a bit about Lucy
Lucy Strauss is a South African bio/computational artist and researcher. Her work spans viola performance, intra-active system design and machine learning with bioelectric signals, and first-person design methodologies. This practice research spans the space between human-centered and more-than-human computing approaches. Through these approaches, new technologies simultaneously extend creative practice and bring us closer to the living world we inhabit.
Lucy is currently pursuing a PhD in Arts & Computational Technology at Goldsmiths (University of London), funded through a CHASE fellowship. This year, she is also an Artist in Residence at the Creative Microbiology Research Co-Lab at the University of Johannesburg. She has performed improvised and experimental music at the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Mixtophonics Festival, 8EAST Cultural Center & NOW Society (Vancouver), De Tanker (Amsterdam), Hundred Years Gallery (London), and the Theatre Arts Admin Collective (Cape Town). She also enjoys contributing to interdisciplinary collaborations with fellow artists. Most notably, she has coded, composed and played for installations by artist Mia Thom at Everard Read Gallery, Act of Brutal Curation Gallery, and Eclectica Contemporary (Cape Town), as well as the 2022 Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain (Dakar). Lucy has presented workshops on composition (University of British Columbia), improvisation (Canadian Viola Society) and interactive music technology (Bowed Electrons Festival & Symposium).
Lucy’s practice has taken shape through training and supervision at the University of Cape Town (BMus in Composition); University of British Columbia (MMus in Viola Performance, funded through an Oppenheimer Memorial Trust scholarship); and mentorship at the MusicDance021 Performance Residency. The exchange with NOW Society musicians has also been highly impactful for Lucy’s improvisation practice, during her time as a musician partner at 8EAST.
