Qusai Kathawala {autumn 2006}
Born 1977 in Mumbai, India; later lived in Durham, NC; Minneapolis, MN; New York City; London, UK; Los Angeles, CA.
previous schools attended and educational experiences:
Currently enrolled in, and midway through, the Media Design MFA program at Art Center College of Design (2005 - )
Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering/ Industrial Engineering + Operations Research, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. (1996-1999).
Duke University, Durham, NC. Freshman year before transferring to the U. of M.(1995-1996)
Indian Secondary Certificate in Science, Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay, India. (1993-1995)
significant professional and creative experiences:
Current Research: Incorporation of Interactive Technologies- sensors, micro-processors and effectors - into the practice of yoga. Media used to extent the senses inward. people.artcenter.edu/~kathawal
Taxionomy Mumbai , reappropriation of the taxi ride as the ultimate vehicle
for psycho-geography w/ with Beatrice Gibson and Celine Condorelli. www.taxionomy.net
Mumbai Co-ordinator, Helloword Project w/ Johannes Gees .http://www.helloworldproject.com
Moving Corners, An installation representing Mumbai for the Barcelona Forum 2004, Part of the Urban Corners Exhibit.
On the Urban Design Research Institute ( http://www.udri.org ) team.
Teaching Yoga (Iyengar Style), 2003 - present.
Visiting Faculty for a New Media Arts workshop at Srishti College of Design in Bangalore.
Produced Russel TV, in which students worked in Russell Market, an old victorian fruit, vegetable, fish and meat market to research, produce and broadcast and in-house TV channel, all in 3 weeks. (Dec 2004) http://www.srishtiblr.org/index.htm
Teaching Sound Design for PUKAR Monsoon, a 2-week long workshop for college students in Mumbai. http://www.pukar.org.in
Transmitaudio, a performance sound lab in mumbai. Integration of sounds of Bombay, electronically generated sounds, indian classical music, noise, breakbeat. Our gigs have included the National Center for Performing Arts, the World Social Forum, Dorkbot, and a boat off the coast. www.transmitaudio.com
Entrepreneur in Bombay from 2000-2005,
working on: A Media Research Company developing GIS based software to plan advertising campaigns based on patterns of movement in cities.Worked with the Municipal Corporation looking for ways to install direction signs, maps, street furniture, using corporate funding in exchange for branding.
Tell us about yourself, what are your interests, influences and ambitions? I want there to be little distinction between work and play, private and public, art and reality. I am interested in the reappropriation of technological progress for the benefit of the individual rather than for the select few. I think media can be used in this regard- as a filter, as a new lens, as a device to make the invisible visible, to enhance the experience of everyday life. I think beauty is about how rather than what we see and hear and feel; I am interested in provoking poetic perception. I think there is a lot to be gained from descending from the mind and becoming more aware of the body, turning the senses inward to feel yourself, inverting the usual object/ subject relationship. I want to explore new ways we can now do this. Music has much to teach us in this regard. I am interested in writing as a way of exploring ideas too distant yet for science, and want to be able to use and subvert the expectations we have from media as a way of doing this. I try and I practice many of the principles embodied in Buddhist and Yogic Philosophies; I am interested in how these can be applied in contemporary life.My influences are many and changing though constant inspirations include, in no particular order: Guy Debord, Hunter Thompson, Italo Calvino, Sophie Calle, John Dewey, BKS iyengar, Dhrupad (Hindustani Classical Music), John Cage, Bob Dylan, Mark Lombardi, Natalie Jeremijenko.
Why do you want to attend the Sundown Schoolhouse? The teachers have done projects that are amongst the most inspiring I have come across in recent times. I am excited about the prospect of engaging with them, through individual dialogue, in group discussion, and even simply as an observer of the group dynamic. The format of the schoolhouse- the day-long program incorporating healthy physical and social practices and the explicit reference to the ends towards which we will be working- is almost perfectly consistent with my own imagined ideal learning environment. The Geodesic dome—icing on the cake, really—seems an excellent location for this. All in all, I think the Schoolhouse has the potential to be a magical experience and I would feel privelaged to participate.