Short version

Kit Kuksenok, PhD is a multi-disciplinary artist, researcher, and transsexual. Through participatory performance, data analysis, (auto)theory, and illustration, Kit practices and studies collective practices of (1) technical learning and teaching; and (2) building body knowledge. They are currently based in Berlin.

In the presentation below, I describe how the different threads of my research and art practice weave together:

"Speculative Images" @ The Art of Engagement, The Scottish Public Engagement Network Annual Gathering (August, 2021)
You can: watch the talks; see my slides; and view all other session materials

Long version

I was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. I did most of my growing up in the USA (Pittsburgh, Oberlin, Seattle). Since 2016, I have been based in Berlin. I speak English, Russian, Ukrainian, and now also German. I've studied Japanese and Latin in school, and I've worked on several constructed languages and scripts.

I have always been making visual art, and I have always been moving. My visual art projects are often an extension of the study of the body. I practice and teach yoga asana, which influences both how I teach technical subjects, and the art/performance landscape I am most interest in exploring.

I've been doing some form of code and/or data work since 2006. I studied Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (BA, 2010) at Oberlin College, and attended graduate school at University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering. For my Master's (2014), I worked in the intersection of machine translation and human-computer interaction. For my PhD (2016), I studied software production practices. Here is where you can find a list of my research publications. I continue to work on CSCW-flavored research projects as an independent scholar. I am employed as a data analyst.

My background in socio-technical research informs my artistic practice. For example, here is work, based on a 2019 exhibition & performance with an exploratory simulation with Berlin-based artist Sage Jenson.

My code/data work experiences inform my artistic practice, too. I have used (and made, and critiqued) tools for systematic reflection and building body knowledge since 2008. I do not subscribe to a "self-optimization" ethos; rather, I am interested in non-violent approaches that thrive with the imperfection inherent in the collection of bodily data and question the mechanisms of this collection.

Last Updated: November, 2022