Faculty Friday: Andrew Bernstein ’08, MFA ’15

Our "Faculty Friday" series highlights one faculty member from the Welch Center every Friday. We ask these faculty members about their career, their work, and what they love about Goucher.

This week's faculty member:
Andrew Bernstein ’08, M.F.A. ’15
Director, M.A. in Digital Arts and M.F.A. in Art & Technology programs
Goucher College, Baltimore, MD

Tell us about your first job in the digital arts field.

Being a composer and artist, I became involved with the digital arts through my own artwork and performance. But my first "job" job in the digital arts was working as a web developer at a startup while finishing my M.F.A. I put to work the coding skills I was using in my art to build web apps for clients. Eventually the startup went out of business, and I decided that I didn't want to work as a web developer, but it was an incredibly valuable experience. I credit Goucher with equipping me with the skills to dabble in different fields and find out where I fit best. 

What excites you most about the field of digital arts?

I'm most excited about the interdisciplinary nature of the digital arts. The computer is a general purpose machine. Whether you are working with sound, image, text, or somewhere in between, you can use the same tool work with all of these different mediums.

What's your favorite digital medium/outlet?

Music was my first love, and these days I work most with code, to generate and process sound and create algorithmic and interactive visual work. I love the challenge of writing an elegant program that solves a particular artistic problem. When I incorporate randomness or external data to control some aspect of a piece, I feel like I'm collaborating with the machine, which strikes me as an apt metaphor for the digital age.

Tell us about a favorite hobby or passion of yours.

In addition to my multimedia work I also play the saxophone and perform quite a bit. After a long day at the computer, it is nice to unplug and practice for a couple of hours.

What's the best advice you have ever received?

Always be iterating! We learn by repetition, and making multiple versions of the same piece is how you'll discover your style.

What's your favorite thing about Goucher's Digital Arts or Art & Technology program?

I see the Digital Arts and Art & Technology programs as embodying the ideals of the liberal arts. I love that students can study a variety of media and understand how they relate to each other while going in depth on their chosen discipline. The combination of creative theory and practice gives students a foundation to mine for the rest of their careers.