2020–2021 Fellowship Recipients
Taesha Aurora
Jesse T. Bassett
David L. Bermudez
Shishen Chen
Evgenia Dementyeva
Isaac D. Islas-Cox
Mudong Jung
Maksymilian Mamak
Gabriella Orsi
Stella Blue Porzungolo
Maren Bailly Speyer
Tracy Tan
Brandy L. Vazquez
Projects
Taesha Aurora
Taesha received funding to purchase video and audio recording equipment that she used to create her thesis film All My Lies Are Always Wishes.
Jesse Bassett
Jesse was awarded funding for a graphics processing unit he purchased to train machine learning models more efficiently. The GPU also allowed him to increase the speed of and gain much more control over his design process.
David Bermudez
David received funding to buy video equipment that he used to create visual scenes and narratives for his Wearable Worlds thesis project. His funding also allowed him to fabricate Wearable Worlds kits.
Shishen Chen
Shishen used his funding to build a Home Hydroponic System that helped him better understand how urban agriculture can respond to climate change while fostering and strengthening local communities.
Evgenia Dementyeva
Zhenia was awarded funding to create a digital and physical manual for cultural appropriation. As an atlas of instructions, precedents, and definitions, the manual encourages the decommodification of space via interventions that promote alternate uses for city sites and buildings.
Isaac Islas-Cox
Isaac used his fellowship funding to build a counter-monument to the Lin Zexu statue in Manhattan’s Kimlau Square.
Mudong Jung
Mudong was granted funding for an external GPU that was essential for his project of visualizing and understanding spaces that we know exist, but that we cannot physically access.
Maksymilian Mamak
Maksymilian used his grant to buy equipment for on-site documentation of and engagement with civic spaces and praxis in New York City.
Gabriella Orsi
Gabriella was awarded funding to purchase GIS software to analyze demographic, geologic, and atmospheric conditions along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and to document the BQE through film.
Stella Blue Porzungolo
Stella Blue was granted funding to fabricate full-scale tablescapes using a food-safe rubber material. These mockups allowed users to curate their own social experience at the table, and to answer the question: How does their use of the table change if its parameters are no longer fixed?
Maren Speyer
Maren was awarded funding to purchase thermal and full-spectrum cameras that he used to create images he then converted into point cloud models.
Tracy Tan
Tracy was granted funding to document the 7 Train line from three perspectives: the train’s interior, Google Maps imaging, and drone imaging. She then translated this data and reconfigured it into a rendered digital model.
Brandy Vazquez
Brandy used fellowship funding to host her thesis website communitybuilds.cargo.site and to design key graphics visualizing neighborhood needs and potential community projects.
