Vanessa Chang writes and teaches on the subject of old and new media.
More about this author
Vanessa Chang is the Director of Programs at Leonardo, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology. She has been a lecturer in Visual & Critical Studies at California College of the Arts, lead curator with CODAME Art & Tech, and a SOMArts Curatorial Resident 2019-2020. She has a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University, where she researched electronic gesture across the arts and was a Geballe Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, where she also led the Graphic Narrative Project. Her essays and reviews have been published in Slate, Noema, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Wired.
External
Voices From the Beyond
Noema | September | 2021
Chang examines the artistic potential for vocal deepfake technology. Acknowledging the need for care and ethical oversight when using AI, Chang argues that it can be a creative way to honor the dead.
After deadly outbreaks, architects transform the places we live and work. This time won’t be different.
Slate | April | 2020
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chang explores the history of infectious disease having an affect on architecture and public spaces.
Vanessa Chang considers Obvious’s “Portrait of Edmond de Belamy” and the history of AI artistry.
Los Angeles Review of Books | October | 2019
Chang explores the history, problems, and potential of art created by automatons (with human help).
Publications by this author
A Brief History of Humans and Machines From Cuckoo Clocks to ChatGPT
Melville House | November | 2025
Vanessa Chang explores how our bodies and senses have always interacted with technology, not just today with AI and deepfakes, but also in the past with things like eyeglasses and player pianos. She shows that every new invention brings different reactions—some people fear it, others are too hopeful. By looking at how people responded to older technologies, Chang helps us understand today’s changes and reminds us that the past can teach us about the future.
Media by this author
Feature | September | 2021
Technologies are shaped by the social, cultural, and political ideas behind them. Media art, along with research labs and residencies, can be a space to explore these ideas—especially in areas like AI, virtual reality, and gaming. In this talk, Chang explains the complex connection between media art, technology, and money. She highlights the CripTech Incubator, a program that combines disability, art, and tech to create more inclusive and community-focused ways of designing and creating.
Feature | July | 2019
Chang talks about digital objects and how they choreograph many of our daily movements. She explores the cultural history of mediated movement: gestures mediated in technologically specific ways.
Retrieved from "https://observatory.wiki/w/index.php?title=Vanessa_Chang&oldid=10613"
