Gregory Little interviewed by Patrick Lichty

Techspressionist Artist Interview Series #12 – April 14, 2021

Gregory Little
Oberlin, OH USA

Gregory Little is an American artist, teacher, and writer.  His projects have been exhibited in international venues and presented at numerous conferences and on-line forums in the US, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia.   Exhibitions and screenings include at the Van Der Plas Gallery, New York (2021); Lemmon Gallery, Kent State University (2021); Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (2019); Olympia Fine Arts Association, Guwahati, India(2016);  Langkawi Art Biennale, Langkawi Kedah, Malaysia(2014); RE/Mixed Media Festival IV, the New School, New York, NY (2014);  Artsphere, Arlington Virginia (2014); Work: Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan(2014); and the National Institute for Experimental Arts, University of New South Wales, Australia (2103).

Gregory Little was an early adapter of VR technology.  He began designing “avatars” for virtual worlds in 1990 and taught virtual reality in a studio art department (Kent State University) in 1993, using the VREAM Virtual Reality Development System.  He was a visiting researcher at the Virtual Reality and Innovation Centre, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough UK in 1999 and 2000; developing an artistic virtual world for the VR Centre’s unique Hemispherium simulator.  Over the past 30 years his creative practice has evolved to include augmented and virtual reality, painting, drawing, experimental animation, and digital sculpture.

In 1999 Little published “A Manifesto for Avatars” in The Journal of Comparative Literature; and since has published essays addressing issues of aesthetics and new media in Intelligent Agent(2003-2005), Techoetic Arts: An International Journal of Speculative Research (2005); and in Media-N:  The Journal of the New Media Caucus(2011).

Little has taught at a number of colleges and universities, including The Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, Oberlin College, the University of Rhode Island, Kent State University, Studio Arts Center International, and Bowling Green State University.  He is currently Professor of Digital Art and Directory of AR||VR Research and Development at Lorain County Community College in Ohio.

Of his current series, Tiny Quantum Dreams, Little writes: “This on-going series represents a world within our world; an unseen world at the edge of our perception, at the edge of what our most advanced tools are able to measure.  Each artwork is peek into an imaginary landscape of processes at the sub-atomic level.  I create characters and architectures of broken scientific diagrams, warped wave functions, random quarks and squiggles, arcane calculations, and deteriorating pixels.  In creating these works I combine our most advanced digital tools and processes with ancient traditions of making.  Each piece in this series involves the use of lasers, painting with hand-ground paints, and digital bricollage.”

Techspressionist Interviews are self-produced videos of of artists interviewing other artists in the spirit of Warhol’s Interview Magazine. Many thanks to artist Roz Dimon developing the Interview Series initiative and drafting the format. These videos are also published to the Techspressionism YouTube Channel.

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