re-habituation is Media Arts and Technology’s (MAT) End of Year Show 2017 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Showcasing graduate student work that connects emergent media, computer science, engineering, architecture, electronic music and digital art research, re-habituation aims to represent the mission of MAT: to enable the creation of hybrid work that informs both the scientific and aesthetic discourses.

The media and research works represent transdisciplinary subjects and span the areas of computational perception, computer vision, computer graphics & imaging, haptics, robotics, virtual reality, augmented reality, conceptual art, digital humanities, mechanics of touch, human-computer interaction, data visualization, generative sound, generative design, scientific visualization, field research, sensor networks, remote sensing, and experimental music. Visitors to the exhibition had the opportunity to take a guided tour of the AlloSphere, the only immersive research instrument/lab of its kind in the world.

The show theme centers on the critical and creative minds of the participating artists and inventors, and their abilities in reconfiguring themselves in response to the shifting territories of art, technology, and humanity. Departing from the existing frameworks of theories and ideologies, this diverse group - comprised of artists, engineers, musicians, architects, and computer scientists - is constantly developing new methods and tools to identify emerging territories, reclaim and reactivate lost routes, and instigate connections between timeless and future treasures. Living between the virtual and the actual, the real and the possible, this group delineates continua over binaries, constructing bridges over walls and borders.

re-habituation, meaning “becoming refocused and reaccustomed,” stems etymologically from re- meaning “again," and from habitusand habeo— evoking habit (one’s patterns of behavior), habitat (one’s environment), having (a right to possess), and habeas corpus(one’s rights against unlawful detention). Our task is not only to work at the frontiers of knowledge— closing the divide between the unfamiliar and the familiar— but to nurture the roots so that our endeavors are not simply buoyed by the spectacle of the novel, but born from the enduring— the ancient, the actual, and the human.

Me and my colleague, Mengyu Chen, were in charge of the organization of the show in following aspects: concept design, curating the exhibition, organizing the concert, website and graphics design, promotion and marketing, inviting guest speakers, managing the finances, and catering.

Please refer to the show website for program details: