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Jessica Parris Westbrook && Adam Trowbridge
everybody@onchanneltwo.com
Works in Oak Park, Illinois United States of America

- http://www.onchanneltwo.com/
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Channel-TWo/183234255052442
- onchanneltwo

PORTFOLIO (9)

EPISODES
EPISODES (detail)
FIND EACH OTHER. Begin There.
PLAY
polyCopRiotNode(chicago)
t41nt3d [<3 ] : collection + executables
t41nt3d [<3 ] : friendly care package
There is no escaping here. (2012)
Www.OnChannelTwo.Com
BIO

Current Biography:
Adam Trowbridge and Jessica Westbrook collaborate as Channel TWo (CH2), a studio/research construct focused on mixed reality, media, design, development, and distribution, authorized formats + unauthorized ideas, systems of control + radical togetherness. Channel TWo is loosely aligned with the concept of over-identification, Slavoj Žižek’s description of a tactic intended to reveal the hidden nature of dominant ideologies -- not by pointing to them but by becoming extreme forms of them. CH2 Projects intersect joyful/play-oriented aesthetic experiences and user interfaces with challenging social undercurrents. CH2's most recent projects involve interactive landscapes/game environments, and computer viruses. “EPISODES 1.0,” is a multi-level, interactive landscape of rolling landscapes/dirt roads, uncapped landfills, and concrete portals through which guests/users can access underground spaces using wireless game controllers.This virtual environment is modeled after the WMI Pheasant Run Landfill, a municipal solid waste facility. CH2‘s iconographic object/symbol array [Seven, Soda, Cherries, Coins, Bones, Bomb] is embedded throughout the landscape, acting as cues to a game taking place beneath the surface. “EPISODES” uses layers, levels, and trespassing via the physicality of rolling trash mountains (complex beauty of a built natural environment) and through the implied social/economic stratiforms and discrepancies present in gaming concepts (luck, time, winning). Another recent virtual landscape/game environment, “FIND EACH OTHER. Begin There.” is a dual-channel networked landscape, designed as a cornfield with large sweeping, swooshing industrial windmills, suggesting a sustainable future while presenting unknowns, influenced by our home here in the Midwest, named after a chapter in The Coming Insurrection, and developed for the “Born Digital” exhibition at The Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), in Raleigh, NC. Another current CH2 project, “t41nt3d l0v3” (read: tainted love) is a collection of uncompiled computer virus code and two CH2 custom executables bundled on usb, stored in custom laser cut packages, and displayed as products. During t41nt3d l0v3's first installation, 7 of our 36 virus packages were stolen. (note: We are pleased with this distribution method.) In 2012 CH2 was awarded a Rhizome Commission, a Turbulence Commission in 2011, and a Terminal Commission in 2009 for projects involving education, systems design, and net art. In addition to exhibitions and commissions, CH2 contributes to panels, platforms, publications, and collaborative programs involving new media and social practices: Furtherfield.org (reviewers, ongoing), GLI.TC/H (thread leaders, 2012; editors/designers 2011, performers 2010), v1b3 Expose Intervene Occupy (participating artists, 2012), Basekamp’s Plausible Artworlds (facilitators, 2010), Temporary Services, "Art Work, A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics,” (writers, 2009). Adam Trowbridge and Jessica Westbrook have been working together since 1990. They are both Assistant Professors of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where they teach courses in the Department of Contemporary Practices and in the Department of Art and Technology Studies. Trowbridge received an MFA in Electronic Visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL (2008). Westbrook received an MFA in Photography from Temple University's Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA (1998).
Position Statement:
New Media Practices are both digital and social. We are committed to the hands-on approach to the craft/material/media/codes/languages/networks/protocols and substances underlying all of the digital and interactive studio practices. We are invested in how artifacts and systems are processed through the human experience --> the translation, and the culture/context(s) in which ideas and information are generated, designed, received, purposed, and shared. We are interested in communications, sensations, and misbehaviors present in media from the earliest mud and carbon mark making, to current platforms, through a speculative future of immersive augmented reality. We find joy in practices involving content in beta formations --> remixed, decentralized, released, then indexed again, blurring boundaries between real and imagined, potentially poking holes in systems of control, inheritance, dominant paradigms. We believe collaboration is a priority because new media practices are situated across relationships, disciplines, cultures, complexities and economies and it is friendship/connection, not competition or hierarchies, that defines authentic, constructive, accessible, supportive and sustainable conditions for artists, designers, scholars functioning outside the market.
RHIZOME ACTIVITIES

Discussions (0) Opportunities (3) Events (0) Jobs (0)
OPPORTUNITY
Posted on Wed Oct 15, 2014

## DIY_abortion: Channel TWo (CH2), Adam Trowbridge and Jessica Westbrook, share "A Womb of One’s Own: Taking Charge of Your Reproduction Without Doctors by Jane Doe" on github, the "World’s largest open source community"

Deadline:
Thu Oct 15, 2015 00:00

Location:
Chicago, United States of America

In the spirit of distribution and DIY culture, Channel TWo (CH2), Adam Trowbridge and Jessica Westbrook, share "A Womb of One’s Own: Taking Charge of Your Reproduction Without Doctors by Jane Doe" on github, the "World’s largest open source community". https://github.com/OnChannelTwo/DIY_abortion

https://github.com/OnChannelTwo/DIY_abortion

OPPORTUNITY
Posted on Sun Nov 04, 2012

## GLI.TC/H symposium--> working group --> glitchxxx cultures call

Deadline:
Sun Dec 09, 2012 00:00

Location:
Chicago, Illinois
United States of America

The GLI.TC/H symposium is rapidly approaching. GLI.TC/H 2112: DEC 6-9:CHICAGO // see: http://gli.tc/h/
We (Beth Capper, Adam Trowbridge, Jessica Westbrook) are organizing/facilitating one of the glitch traxx (translation: multi-day focused programming/activity) -- and your voice, presence, help is needed to make this traxx inclusive and thoughtful.
Preliminary discourse forums:
http://working.gli.tc/forums/forum/glitchxxx-cultures/ --> we need you
Please create an account and share ideas/response/resources :)
theme 1: Community –> Inclusion, structures, and power / for who?
http://working.gli.tc/forums/topic/theme-1-community-inclusionstructurepower/
theme 2: Artifacts –> Luncheon on the Grass, inheritance / gender, sex, others
http://working.gli.tc/forums/topic/theme-2-representation-luncheon-on-the-grass-gender-sex-and-others/
theme 3: Artifacts –> Critical re-enactments and or your dad's porn / woman-made
http://working.gli.tc/forums/topic/theme-3-artifacts-critical-re-enactments-andor-your-dads-porn-woman-made/
theme 4: Alt Realities –> Perspectives on gender (nonconformity), queer, fantasy
http://working.gli.tc/forums/topic/theme-4-alt-realities-gender-nonconformity-queer-ambiguity-fantasy/
Description
The traxx we are organizing is called "glitchxxx cultures." Glitchxxx cultures is focused on the social complexity of community, participation/access, and representation in glitch culture. There are obvious patterns present in the glitch communities (and other tech-oriented cultures) we want to consider here --> and these patterns always seem to cycle back to gender and sex, inheritance (tradition), and power structures (language, priorities, and expectations). The xxx in the title specifically refers to the complexxxity of gender and sexxxuality currents in glitch and related new media practices, and takes notice of the presence of homogeny (lack of diversity/participants in activity, possible related social/language and economic conditions in place), strong presence of sexual objectification (the impact of hetero porn oriented presence on wider participation/demographic/broader thinking), and co-option (of female sexuality)...
Why?
While the glitch new media community/aesthetic/activity - is just one facet/niche of new media oriented practice (art+computers), it does have a strong presence currently (especially in Chicago). Within the glitch community there is a presence of women via sexualized imagery/language, but not a lot of women and/or other more diverse populations participating in the community dynamic beyond this scope. Why? Is this a microcosm of the barriers/challenges of community, structure, language, power? Is this a microcosm of the barriers/challenges of women in tech? Is this yet another art movement that co-ops female sexuality/spectacle -- e.g. Luncheon on the Grass, Manet? Is there room for alt gender, sex, power dynamics?-- e.g. woman made masterbation material? How is a broader context for alt reality, gender, sex, power dynamics present/articulated in the community?
Goals in all this
Investigate contemporary life, art, dynamics, community
/ Ask big questions
/ Collect a wide array of focused resources and discourse that haven't been collected before
/ Have fun collaborating with a range of artists, designers, scholars; inclusivity
/ Publish/share the info in a way that it will be useful to others as a resource/reference
Preliminaries irl get-together:
If you happen to be in Chicago on November 9 and are interested in getting together to talk through ideas (5PM start), please contact Jessica Westbrook, jwestbrook1@saic.edu, for details.
Beth Capper is a PhD candidate at Brown University. She holds a dual Master's degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Modern and Contemporary Art History, Theory and Criticism and Arts Administration and Policy. Her interests involve feminist and queer approaches to writing art history, online archives, and media art histories/hysteries, particularly in relation to the early video communities in NYC and Chicago. In addition to co-organizing SAIC's graduate student film series, The Eye & Ear Clinic, Capper programmed film screenings for the Maysles Cinema in Harlem, NYC, and the Roots and Culture Gallery and the Conversations at the Edge series at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago and co-organized two ladyfest feminist arts festivals in Brighton, England and Chicago.
Adam Trowbridge and Jessica Westbrook collaborate as Channel TWo (CH2). CH2 focuses on mixed reality, media, research, design, development, and distribution... authorized formats + unauthorized ideas... systems of control + radical togetherness. CH2 was awarded a Rhizome Commission in 2012, a Turbulence Commission in 2011, and a Terminal Commission in 2010. Trowbridge and Westbrook have been collaborating since 1990, and have contributed to a number of publications, platforms, and programs including: reviews for furtherfield.org (2012); the GLI.TC/H READER[ROR] (http://gli.tc/h/) (2011); Media-N, Journal of the New Media Caucus (2010); Plausible Artworlds, a project to collect and share knowledge about alternative models of creative practice (2010-2011); Art Work, A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics, Ed. Temporary Services (2009). Both Trowbridge and Westbrook are Assistant Professors of Art at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where they teach studio courses in the Department of Contemporary Practices and The Department of Art and Technology Studies.

http://working.gli.tc/forums/forum/glitchxxx-cultures/

OPPORTUNITY
Posted on Sun Sep 16, 2012

## Array [ ] : textBooktoolKit in development, call for submissions

Deadline:
Fri Dec 07, 2012 20:00

Location:
Chicago, Illinois
United States of America

This year we were awarded a Rhizome Commission (http://rhizome.org/commissions/proposal/2599/) and are currently organizing, editing, and designing a free and open-source resource (textbook/toolkit) for art and design “foundations” via new media.
Concepts presented in this publication will be described in scenarios, and content will be geared towards beginners (introductory level). In addition to studio-oriented content, we will provide a range of context(s), framework(s), and reference(s) so that beginners have a sense of the histories, cultures, and motivations at play in new media studio practices. The editorial tone of this project will emphasize accessibility and participation, media literacy, direct use and exploration of new media processes and materials, and approaches and strategies for critical engagement.
At this point in the process we are reaching out to artists, designers, teachers, scholars, researchers, and curators. Please consider submitting projects for introducing students to “foundations” via new media (from the most simple to the most complex) for this peer-reviewed project/publication.
We have identified an array of constructs and are seeking contributions in response to the following: internets, protocols, social networks; exhibition/distribution systems and platforms; networking, wireless technologies, hacking; command lines; interface; hypertext; code; light; color; imaging/pixels; imaging/vectors; modeling/geometry; sequence/media/remix/post; glitch/transcoding; audio; I/O; electronics/circuits/sensors; basic mechanics; augmented/virtual objects and places; game spaces; interaction; tactical/intervention; scores/instruction; collaboration irl+tele.
When submitting a studio project/activity scenario please include:
/ a project description
/ process narrative
/ necessary supplies and equipment
/ information about related works and/or people
/ links and resources (theory+practice) that would support students in “going further” or “digging deeper”
All submissions will be kept in strict confidence. Your project scenario/activity submissions will be reviewed in full and a member of an editorial group will respond first with inquiries and then will initiate a process towards formatting, scaling, and illustrating your contribution. If there is significant overlap, collaboration might be suggested. If your work is selected for inclusion in this project, you will be fully credited. All authors will be asked to copyright their project using a Creative Commons or other open license.
Submission Details:
Deadline for submissions: Friday, December 7, 2012
Submissions should be emailed to: array@onchanneltwo.com
Please use the subject line: “yourname(s) - array”
Process Details:
Anticipated response time: January-February 2013
General Inquiries:
array@onchanneltwo.com
Sincerely,
Adam Trowbridge
Jessica Westbrook
...........................................................................
Currently both Trowbridge and Westbrook are Assistant Professors at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where they teach in The Department of Contemporary Practices and The Department of Art and Technology Studies. Their studio/research practice is Channel TWo (CH2). CH2 focuses on mixed reality, media, research, design, development, and distribution... authorized formats + unauthorized ideas... systems of control + radical togetherness. CH2 was awarded a Rhizome Commission in 2012, a Turbulence Commission in 2011, and a Terminal Commission in 2010. Trowbridge and Westbrook have contributed to a number of publications, platforms, and programs including: reviews for furtherfield.org (2012); the GLI.TC/H READER[ROR] (http://gli.tc/h/) (2011); Media-N, Journal of the New Media Caucus (2010); Plausible Artworlds, a project to collect and share knowledge about alternative models of creative practice (2010-2011); Art Work, A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics, Ed. Temporary Services (2009).
Trowbridge and Westbrook have participated in and contributed to a number of panels and public lectures with talks and presentations including: “Free iPads!? Scalable Digital Pedagogies for Undergraduate Education,” for Mobility Shifts (http://mobilityshifts.org/) at The New School, New York, NY (2011); “GLITCH Bodies and Brains” for gli.tc/h/ (http://gli.tc/h/) at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2010); “Post-Institutional Systems of Education” for Upgrade! (http://www.upgrade.artapsu.com/) at the Trahern Gallery, APSU, Clarksville, TN (2009); “Givingupness and the end of local” for Plausible Artworlds at Basekamp, Philadelphia, PA (2009); and “Shifting motivations, art practice as relation, network, system,” for BIN, at AVA Center, Chattanooga, TN (2008).

http://rhizome.org/commissions/proposal/2599/

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