About

Bio:
Gene A. Felice II bridges his creative practice across art, science, education and design, developing a sustainable network of innovation, living systems, and emerging technologies. His hybrid practice grows at the intersection of nature and technology, developing coactive systems as arts science research. These interdependent systems of hardware and software translate research into interactive, multi-sensory puzzles, exploring both passive and active modes of interaction, providing multiple ways for the audience to engage with the work. Video and animated imagery displayed via projection mapping / shared VR, transform two-dimensional surfaces into three-dimensional storytelling systems. Throughout his creative process, emerging technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutting & CNC milling hybridize with older methods such as wood fabrication, lost wax bronze casting, ceramics, glass casting and more. While keeping site specific histories in mind, he achieves confluence by merging these varied passions into a system of creative collaboration.

Gene A. Felice II is an assistant professor in Digital Art within the department of Art & Art History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where he is developing the Coaction Lab for interdisciplinary collaboration. His work has been featured nationally at the Cameron Art Museum, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, internationally at Sussex University in the UK, at ISEA Hong Kong and as a 2018 American Arts Incubator / State Dept. funded exchange artist based in Alexandria Egypt.

Arts Research:
The Coaction Lab examines unstable relationships between organisms, environments and technology; exploring site specific histories, stories and inspiration. We are interested in the symbiotic worlds of bio & ecological art, interactive systems, 2D & 3D prototyping, video projection mapping, biosensors and multi-sensory data translation. Within the borders of the University, this lab dedicated to collaboration between the Arts, Humanities and Sciences, has formed partnerships across the schools of Marine Sciences, Molecular & Bio Sciences, Engineering, Art, Music & Theatre.  Outside the University, we have collaborated with the U.S. Consulate and the Alexandria Creativity Center in Alexandria Egypt, The Cameron Art Museum, the City of Bangor Water District, Bigelow Labs, Alison Chase Movement, The Maine Science Festival, the University of Sussex in Great Britain, the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France and with Intercreate.org based in New Zealand. The lab develops ways for students to get hands on experience outside of the classroom both locally, nationally and internationally, by establishing connections between University research agendas and the needs and missions of ecology-based nonprofits, businesses and community groups.

The Coaction Lab facilitates the exploration of both prototyping processes and artistic practice moving from ideation to implementation through a variety of collaborative methods. We encourage students to develop their own hybrid process that compliments their particular needs, agendas and, skill sets while also learning to work with others through interdisciplinary group projects. Emphasis is placed on finding solutions by using one’s senses, through research, prototype development and user feedback. We share vocabularies and skill sets across interdisciplinary boundaries, all with the intention of developing alluring systems of exploration and wonder. These endeavors lie at the heart of what we do. We give our students new ways to visualize, sonify and spatialize their research. Facilitation provides the room they need to adapt, contextualize and communicate their ideas. As a result, they develop a toolbox that will foster future opportunities, such as jobs in higher education, large scale public projects, industry, grants, internships / residencies, and self-entrepreneurship.

Lab Website:
www.coactionlab.org