● About Us

MAX lives at the intersection of artistic creation, scientific inquiry, and technology. We catalyze, produce, and deploy groundbreaking live and immersive experiences created by collaborative teams of artists, scientists, and creative technologists at the intersection of artistic expression, scientific inquiry, and technology.

We foster collaborations between storytellers, choreographers, performers, scientists, and creative technologists to expand artistic expression and amplify scientific insight while exploring its impact on our shared human experience. We invest in these artists and thought leaders by providing financial, logistical, and community support, ensuring they have the necessary resources to execute their creative vision and bring their work to life. This includes direct funding, access to physical production spaces, and the technical infrastructure needed to realize ambitious projects.

Liza Bagg, Kay Matschullat, and Nick Ryan

● Our Mission

We fulfill our mission with a three-pillar framework: MAXmachina, MAXlive and MAXforum

We originate and develop new and ongoing projects in our MAXmachina laboratory where artists, scientists, and technologists can experiment, refine their ideas, and push creative boundaries. This includes workshops, peer critiques, and preview showcases to provide deep feedback, iterative creation, and meaningful cross-disciplinary exchange. By offering dramaturgical guidance, production expertise, and access to collaborative relationships, we help shape ambitious, interdisciplinary works from concept to realization.

We present finished works to the public through our MAXlive series, reaching audiences across New York and beyond. These works represent the culmination of our artistic mission. We collaborate with institutions and venues worldwide to deploy and tour them, ensuring they reach broader audiences and continue to inspire critical conversation.

Additionally, MAXforum hosts an independent salon series, featuring our creators alongside industry luminaries. These gatherings amplify the dialogue surrounding the work, offering deeper reflection, discussion, and engagement with ideas and community that extend far beyond the performance space.

At MAX, we believe that the intersection of art, science, and technology is a powerful and borderless catalyst for change. Our work is driven by a commitment to spark curiosity, provoke thought, and create transformative experiences that shape our future. We seek to expand the boundaries of what art can achieve and how it can inspire meaningful action in the world and reflection on our role here.

MAXmachinaHero scaled

Photo of Lizardly by Heidi Boisvert and Kat Mustatea (Maria Baranova, 2021) 

● Our Culture

MAX is committed to increasing public awareness of science and technology through the arts.

We aim to reach a broad community through presentations that defy disciplinary boundaries by fostering collaboration and engaging audiences as participants. We work to cultivate an artistic workplace and presentation environment where all staff, creatives, partners, and audiences feel welcome and free to be their full selves. We are committed to supporting a community that reflects a range of spaces in which our work is cultivated and presented.

Media Art Xploration is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our organization does not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s race, sex, age, color, creed, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, socio-economic background, disability status, religion, marital or partnership status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, past incarceration status, veteran or military status and any other attributes protected by law.

Meet the Team

Our Scientific Board of Advisors

Our most essential part of MAX’s creative engine

Dr. Kirsten Allen

Schmidt Sciences

Dr. Maximiliano Isi

Columbia University

Dr. Nicola Clayton

University of Cambridge

Dr. Tal Linzen

New York University

Dr. David Haskell

Emory University

Kathryn Arffa

Above Ground Spaces

Dr. Andrew Guess

Media Art Xploration

Dr. Leo Peichl

Frankfurt University

Dr. Andrew Farnsworth

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Dr. William Brady

Northwestern University

Sally Martin Katz

de Young Museum

Dr. Tom Griffiths

Princeton University

Dr. Sam Gershman

Harvard University

Dr. Lila Davachi

Yale University

Dr. Mari Umpierre

Mount Sinai

Dr. Felipe Orduña Bustamante

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Dr. Penelope Boston

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Dr. Robert Cowan

Stanford University

Dr. Jack Mostow

Carnegie Mellon University

Lucia Pietroiusti

Serpentine Galleries

Adaora Udoji

Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU

Wendy Ettinger

Chicken & Egg Pictures

Dr. Sanjoy Som

Blue Marble Space

Rachel Chanoff

THE OFFICE

Vero Bollow

Stochastic Labs

Dr. Carl Schoonover

University of Washington Allen Institute

Kate Ladenheim

Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA

Dr. Jared Goldberg

Former Flatiron Research Fellow, Center for Computational Astrophysics

Dr. Vijay Ramesh

Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics

Dr. Wendy Erb

Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics

Dr. Michelle Fournet

University of New Hampshire

Our Venue, Educational, and Program Partners

Thank You to Our Institutional Supporters

Our Board of Directors

Special thanks to: David Bianciardi,  Nancy Eswein,  Wendy Ettinger ,  Carol Klein,  Carl Schoonover,  Dale Matschullat,  Elizabeth Grayer,   Eric Van Speights, and  Kay Matschullat

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