christopher robbins bio | contact | links

Christopher Robbins works on the uneasy cusp of public art and community action, creating sculptural interventions in the daily lives of strangers. He uses heavy material demands and a carefully twisted work-process to craft awkwardly intimate social collaborations.

He built his own hut out of mud and sticks and lived in it while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin, West Africa, spoke at a United Nations conference about his cross-cultural digital arts and education work in the South Pacific, and has lived and worked in London, Tokyo, West Africa, the Fiji Islands, and former Yugoslavia. He has exhibited at the New Museum Festival of Ideas, Trade School at the Whitney Museum,the National Museum of Wales, PERFORMA 07, Nikolaj Kunsthallen/ Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, and been awarded residencies/ fellowships from Skowhegan, MacDowell Colony, Haystack, Penland, and Anderson Ranch, among others. He is on the sculpture faculty at SUNY Purchase College.

The Ghana Think Tank, a project he co-founded in 2006, was a finalist for the Frieze Foundation Cartier Award in 2010, and was awarded the Creative Time Open Doors commission for Public Art at the Queens Museum of Art in 2010.

education
2009 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
2007 MFA, Honors, The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Providence, RI.
Brown University, Providence, RI. Collegiate Teaching Certificate. Level-1 certified by the Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning
2000 Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, New York. Dropped out of their MFA program in Computer Graphics and Digital Media to move to London and Fiji.
1995 BA, Psychology and Asian Studies, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
1994 Tokyo International University. Japan.

exhibitions and actions
2011 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong bi-city biennale, The Ghana ThinkTank. December 2011.
ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art. The Global Contemporary: Art Worlds After 1989. Sept. 17th, 2011–Feb. 5th, 2012
Insite: Art+Commemoration at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC). Sep, 2011.
Ghana Think Tank at Tania Bruguera's Immigrant Movement International. June 5, 2011.
Queen's Museum of Art, Creative Time Open Door Commission. May 8 - Aug 14, 2011.
Creative Time presents Ghana Think Tank at the New Museum Festival of Ideas for the New City. May 7, 2011.
Viewfinder. Group show at Art Gate Gallery, 520 West 27th Street.
Ghana ThinkTank at Big Screen Project. 6th Ave b/w 29 and 30st. May 9, 10, 23, 24.
In This Hello America (with Douglas Paulson). Double Session. CCA Bard. May 1 - June 1, 2011.
Squat The Condos! Workshop at Trade School, New York, NY. April 10, 2011.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. Sculptural Event/ Action Research in Trade School's A Coincidence of Wants. March 25, 2011.
The Typhoon Continues and So Do You. Group Show. Flux Factory, Queens, NY. April 2 - May 1.
Next Time Almost - a miniature statue of liberty. Chashama at the Donnell, 20 West 53 St (across from MoMA).
Double Take Triple Give. MoBY (Museums of Bat Yam), Israel.
Put up or Shut Up. New York Academy of Art.
2010 Dumbo Arts Festival 2010: Collective Consumption.
Paradise, VOX POPULI Gallery. Philadelphia, PA. September 2010.
The Wassaic Project. Summer Show. Wassaic, NY.
Eyebeam, New York, NY. Re:Group: Beyond Models of Consensus. June-August 2010.
Cambridge Arts Council Public Art Award 2010, Exhibition of Finalists (WPA-2010 with John Ewing and Carmen Montoya)
I Know What You Did Last Summer - Skowhegan Summer Show. Saint Cecilia Convent. Brooklyn, NY.
The Drawing Show. Tompkins Projects, Brooklyn, NY.
WPA 2010 Wassaic Branch. The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, NY. May/June 2010.
WPA 2010 Jamaica Branch. chashama, Jamaica, Queens, NY. July/August 2010.
2009 LAND/ ART New Mexico. Pause. Harwood Art Center, New Mexico.
The National Museum of Wales, May you live in interesting times, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales. The Ghana Think Tank.
The Waterpod, NYC. Hands on Workshops for Thriving After the Flood, with Matt Bua, Douglas Paulson, and Ian Warren.
Queens Museum of Art, NYC. Queens International 4. The Undiscovered Atoll of Flushtopia. As Anti-Fascist Culture Club.
RISD New England Alumni Biennial 2009, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Massachusetts.
FACT, Foundation for Arts and Creative Technology, Liverpool, UK. Climate for Change, group show on sustainability including Stefan Szczelkun,N55, Eyebeam, Melanie Gilligan and AIDS-3D. Curated by Heather Corcoran.
The Cinema Works Again/ Ponovo Radio Bioskop! U.S. Premier April 8, 2009 at Magic Lantern Cinema, as part of the Innapropriate Covers Show at the The David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, RI. Curated by Braxton Soderman and Justin Katko. Reviewed here.
2008 "The cinema works again" Official selection of International Lisbon Fair.
Future Places. Porto, Portugal. Finalist. The cinema works again!/ Ponovo radio bioskop!
Optimism. Westport Art Center, CT, USA. Curated by Michael Connor.
13th Pancevo Biennial of Art, Serbia.
Narrative Shorts Film + Video Festival, University Art Gallery, Chico State University, California.
"There was a man who made a tree, just so he could chop it down" selection of University Film Series, Little Theatre, Chico State University, California.
The cinema works again! / ponovo radi bioskop! Old Military Theater. Vranje, Serbia.
1st International Roaming Biennial of Tehran. Hafriyat Karakoy gallery, Istanbul, Turkey.
Lawrence Weiner Redux. Migrating Realities. BALSAS, Vilnius, Lithuania.
The End Gallery, Sheffield, UK. Defamiliarization.
University Gallery, UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center. Art in the Public Sphere: Singular Works, Plural Possibilities.
The Gallery, Wimbledon College of Art, London. Defamiliarisation.
MCLA Gallery 51. North Adams, MA. Bloom.
Contaminate 3: Live Art Festival of Performance, Sound and Video. Boston, MA.
2007 PERFORMA07, Action painter in re-doing of Allan Kaprow's 18 Happenings in 6 Parts. Deitch Studios, NY.
Nikolaj Kunsthallen / Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Denmark. The Tent Show.
Nebraska Art Farm, NE, USA. Art Harvest.
RISD Museum. Providence, RI. Sitings 2007 Installation Commission.
Stairwell Gallery, Providence, RI. USA. Bars and Tones.
Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI. USA. Whimsy Sex.
Brown Hillel Gallery, Providence, RI. USA. Fresh!
Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI. USA. Alter Ego.
2006 Duo Multicultural Art Center. Translations: Misguided Machines and Cultural Loops. New York, NY. Curated by Christiane Paul.
Pixileration Biennial, Autumn 2006. Providence, RI.
Provflux 2006. Mad Crow Collective. Psychogeographical art festival in Providence, RI.
Responsive Environments, Subtle Technologies Symposium Exhibit, Innis Townhall, Toronto, ON.
Sol Koffler Gallery. Providence, RI. Phenomenon.
Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology, CT. Connectivity: The Tenth Biennial on Arts and Technology.
2005 The Road to Glory. Alliance Francaise / French Institute. Fiji Islands.
Niu Wave Writers, Performance.
Designed multimedia elements of Allan Alo's VA, the broken sinnets, Suva Civic Center. Fiji Islands.
2004 Banyan Tree, Traveling Art Festival. Fiji Islands.
Oceania New Media Jam. Oceania Center for Art. The University of the South Pacific. Fiji Islands.

awards & residencies
2011 CEC Arts Link award, 2011, Ghana Think Tank.
CEC Arts Link award, 2011, Individual.
Puffin Foundation, 2011 Award Recipient, Ghana Think Tank.
Puffin Foundation, 2011 Award Recipient, Individual.
Black Rock Arts Foundation 2011 Grant Recipient, Ghana Think Tank.
New York Art Residency and Studio Foundation, Brooklyn, NY.
2010 Frieze Foundation Cartier Award Finalist, for The Ghana Think Tank.
Ghana Think Tank awarded Creative Time / Queens Museum of Art Public Art Commission
Artist in Residence, The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, New York.
2009 Fellowship, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Skowhegan, ME.
Finalist, RGASA, NY Studio Gallery, New York, NY.
2008 New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) awarded Fiscal Sponsorship for project 'Dirt for Nauru.'
Artist in Residence, Parfyme Harbor Laboratory, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2007 MacDowell Colony, Fellowship, Peterborough, NH.
Anderson Ranch, Brooks Fellowship. Snowmass, CO.
Artist in Residence, Kala Art Center, Berkeley, CA.
Artist in Residence, Nebraska Art Farm, Marquette, NE.
Haystack School of Crafts, Mary B. Bishop/ Francis S. Merritt Fellowship, Deer Isle, ME.
SITINGS Installation Commission Award, RISD Museum, Providence, RI.
2006 Rhode Island School of Design Award of Excellence, Fine Arts.
Stein Experiential Art Prize, Cross Cultural Cross-Media Art in Ghana.
Haystack School of Crafts, Mad Crow Fellowship Recipient.
Penland School of Crafts, Work-study scholarship recipient.
Artist in Residence, Kokrobitey Insitute of Art, Ghana.

my publications and artist talks
2011
Hubs and Spokes Panel at Bronx River Art Center, New York, November 22, 2011.
Presenter, Design at Scale: Building a Rigorous Ecosystem. DMI Design/Management Annual 36, New York, NY. October 25-26, 2011.
Congress of Collectives, Oct 1-23, various locations througout New York City.
Ghana ThinkTank presentation, exhibition and interventions at MobilityShifts Conference, Vera List Center for Art and Politics, The New School, October 10-16, 2011.
Guest Speaker. Woodstock Digital Media Festival, Woodstock, VT. June 18, 2011,
Resident Artist Presentation, NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY. June 15, 2011.
Artist Talk, ArtGate Gallery, 520 W 27th St #101 New York, NY. June 4th, 2011.
Ghana ThinkTank presentation at MOMENTA. May 6, 2011.
City as Lab. Presentation at New School for Social Research, New York, NY. march 24, 2011.
Faculty Colloquium, New Faculty, New Work, SUNY Purchase College. April 12, 2011.
Squat The Condos: How to be a counter-culture dilettante, Trade School, NYC. April 10, 2011.
Moderator, New Admissions Panel, SUNY Purchase
Represented the US Peace Corps at Work Abroad panel, SUNY Purchase.
2010 Sensing the Global. Presentation at New School for Social Research, New York, NY. October 14, 2010.
The Ghana Think Tank: Developing the First World. In DESIGN>ED, South Africa. (No. 2, 2010, pp160-165) (link)
Panelist, Studio Fuse Artist Residency Roundtable. August 10, 2010. (link)
WPA 2010: Action Research Workshop. Eyebeam Atelier, New York, NY. (link)
Think Tank the Think Tank (with Ghana Think Tank). Eyebeam Atelier, New York, NY. (link)
Panelist, On Networked Solidarity. Eyebeam Atelier, New York, NY. (link)
Artist Talk. Barnard College, Columbia University, Urban Studies program, New York, NY.
Artist Talk. Cambridge Arts Council. Cambridge, MA. New Hampton School.
Community Action Research techniques. Trade School. New York, NY.
Beyond Preservation: New Directions for Technological Innovation through Intangible Cultural Heritage. In IJEDICT, the International Journal of Education and Development using ICT, Volume 6, Issue 2. (link)
2009 Artist Talk. University of New Mexico Fine Arts program, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
2008 Techniques for multi-ethnic community collaborations: Working Across Cultures. U.S. State Department Speaker's Program. US Embassy Belgrade, Serbia.

The Cinema Works Again! on panel "Da li smo uradili to što smo mislili?" (Do you practice what you preach?). Old Military Theatre, Vranje, Serbia.

Cultural Identity in cross-cultural distance learning. INFOMEDIA. Sombor, Serbia.

Lawrence Weiner Redux. In Migrating Reality. KHM - Kunsthochschule für Medien, Cologne, Germany. The Migrating Reality book received a special award by the Vilnius Academy of Arts "Book Art 2008."

2007 Artist Talk. MacDowell Colony. Peterborough, NH. December, 2007.

Crossing Conventions in Web-Based Art: Deconstruction as a Narrative Device. Leonardo, Vol. 40, Issue 2. Cambridge: MIT press.

Other people's flowers: some personal reflections on researching as an outsider. In Indigenous Encounters: reflections on relations between people in the Pacific, Center for Pacific Islands Studies Occasional Paper Series, University of Hawaii, No. 43.

2006 Artist Talk. Haystack Mountain School of Craft. August, 2006.

Developing Culturally Inclusive Educational Multimedia in the South Pacific. In Dyson, Hendriks, and Grant, (Eds), Information Technology and Indigenous People. University of Technology, Sydney.

Info Breath Presented and exhibited at Connectivity: The Tenth Biennial Symposium on Arts and Technology, Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology, New London, Conneticut. March 29, 2006.

Providing cultural context with educational multimedia in the South Pacific. Educational Technology & Society, 9 (1), 202-212.

The Implications of Gigabit Internet in the South Pacific. Presentation at Digital+Media Graduate Department, The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Providence, RI. March, 2006.

2004 An idea-book for producing educational multimedia in the South Pacific (NmIdeaBook). Suva, Fiji : ICT Capacity Building at USP Project, The University of the South Pacific. ISBN 982-01-0593-5.

Harnessing power users' skills to create culturally-relevant educational technology in the South Pacific. Presented at the United Nations Invitational Summit on Power Users of Technology, (EdcUnPowerUsers) United Nations headquarters, New York, December 2004.

Educational multimedia for the South Pacific. (NmResearchReport) Research report on a research and development project I headed at The University of the South Pacific, 2004.

Educational multimedia at the University of the South Pacific. Presented at PacInet 2004, the Pacific Internet Conference. Port Vila, Vanuatu, August, 2004.

Culturally Inclusive Educational Multimedia. Presented at the Fiji Institute of Educational Research Conference, 5-8 January, 2004. The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji.

2003 Maximising the Benefits of ICT/Multimedia in the South Pacific: Cultural Pedagogy and Usability Factors. Awarded a $FJ 36,000 Jica research grant, 2003.

The Role of Division of Labor in an In-situ Multimedia-training Project: a South Pacific Case Study. (InsituTraining) Presented at ED-Media Conference, 2003, Waikiki, Hawaii.

2001 Macromedia Director 8.5 Studio, Friends of Ed Publishers.

press
Team America: Artists As Cultural Ambassadors. Art in America, October 2011. (link).
The Leonard Lopate Show, WNYC.ORG: InSite: Art + Commemoration (link).
Ghana ThinkTank in the LandFill Archive. September, 2011. (link).
Straight Talk with Nigel Hollis: What brands can learn from the Ghana Think Tank. (link).
ARTNews: It's Not Just a Museum, It's a Think Tank. (link).
NYC ARTS: Ghana ThinkTank in Corona. (link). The Utopianist: Big Ideas in The US, Festival of Ideas Features Mobile Art Studio, Interactive Think Tank and More (link).
Ghana ThinkTank is Black Rock Arts Foundation 2011 Grantee (link).
Community Toolbox/ bringing solutions to light: The Ghana ThinkTank. June 3, 2011. (link).
Ghana ThinkTank at Immigrant Movement International. (link).
Purchase Professor Uniting Communities Through Art. Harrison Patch, May 13, 2011
Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands: Revitalising The WPA With Action Research. PSFK: Piers and Simon (Fawkes and King). (link).
Ghana Think Tank in Ma'ariv (Isarael), February 2, 2011. (link)
Wall Street Journal: Judgment Day in Queens, Five Artists Present Ideas for the Borough's Next Public Project.
July 31, 2010. (link)
The Roosevelt Institute: A DIY, Modern-day WPA Program. July 30, 2010. (link)
Art 21 interview with Christopher Robbins (link)
Queens Chronicle – Residents team up for a public project. August 12, 2010. (link)
Gangemi Design: Ghana Think Tank - Turning Aid and Innovation on their Heads. May, 2010. (link).
GOOD Magazine: Bringing Back the WPA, Because the Government Hasn't. April 26, 2010. (link)
Boing-boing.net: Ghana Think Tank - the World Majority Solves the First World's Problems. (link)
Deepcraft Interview with Christopher Robbins (link)
Rhode Island State Council of the Arts (RISCA) The inappropriate covers show. April 8, 2009. (link)
Shedworking. Christopher Robbins: Albatross House. October 2008. (link)
Annual Art Harvest a cross-cultural artistic experience. The Grand Island Independent. Oct 26, 2007. (link)
Friday Live, October 26, 2007 program from Nebraska NPR. (link)
Newly sited. Cover Article, RISDviews, Spring 2007.
944/Phoenix. 2007. (link)
Arvore de Contraplacando. DIF Magazine. (link)
Next.now. The Providence Phoenix. May 23, 2007. (link)
Hi_res Magazine. (link).
Mocoloco. (link)
Turbulence.org / Networked Performance. April 19, 2006. (link)
We make money not art. April, 2006. (link)
Netdiver Interview with Christopher Robbins: thinker, author/activist + (web) designer. 2001. (link)
The Austin Chronicle, March 16, 2001. SXSW Web Awards. (link)