ariella tai

On April 26 @ariellatai completed their residency with us.

ariella tai (b. 1987 queens, nyc) is an experimental filmmaker, artist and independent programmer currently based in portland, or. they are interested in the history of black performance and cultural vernaculars in film, television and media studies.

tai is one half of “the first and the last,” a fellowship, workshop and screening series supporting and celebrating the work of black women and femmes in film, video and new media art. They have shown work at Anthology Film Archives, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Northwest Film Center, Wa Na Wari, the Black Femme Supremacy Film Festival, MOCA and Smack Mellon, amongst others.

Recent exhibitions include the Portland Art Museum, Tufts University Art Galleries and “don’t let the money make you” at c3 initiative as part of Antidote curated by The Nat Turner Project. tai has attended residencies at Signal Culture, VTape and the Creative Exchange Lab with the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. They have been awarded Golden Spot Residencies at Caldera Arts Center in 2021 and at Playa Summer Lake in 2022 and 2023.

ariella spent their time using the Sandin and Dave Jones equipment shared by @alfredu_expandedmedia , with the help of and thanks to @337is and @adeutsch2

Digitally rendered images were printed out using our large format @canonusa printers onto a variety of papers.

“I generated an extensive amount of footage for two separate in-progress experimental video essays using the Sandin Image Processor. I played with some alternative setups for capture that I’m planning to integrate into future work processes. I was also able to make progress on the soundtracks for these pieces using the GRM Tool Suite in the Expanded Media studio to build on existing work and generate new iterations. I also used my time in the studio to plan, storyboard and begin the editing process. My time at the IEA has been incredibly generative for these projects.

Thanks to the generous and deeply knowledgeable guidance of Myles, I was also able to experiment and play with digitally printed stills from existing video work. I previously had very little experience in print, and feel so grateful for this opportunity to grow a new branch of my practice. I was given the freedom to print a range of formats on a variety of different paper types. I produced a run of vellum and large format prints that I’m planning to incorporate into future installation work. Several of these prints will be added to the IEA collection. I also produced a limited run of postcards that I’m excited to put to use! This was such a productive and inspiring experience.”

Watch ariella’s artist talk here.