Joel Swanson

<p><a href="https://joelswanson.art/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Joel Swanson</a> is an interdisciplinary artist exploring the complex relationships between language, materiality, and technology. Working across discursive media—from neon text-based sculpture and obsessively detailed works on paper to new media works and large-scale public art—he investigates how linguistic tools and technologies subtly but profoundly shape meaning. As director of the <a href="https://www.typolab.org/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">TYPO Lab</a> at the University of Colorado Boulder&#39;s ATLAS Institute, where he serves as Associate Professor, Swanson leads experimental investigations into the boundaries of text-based technologies.</p><p><br></p><p>Unsurprisingly, Joel is the son of a nuclear engineer! We get into his upbringing in a Christian Conservative family, the influence of a caring teacher, his approach to public art, and his more recent embrace of more personal, punchy, and pink (but still clever, as always) art making. I&#39;ve known Joel for a long time but it was a real treat to get to know him and his work better.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="http://joelswanson.art/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Joel&#39;s website</a><br></p>