“I keep a pocket full of theorems, sprinkling them on various situations, and seeing which ones fill in the cracks like walnut dust. I’ve accumulated them across so many (p)ages, but pairing them with the names this world has given them, that’s a futile task”

Ulm, as artist-psychopomp, works in interactive narrative, algorithms, circuits and mixed reality to usher participants through the virtual veil. The pieces offer chimerical worlds which combine the tangible and digital, inviting participants to co-author unique storytelling experiences through ludic exploration. Simultaneously, on a more deliberate level, Ulm investigates the the syzygy of intimate avatars to promote immersion, flirt with the uncanny valley, and question our notion of otherness.

 As a computer science major at Smith College, Ulm began developing her first electronic experiences, and upon completing graduate studies in interactive programming at Parsons, they helped launch one of the first undergraduate degrees in game development. They then received an MFA from Lesley University focusing on what Ulm terms the “interactive sublime” and the “game construct”. They are a professor of Interactive Media: game programming & development, Director of the undergraduate program, and Game Studio projects coordinator at Clark University, in the Becker School of Design & Technology. Ulm maintains a studio at a community maker-space and in the cloud. Her most recent art centers on interactive, fictive, live-action levels and the role of digital avatars in breeching the veil.

Such a lovely theorem, much like Reidemeister’s Theorem, and ever so tricky.

terrasa.ulm@gmail.com   tulm@clarku.edu