VJ Um Amel
Arabic for Video Jockey (VJ) "Mother of Hope"
Known for creating R-Shief software and performing as VJ Um Amel, Laila Shereen Sakr is Assistant Professor of Media Theory & Practice at University of California, Santa Barbara. At UCSB, she co-founded Wireframe, a new digital media studio that supports critical game design and digital arts practice. In 2021, she launched VJ.Live, a platform for live broadcasting and interactive experiences.
Known for creating R-Shief software and performing as VJ Um Amel, Laila Shereen Sakr is Assistant Professor of Media Theory & Practice at University of California, Santa Barbara. At UCSB, she co-founded Wireframe, a new digital media studio that supports critical game design and digital arts practice. In 2021, she launched VJ.Live, a platform for live broadcasting and interactive experiences.
- Digital Arts
- Media Theory + Practice
- Feminist Technology
- Middle East Studies
- Interaction Design
- Worldbuilding
Reel
Featured
‘Capital Glitch’: New exhibit in La Jolla to examine Capitol insurrection via ‘Arab cyborg’ perspective
In an interview, Elisabeth Frausto covers "Capital Glitch: Arab Cyborg Turns to D.C." in local San Diego newspaper, La Jolla Light (November 2, 2021).
Glitch: Art & Technology: Processing media matter
Gaafer, Rania “Glitch: Art & Technology: Processing Media Matter,” Necsus (Autumn 2020, #Method), November 30, 2020. Review in an international, double blind peer-reviewed journal of media studies published by Amsterdam University Press. Image left: VJ Um Amel “Birds 8.8” 2017 (image courtesy of the artist).
In Cairo, Artists Use Pixels, Cyborgs, and More to Examine Technology and Belief
"In Cairo, Artists Use Pixels, Cyborgs, and More to Examine Technology and Belief" (March 9, 2020) by Leslee Michelsen in Hyperallergic. Insightful review. Image left: VJ Um Amel “Body of a Cyborg 8.8” 2017 (image courtesy of the artist).
Review in A.I. journal
"AUC’s TCC Hosts Three Exhibitions on Art and Technology" (Feb 13, 2020) in Albawaba. “I am delighted to welcome guests to visit my new works on canvas, Cyborg Portraits, Rosetta Tweets, and a portal into R-Shief’s ten-year-old vault." Image: Bahia Shebab, “We love Life” 2019 (image courtesy of the artist).
Al Ahram reviews Beit Um Amel
"The sound of a glitch" (Feb 25, 2020) by Rania Khallaf in Ahram Online. "Sakr uses different techniques, gama, glitch and pixel sorting, to produce a totally different version of the image."
News & Events
Publications
See a full list of publications here
- Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives
Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives. Stanford University Press, 2023.
- Reframing the ‘Arab Spring’
Reframing the ‘Arab Spring.’ In Angela Krewan and Alena Strohmaier, editors, Media and Spatial Knowledge in/of the MENA-region. Amsterdam University Press, 2021.
- Techies on the Ground: Revisiting Egypt 2011
"Techies on the Ground: Revisiting Egypt 2011," Cyber Orient Online Journal of the Virtual Middle East and Islamic World Vol. 13, Iss.1, 2019, pp. 43-61.
- Ev-Ent-Anglement: Reflexively Extending Engagement By Way of Technology
“Ev-Ent-Anglement: Reflexively Extending Engagement By Way of Technology” (co-authored with Alex Juhasz and Brian Getnick) in Bodies of Information: Feminist Debates in Digital Humanities, Eds. Liz Losh and Jacqueline Wernimont, 2017.