Jesse Gilbert

transdisciplinary arts and culture

  • About the artistBio CV
    • BioJesse Gilbert works in sound and software design, creating flexible tools that are activated in live performance, via network interaction, or in installation settings. His work has recently focused on developing SpectralGL, an interactive 3D visual instrument, on building multi-channel immersive sonic environments, and on composing electro-acoustic music for the moving image. Gilbert started Dark Matter Media LLC in 2007, through which he consults on a variety of projects in the art and entertainment industries. He is currently the Associate Director of I.T. and Digital Media at the CalArts School of Film u0026#038; Video, and has taught interactive software design at both CalArts and UC San Diego. Gilbert’s work has been shown widely in the US and abroad; venues include Färgfabriken (Stockholm), Laboral Centro de Arte (Gijón), Engine27 (New York), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), New Museum (New York), net.congestion (Amsterdam), Ars Electronica (Austria), CEAIT Festival (Los Angeles), Kunstradio’s Recycling the Future (Austria), and PORT (MIT, Boston). His work has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Eyebeam Atelier, the National Performance Network, turbulence.org, the Studio for Creative Inquiry (Carnegie Mellon), the Jerome Foundation, Creative Capital, the Markle Foundation, the Beall Center for Art u0026#038; Technology (UCu0026hellip;
    • PressImages for download 2010 World Technology Summit
  • Spectraldescription of SpectralGL
  • Writing
    • The Secret Life of Data
  • Sound Design
    • PerformanceSelected sound design for live performance: With Carole Kim Chasing the Pools Chamber DE: Materia FLOOD
      • DE: Materiadescription of DE: Materia
      • Chasing the PoolsThis is a single-channel video based on an immersive performance/installation exploring live cameras on dancers seamlessly integrated into the landscape of live-mix video projection. Their lit bodies became one moving image, dematerializing or re-materializing the body, while the background remained another. These channels were projected onto numerous scrims in a large tree grove. The video combines the composite live-feed image with the original source material. The sound design utilized a 10-channel diffusion system, with a real-time sampling shaping and processing the live audio and sending it across the public space of the performance. [vimeo clip_id=u0022116607133u0022 width=u0022600u0022 height=u0022u0022] CAROLE KIM, direction, video JESSE GILBERT, sound design/spatialization YORGOS ADAMIS, wind instruments G.E. STINSON, electric guitar LIZ HOEFNER, choreography, dancer videographers: ASTRA PRICE, live mix PABLO MOLINO, live mix BETH BIRD, live-feed EVE LUCKRING, live-feed MAILE COLBERT, live-feed ADELE HORNE, documentation MIRABELLE ANG, documentation dancers: MAGGIE LEE BELINDA CHENG SARA LEDDY AMY DORE DEBORAH ROSEN
    • FilmSound design for the moving image: Barbershop Punk – Georgia Sugimura Archer and Kristin Armfield Drawing Lessons – Marueen Selwood The Thin Time – JR Hughto
      • Barbershop PunkA documentary by Georgia Sugimura Archer and Kristin Armfield Film website:  http://www.barbershoppunk.com/ Is “The Man” controlling the vertical, the horizontal, and the channel you’ll be on? In a privatized American Internet, is big business “Big Brother” or does the free market protect and serve the needs of the average citizen with its invisible hand? With the simple act of swapping files, barbershop quartet baritone Robb Topolski finds himself at ground zero of a landmark case whose outcome will affect the rights of every American citizen. Following one man’s personal quest to defend what he believes to be his inalienable rights, BARBERSHOP PUNK examines the critical issues surrounding the future of the American Internet and what it takes to challenge the status quo. SCREENINGS: SxSW Film Festival (Austin), AFI SilverDocs Festival (Washington DC), Big Apple Film Festival (NYC), AFI Fest (Los Angeles), and many more.
      • Drawing Lessonsdescription of Drawing Lessons
      • The Thin Timedescription of The Thin Time
    • Installationdescription of installation works and context with Marie Sester Threatbox.us BE[AM]
      • Threatbox.usdescription of Threatbox.us
      • BE[AM]description of BE[AM]
  • Net.art
    • interaXisdescription of interaXis
    • Adriftdescription of Adrift
    • Transientdescription of Transient
    • Finding Timedescription of Finding Time
  • Code
    • Threatbox.usdescription of Threatbox.us
    • Microsoft campusAn interactive installation by MODE Studios. In 2008-9 I was part of MODE Studio’s dev team that implemented four interactive LED installations on the Microsoft IEB (Interactive Entertainment Businesses) campus in Redmond, WA. These large scale interactive installations channel a variety of inputs to control a real-time, algorithmically generated set of animated scenes. I coded several control modules for these installations, including: real-time traffic and weather network modules for high-level installation control, and the MODEMatrix, a high performance messaging matrix and automated queuing system that is responsible for connecting interactive modules to visual and auditory outputs and managing the behavior of the installation over its life cycle. For more information, go to http://www.modestudios.com/ and click on “Interactive Installation” [gallery link=u0022fileu0022 columns=u00224u0022 orderby=u0022randu0022] Credits: Bob Bonniol – installation design Pablo Molina – lead developer Jesse Gilbert – network and control programming James Nick Sears – visualization programming Bo Bell – computer vision programming Nathan Ruyle – audio programming and sound design
    • SVENdescription of SVEN here
    • dFusiondescription of dFusion here
    • echo::systemdescription of Echo:system
  • ReleaseLinks to publicly available software created by Jesse Gilbert. [intlink id=u0026#8221;1013u0026#8243; type=u0026#8221;pageu0026#8221;]Shaders[/intlink]       All software released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
    • ShadersOccasional releases of GLSL shaders that I’ve developed for the Max/Jitter environment.   Colorspace conversion u0026#8211;  download here Translation to/from RGB into a variety of perceptual colorspaces.  I developed these as part of a palette derivation tool for arbitrary images, release forthcoming.  All algorithms adapted from those at the EasyRGB website.  Transforms to/from the CIE-XYZ color space assume a 2º Standard Observer, D65 illuminant. Version 0.1, June 2012 Shader listing RGB –u003e HSL RGB –u003e HSV HSL –u003e RGB HSV –u003e RGB RGB –u003e CIE-XYZ CIE-XYZ –u003e RGB CIE-XYZ –u003e CIE-L*ab CIE-XYZ –u003e CIE-L*uv CIE-XYZ –u003e HLAB CIE-XYZ –u003e Yxy CIE-L*ab –u003e CIE-XYZ CIE-L*uv –u003e CIE-XYZ HLAB –u003e CIE-XYZ Yxy –u003e CIE-XYZ CIE-L*ab –u003e CIE-L*CH CIE-L*CH –u003e CIE-L*ab       All software released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
    • PaletteGrabDOWNLOAD:  https://github.com/jessegilbert/PaletteGrab/ PaletteGrab uses custom Java classes to analyze an arbitrary input image and generate an 8-color palette that represents its dominant colors. The analysis/sorting algorithm requires an input matrix in CIE-Lab format. In order to achieve this, use my colorspace transformation shaders available here: http://jessegilbert.net/release/shaders/ Several of these shaders are used in the example Max patch, so they must be visible in your Max search path. The Java sorting algorithm has a variable tolerance setting, which enables the user to select a maximum color “distance” used to group colors together. For input images with subtle color shading a lower tolerance value may be desired, resulting in a more nuanced output palette. Higher tolerance values may be useful to ensure that all colors are represented in the output matrix. Experimentation may be required to find the appropriate tolerance value for a given input image. The input image is downsampled to reduce processing time – the included Max patch provides a umenu to adjust this as needed.  
  • Song Again with Peter J. Harris and Artyom Manukyan

    Song Again with Peter J. Harris and Artyom Manukyan

  • Sound Escape Project at The Blue Whale

    Sound Escape Project at The Blue Whale

  • The Bresson Project at Arcane Space

    The Bresson Project at Arcane Space

  • Rosa Parks Oratorio at the Kitchen

    Rosa Parks Oratorio at the Kitchen

  • America’s National Parks at Walker Arts Center

    America’s National Parks at Walker Arts Center

  • Breath & Hammer at Boulezsaal

    Breath & Hammer at Boulezsaal

  • America’s National Parks at Lincoln Center

    America’s National Parks at Lincoln Center

  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at the Blue Whale

    Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at the Blue Whale

  • Rosa Parks Oratorio at Angel City Jazz Festival

    Rosa Parks Oratorio at Angel City Jazz Festival

  • Mars Festival 2018

    Mars Festival 2018

  • America’s National Parks at Monterey Jazz Festival

    America’s National Parks at Monterey Jazz Festival

  • CREATE Festival 2-A

    CREATE Festival 2-A

  • Duet with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at Clockshop

    Duet with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at Clockshop

  • No(!)sy Room at Kala Arts Institute

    No(!)sy Room at Kala Arts Institute

  • America’s National Parks at UVA

    America’s National Parks at UVA

  • CREATE Festival SF

    CREATE Festival SF

  • Ten Freedom Summers in the South

    Ten Freedom Summers in the South

  • Suite for Ma Dukes

    Suite for Ma Dukes

  • Sleepless

    Sleepless

  • MARS Festival 2017

    MARS Festival 2017

  • Create Festival

    Create Festival

  • Joshua Treenial: Event Horizon

    Joshua Treenial: Event Horizon

  • GOODFest: A livestream festival for good

    GOODFest: A livestream festival for good

  • Luke Cage: The Live Score at the Ace Theater

    Luke Cage: The Live Score at the Ace Theater

  • How We Do LA at the Ace Theater

    How We Do LA at the Ace Theater

  • Rosa Parks Oratorio at the New School

    Rosa Parks Oratorio at the New School

  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at the Blue Whale

    Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at the Blue Whale

  • Ten Freedom Summers at Molde Jazz Festival

    Ten Freedom Summers at Molde Jazz Festival

  • Wadada Leo Smith and John Lindberg at the Hammer

    Wadada Leo Smith and John Lindberg at the Hammer

  • Ten Freedom Summers at Suoni per il Popolo.

    Ten Freedom Summers at Suoni per il Popolo.

  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at the Blue Whale

    Miguel Atwood-Ferguson at the Blue Whale

  • Tonalism

    Tonalism

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© 2026

Jesse Gilbert