Member Profile: Rewa Wright
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
I have always been curious, so it was a fairly organic progression to becoming an artist and academic specialising in novel interactions with emerging technologies. I’m also a curator and writer, working with marginalised and under resourced communities for about 30 years. I like people, and I listen to the stories people tell and share.
2. What was your first job?
My first job was at age 13 1/2 working at a supermarket checkout in Auckland, my home town. In those days it was about $30 to buy a CD and that was nearly exactly what I earned for 10 hours of work per week after school. Being a normal teenager in the 1980s, of course I immediately engaged in copyright piracy and dubbed my CD to tape to share with friends, this was the height of the Sony Walkman craze!
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
I have two Masters, an undergraduate degree and a PostGrad diploma, all from the University of Auckland, while my PhD in Art, Design and Media is from the University of New South Wales in Sydney. I often consider a second PhD in computer science but have not yet found the time. Retirement project, perhaps.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
Through a friend at UNSW, June Kim, who encouraged me to participate on the SIGGRAPH Asia 2023 committee as Talks chair. I gained a huge insight into how the organisation operated from a governance level right down to the grass roots. I met so many wonderful people that I was inspired to continue with committee involvement, and was subsequently invited by Rebecca Xu to join the ACM Digital Arts Committee. I’ve met many inspiring people in the SIGGRAPH community, and am so grateful to be involved. Being a ‘noob’, I consider I am still learning, and try to gain insights from my talented peers.
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
Of course, I love engaging with all the industry, artistic and academic presentations, but the highlight for me was Kawaguchi-san’s Sake Party (Los Angeles 2024). Unforgettable. I am a huge fan of his fractal fans!
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
My pet project at the moment involves sonifications of NASA data, transposed to a tactile experience using conductive crystals as interfaces. Developing that concept with my group Uncalculated Studio, we were commissioned to create an animation called Cosmic Signals for Federation Square in Melbourne, which has an 5K screen in a landmark architectural multi-story structure. Your work becomes an embedded part of the fabric of everyday life. It felt exciting and humbling at the same time. Coming up in July 2025, I am co-hosting a workshop at FILE Festival in Sao Paolo on ‘Feminism and Degrowth’ (with Clarissa Ribeiro and Jill Scott), and co-writing a chapter on the same topic in a new book edited by Jill Scott.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
Jaron Lanier, because in the early 2000s I was inspired by not only his practical work with virtual reality but his conceptual underpinning and politics. Also, we’re both musicians so I feel like there would be enough to talk about.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
I studied classical piano from age 5 until age 22. Surprising, because now I mostly listen to contemporary genres like reggaeton, grime, jungle and Jamaican dancehall.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
My Grandmother, who taught me my first art forms: gardening, sewing and drawing. She also taught me to read voraciously, incredibly useful for a future academic.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
June Kim, I don’t think I would be involved with SIGGRAPH if it weren’t for her dedicated example of service and leadership.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
I recently curated a large emerging technology exhibition called ‘Constellations’ for ISEA2024 (the 29th International Symposium on Electronic Art). The twist was that initially I conceived Constellations as showcasing about 20 artists, and then it snowballed to 99, because there were just so many high-quality peer reviewed submissions that didn’t fit elsewhere, and consequently were rejected by our partner galleries. I didn’t want anyone to miss out, so I made our financial resources ‘stretch to fill’ by complementing the IRL show with a large online presentation ( VRChat and Styly platform) as well as a screening series in partnership with SIGGRAPH Asia 2023 and the Expanded Animation Festival 2024. Like a Constellation, the show became an assemblage of turbulent phenomena.