Observer

Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: Page Two

Media Credit: Sheena Quashie , Managing Editor Prof. Sarah Wright stands infront of the projector in her Bradely hall Smart classroom.

Observer: How long have you been at Rutgers-Newark?

Wright: Just from the beginning of this semester.

Observer: Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do here? What is your position?

Wright: Here I am just teaching the Intro to Media class and Convergence class and I'm taking over for Professor Aristimuno, who's on leave; his wife had a baby. I'm teaching these classes for these two months. I'm actually based out of Brooklyn, where I live and have my studio. I'm a media artist.

Observer: Specifically, what kind of media art?

Wright: I do all different things, but most of my work is about urban environments and how people relate to urban environments. I don't know how much you want to know about it.

Observer: Tell us about it.

Wright: I've done some video installations, for example, one piece I did was a large-scale video installation that looks at small businesses on a street that is undergoing gentrification. It looks at the change in the types of services businesses provide and how people experience those changes. I've got another project where I map how people in urban environments. people give me a list of all the addresses they live at and I make line drawings showng how they moved, and then I send them postcards with the line drawing. A lot of work you can see on my website.

Observer: So how did you get into that?

Wright: I have a MFA from Hunter College in Integrated Media Arts and our focus there (I am currently doing my thesis there) is doing media that has some kind of relationship to life and is socially engaged. That's the idea of our program.

Observer: Is that an undergrad degree or grad?

Wright: Grad. A Master of Fine arts is, in America, the terminal degree you can get in art practice and it's the degree you get for teaching art, and in my particular case, media art.



Observer: As far as your career goals are concerned, what are they?

Wright: Definitely I want to continue teaching. Also, in addition to being an artist, I'm moving into university teaching. I do a lot of teaching in the community; I taught in homeless shelters and public schools and so I'd like to continue teaching at all the different levels. I like to do projects that involve the community and engage people on the street or in certain communities to explore the environment around them.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools