Jonathan Hanahan
Jonathan Hanahan is a creative technologist and educator who loves the internet but is equally terrified by it.
He uses technology to critique technology. His speculative practice explores the physical, cultural, and social ramifications of digital experiences and the role technology plays in shaping our everyday realities. He makes Thick Interfaces. These are tools, devices, software, artifacts, websites, and videos that agitate the digital facade and reveal the complexity existing underneath the thin veneer of our devices.
Hanahan earned his BArch from Virginia Tech and his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. In addition to his studio practice, Hanahan is an assistant professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, where he teaches creative coding, procedural process, and interaction design. He is also the co-founder and co-director of Fox Fridays, an interdisciplinary workshop series encouraging experimentation with tools, processes, and technology.
Edgelands Exhibition
On View October 12-24, 2021
Texas State Galleries: FLEX Space
Texas State Galleries presents a solo exhibition of photographic prints and videos by Jonathan Hanahan. Edgelands investigates the increasing tension between the natural world and the infiltration of electronic waste, the fastest growing waste stream on the planet. The exhibition takes its title from a term coined by writer Marion Shoard describing the liminal space at the periphery of urban environments. Hanahan’s images hypothesize that these spaces, abandoned by industry and reclaimed by nature, as the future home of discarded technology.
Work by Jonathan Hanahan
Edgelands: Horizon 086, 2020
Edgelands: Mound 014, 2020
The 45th City, 2017
The 45th City, 2017
Nesting Dolls II, Waves: Physical, 2017
External Memory Devices, 2015