River of Light festival, November 4-5, 2018
Liverpool, United Kingdom,  link

 

Lumiere Festival, January 18-21, 2018
London, United Kingdom,  link

 

CPH Light Festival, 4 February – 2 March 2018
Copenhagen, Denmark,  link

 

ENIGMA Museum, October 1-30,  2017
Copenhagen, Denmark,  link

 

Plugout Festival 2017, September 1, 2017
Exhibition “Future visuals: Mobile AR Visuals”,  link  link

 

SMILE Samsung VR lab, November 23, 2017
Conference showcase  “Augmented Reality Visuals”,  press

 

Oticon Audio Explorers, June, 2016
Design pitch winner for hearing aid company,  link

 

Lectures, critiques & artist talks

 

Is This Really Live? Performance in the Age of XR
SXSW, Austin, Texas, March 13, 2023
Panel, XR & Metaverse
sxsw.com

 

Digital Dev: Touchdesigner 2, Career Artist Talk,
Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, November 7, 2021
Professor Torin Blankensmith


Shaders in p5.js,
Presentation, Processing Community Day,
The Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen, October 2, 2021
pcdcph.com

 

Shaders in Touchdesigner, Artist Talk, TouchDesigner meetup – LIVE Session
Music Hackspace Berlin, July 31, 2021
musichackspace.org, watch

 

Luciferin I, Artist Talk,
Online, March 21, 2021
SFA Projects

 

Shaders in Touchdesigner, Artist Talk, InSession with TouchDesigner Derivative Team,
Online, December 18, 2020
derivative.ca, watch

 

Interactive Design – ​Light and Space, Quest critique,
Pratt Institute, New York, December 7, 2020
Professors Tania Branquinho and Elvin Ou

 

Shaders in p5.js, Presentation, Processing Community Day,
The New School, New York, February 8, 2020
processing.nyc

 

The museum of the future, Lecture series,
AAU on Demand, Copenhagen, 2018

 

Plugout Festival 2017, September 1, 2017
Invited Artist Talk “Future visuals: Mobile AR Visuals”,  link  link

Awards and scholarships

 

Fulbright Denmark
American-Scandinavian Foundation
Interactive Telecommunications Program NYU
Nordisk Film
Danmark-Amerika Fondet
Bikubenfonden Academic Guest House
Laurits Andersen Fonden
Augustinus Fonden
Glashof Legatet
Knud Højgaards Fond
Marie & M.B. Richters Fond
Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansen Fonden
Konpa Legat
Direktør Ib Henriksens Fond
VP Legat
Oticon Fonden
Fonden Julius Skrikes Stiftelse
Henry og Mary Skovs Fond
Frederiksborggenser legatet
Fonden af 3. november 1973

Press

 

“A visual symphony made with Unity”,
Unity.com, July 26 2022

 

“The Scandinavian Scholar Fighting for Planet Earth”,
Washington Square News, October 14, 2019

Published research

 

HCI International 2017 conference
Published Paper “Mix and Match: Designing an Installation for Music Festivals Aiming to Increase Social Sustainability” in DUXU 2017: Design, User Experience, and Usability: Designing Pleasurable Experiences 
Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-58637-3_1

 

SIDeR conference 2012
Published Paper “Introducing Magical Experiences in UX” in Student Interaction Design Research conference proceedings 2012.
Available at: http://www.cse.chalmers.se/research/group/idc/ituniv/sider12/?presentation=introducing-magical-experiences-in-ux

 

Lydkultur Rapporten 2012
Research Publication Contributing author and academic researcher for Lydkultur Rapporten, Part of the work done by the Danish collective LiveLaboratoriet. “Lydkultur” (Sound culture) is a major project for development and networking in the live music business in Denmark, supported by the Danish Government with a project funding budget of 500.000 DKK. Throughout 2012, six venues have discussed and shared ideas in an attempt to innovate the live music experience and create bottom-line value. The report examines these ideas, which were developed during creative workshops and tested in a series of events.
Available at: https://www.yumpu.com/da/document/view/18195699/lydkultur-2012-1-vega