معرفی
Keith Obadike is a Professor in the Department of Art at Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), where he also serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies. He is an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist and composer, known for his collaborative work with Mendi Obadike, which spans sound art, digital media, public installations, performance, and internet-based projects. His artistic and academic work critically engages with technology, race, history, and identity.
Obadike earned a B.A. in Visual Art from North Carolina Central University and an M.F.A. in Sound Design from Yale University. Prior to joining Cornell, he taught at William Paterson University and held visiting positions at Princeton University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
His research and creative practice focus on sound art, digital media, public art, performance, and collaborative practice, with strong interdisciplinary connections to Afrofuturism, data sonification, and social justice. He explores how sound and technology mediate racial identity, memory, and liberation, notably through the concept of acousmatic blackness, which he and Mendi developed to describe the racial perception of sound when its source is unseen.
Obadike’s selected works include large-scale public sound installations such as Blues Speaker (for James Baldwin), Free/Phase, Compass Song (Times Square Arts), and GuideStar (Space Needle, Seattle). His projects often use data sonification, archival research, and mythic storytelling, blending historical inquiry with futuristic vision. Notable series include the Opera-Masquerades, Americana Suites, and Numbers Station works, which transform databases of violence into sonic experiences.
His honors include:
- Rockefeller New Media Arts Fellowship (2004)
- Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award (2015)
- New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction
- New Music USA Creator Development Fund (2022)
Obadike has received commissions and support from institutions such as the Vera List Center, Harlem Stage, Times Square Arts, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities. He has exhibited and performed at The New Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA, and The Studio Museum in Harlem. His writings and publications include contributions to Studies into Darkness (2022), and artist books such as Four Electric Ghosts and Big House / Disclosure (both 2014). He has also released albums like Crosstalk (2008) and created internet artworks such as Blackness for Sale (2001) and The Interaction of Coloreds (2002), which are foundational in new media and critical race art.
While specific advisees are not listed, his role as Director of Undergraduate Studies and Professor indicates active mentorship. His work is deeply collaborative, often co-created with Mendi Obadike, and supported by interdisciplinary teams and institutions.
