SP
AM

We are a collective of artists and researchers who are building SPAM New Media Festival as a space in Seattle for critical discussion around digital culture and technology-driven art, bringing together practitioners working from a postdigital perspective.

Approaching its third iteration, the yearly festival consists of a program of installations, performances, workshops and discussions, which have taken place at various art venues in Seattle. Festival events sit at the intersection of algorithmic art, moving image, immersive art, data-driven installations, robotics and more, and showcase experimental and novel ways to critically engage with a technologically mediated world. We look not only to create discourse around the intersection of art and technology, but ask how this crossover might raise important questions in regards to socio-political and ecological relations.

In 2023 we launched the first SPAM New Media Festival—a curated program of exhibitions and performances which presented the work of DXARTS PhD students across various Seattle venues. SPAM's\] 2023 Summer/Fall program began with an outdoor activation of Freeway Park, as part of the Downtown ARTS Recovery Program for 2023. Following this event, there was a series of free and open to the public performances and exhibitions throughout the month of October. For this first year’s program, SPAM collaborated with Henry Art Gallery, Mini Mart City Park, Method Gallery, Gallery 4Culture, Jack Straw Cultural Center, Georgetown Steam Plant and Meany Hall at the University of Washington.

For the second iteration of the festival, in September 2024, SPAM manifested as a three-day event at Georgetown Steam Plant, where we exhibited the work of over 30 artists and included 25 installations and two nights of performances. Following our wonderful partnership last year with the organization, SPAM 2025 is again hosted by Steam Plant.

SPAM New Media Festival is a volunteer run initiative. Our team of community art workers is made up of artists, curators, writers, designers, and technologists.