Hi, my name is Richard Pell and I teach various kinds of Electronic Media here in the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon. My research involves an examination of the social implications of emerging technologies ranging from robotics to biotech.

My main research focus, The Center for PostNatural History, is currently in residence at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry right here at CMU. The CPNH is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge relating to the complex interplay between culture, nature and biotechnology. I sometimes get invited to be a juror at the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition at MIT.

My documentary video, “Don’t Call Me Crazy On The 4th Of July” (2005), about famed Pittsburgh street-protestor Bob Lansberry, has been screened in film festivals across Europe and the United States.

In 1998 I co-founded The Institute for Applied Autonomy, a collective of engineers, artists and activists united by the cause of individual and collective self-determination. Towards this end, the IAA produced several highly acclaimed projects including, The Robotic GraffitiWriter, StreetWriter, iSee, TXTmob and Terminal Air.

I received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon in 1999 and an MFA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY in 2003.

In my spare time I run a fledgling vinyl record label called Specific Recordings.