Artefacting Public Art + Research Practice
|
Alex White-Mazzarella is the Founding Director of Artefacting. An artist, social animator & facilitator, he sparked Artefacting as an initiative geared towards utilizing art, collaboration and positivity to build communities capable of confronting pressing social and cultural issues of local neighborhodds. With courage, multiculturalism and global insight in hand, Alex is passionate about bringing diverse audiences together. Through Artefacting he conducts artistic interventions from the inside of a community out to spawn fresh perspective and boost social cohesion.
He received his BA in economics at Clark University (2002) and studied Urban Planning & Architecture at Portland State University and Universidad Politecnica de Barcelona. He developed and realized the Central Waterfront Planning and Design Competition as the Program Manager of Designing Hong Kong before moving to New York to turn his attention to artwork, painting under Hugo Bastidas, Phillip Sherrod and Larry Poons at the Art Students League. His work is in private collections in the USA, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway and India and he exhibits regularly in New York City. www.lamazza.com is his personal website. | |
|
|
 |
Soaib Grewal is a designer, strategist, urbanist and entrepreneur. His work is based on using innovation, digital technology and a user centered approach to deal with issues of development, urbanization, policy, economics and service systems. He has created a professional practice that helps organizations engage with their stakeholders by adopting design and agile practices. Soaib sits on the executive committee of G5A (part of the Mohile Parikh Center) an organization committed to developing a more inclusive and livable city, through fostering creativity and resilience. He holds a Bachelors in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design.
In 2010 he co-founded WaterWalla an organization committed to creating solutions to the Urban Water problem in India. He led the groups Dharavi based research lab, working closely with slum based entrepreneurs and community groups. Before returning to India he worked closely with designer Dror Benshetrit developing sustainable housing models. His project work has included design based solutions to stimulate sustainable economic growth in rural Alabama, strategies to further craft traditions in Ghana, India and the United States as well thesis work examining the role and form of public spaces in activism and civic discourse. Currently he is writing a group of essays on public policy and its relationship to urbanism and entrepreneurial ecosystems. |
|
|
|
Namrata Mehta is an artist, designer and researcher, with an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Delhi University, and a postgraduate diploma in Experimental Media Arts, from the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore. Her work combines tactical media art practices with social research methodologies to engage with people about the experiences of everyday life. Projects that she has worked on address issues of waste management (S-M-mess, 2008), gender violence (NewPapers, 2009), urban growth (The Object of My Extension, 2010 and Everyday Places, Everyday Traces, 2011) and public transport (101 Reasons Why I Love the Delhi Metro, Ongoing). At the Center for Knowledge Societies (CKS), where Namrata is a design researcher, she works closely on technology and infrastructure projects related to ‘mobilities’ in both urban and rural contexts. These range from mobile as well as telecommunication technologies, portable diagnostic devices and transport solutions. Prior to CKS, at the Center for the Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CStep), she developed games as a research tool for policy makers in the agricultural and urban infrastructure sector. At present, Namrata is occupied with observing and capturing culture in and around the Delhi Metro, realising the potential for ICT based service delivery in urban slums, and wondering who and where her next postcard is coming from. |
