An Xiao Studio
the virtual studio of an xiao mina




Category Archives: social media art

Expanding the Definition of Avatar: Artists, Avatars and Self-Portraiture

Artists and avatars. I’m always very conscious about the way I use my avatar, the message it sends to the world. Some call it branding, some call it self-expression, some call it communication. But my avatar represents me in some fashion. Kyle Chayka in LA Weekly wrote a thought-provoking essay about artists and their online [...]

Talking about social media art in China

Two social media-related events these past few weeks in Beijing. I’ve spoken about social media art and done social media art in a few countries now, but China always presents the most potent site for exploration. I gave a talk at the Maker’s Carnival, a festival of making in partnership with UNESCO, Qinghua University, Shanghai [...]

Morse Code “Tweets” on Sina Weibo

My friends, the telegraph has arrived on Sina Weibo. Remember that Morse code project I did for the Brooklyn Museum a while back? Beijing artist Yang Jian (杨健) discovered it on my web site and as a result started posting Morse code on his Weibo account. I’ve spoken a lot about how I’ve been pushed [...]

15 Seconds of Fame Everyday: Twitpic vs. John Baldessari’s Your Name in Lights

This month, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is hosting John Baldessari’s Your Name in Lights, his popular commentary on that famous “15 minutes of fame” concept. In this particular installation, it’s reduced to 15 seconds, and broadcast in Museumplain, Amsterdam and simultaneously on the Internet. You can register here to be part of the fun. It’s [...]

Christopher Knight and Social Media as a Private Public Space

Christopher Knight at the Los Angeles Times recently wrote a little about my work after reading the ARTnews “Social Revolution” article: “Social media art involves ‘seamlessly blending the online and offline worlds,’ in the words of L.A. artist An Xiao Mina.” That he called me a Los Angeles artist is an honor, especially right now [...]

Loren Munk: A new art world paradigm?

In addition to physical-world places like Roberta’s, Facebook has become the popular hangout for artists and art world types engaging in dialogue about changes in contemporary art. Recently, James Kalm, aka Loren Munk, posed a question about the “new paradigm” of the art world. He received a ton of responses, many of which were interesting, [...]

ARTnews, Creator’s Project, and Why Social Media Art is Important

I’m thrilled to appear in “The Social Revolution: The Art World on Facebook“, a cover story by Barbara Pollack for the June edition of ARTnews: “Artists who have been working with the Internet and with new media since that genre began are interested in participatory systems and social networking,” says Lauren Cornell, the curator of [...]

A Weekend of Social Media Art: Xindanwei and Welcome to Enter at the JUE Festival

An excellent weekend in Shanghai, my first of what I’m sure will be many times in this city by the sea. I first spoke at Xindanwei (新单位), a co-working and new media space that I’ve been admiring from afar. For their Weekend of Social Media (社会性媒体周末), I introduced the audience to social media art and [...]

Thanks Mindshare

Image courtesy Nour Malaeb A big big BIG thank you to the amazing crew at Mindshare Los Angeles, especially Doug Campbell, curator of the evening’s events, and Jason Porath, who was an excellent host.  It was truly an honor to present alongside some incredible speakers, Steve Glenn of Living Homes and nanotech researcher Professor Philip [...]

Facebook Profile Picture Hack

You know I had to get on that bandwagon.  The Facebook profile hack started by French artist Alexander Oudin is such a clever way of remapping the clean (and sometimes staid) format of the Facebook profile.  And it’s not even a major hack — it just uses the basic tools of tagging and profile picture [...]


hello!
my name is
an xiao mina

i am a
design strategist
researcher
artist

i build communities
and empower individuals
through technology

contact - image by komodo media twitter feed - image by komodo media tumblr feed - image by komodo media vimeo - image by komodo media

i also blog at
my tumblr (links, notes)
88 bar (china)
core77 (design)
hyperallergic (art)

i publish at
design observer
design altruism

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