Kelli Anderson

Adjunct Instructor

Kelli Anderson is an artist, designer, animator, and tinkerer who pushes the limits of ordinary materials by seeking out possibilities hidden in plain view. Her books and projects have included This Book Is a Planetarium (which houses a tiny planetarium and other scientific contraptions), a book that transforms into a pinhole camera called This Book Is a Camera, and a working paper record. Intentionally lo-fi, she believes that humble materials can make the complexity and magic of our world accessible. A longtime collaborator with the activist group the Yes Men, together they created and distributed a meticulously counterfeited copy of the New York Times—filled only with only good news from a utopian future—for which they won an Ars Electronica Prix Award of Distinction. She is also known for her design, animation, and illustration work for NPR, The New Yorker, Wired, MoMA, Pentagram, Tinybop’s award-winning Human Body app, and the real New York Times, as well as her redesign of NYC brands such as Russ & Daughters and Momofuku. She has been an artist in residence at Adobe and the Exploratorium. She occasionally teaches at the School for Poetic Computation and the New School in NYC. She holds a Masters of Studio Art from Pratt Institute and a Masters in the History and Theory of Art, Design, and Architecture from Pratt Institute.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.