Stephanie Rothenberg

assistant professor (visual studies, universitiy of buffalo)

Stephanie Rothenberg uses performance, installation and digital media to create solicitous interactions that question the boundaries and social constructs of manufactured desires. Referencing corporate strategy, these situations merge popular forms of advertising and market research with participatory experiences involving role-playing and fantasy. Cultural conventions of time and efficiency, spirituality and tradition are fore-grounded through their juxtaposition with prescribed, streamlined systems. The convergence lends itself to a recoding of current perceptions of commodity culture, infusing the public-ness of both objects and sites with the unpredictable and the idiosyncratic.

Before arriving at her current position in the Communication Design program in the Department of Art, Stephanie worked as an art director and designer for several new media companies in New York City during the dot-com boom (but exited promptly during its bust.) As the field continues to shift, she is interested in expanding the vocabulary of communication design through collaborative projects with students and communities at large. Her research includes issues of access, translation and diversity.

Stephanie spent her formative years traveling between New York City and Atlanta. After abandoning ambitions to be a drummer in a new wave band, she decided to pursue a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art that eventually led to an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has lectured and exhibited nationally and internationally at various festivals and venues including the Knitting Factory in NYC, Studio XX in Montreal, Thealit in Bremen, Germany, Sarai in New Delhi, India and Now Design Club in Beijing, China.