Staement

Working with video, music and other media, I investigate our cultural infatuation with popular media, anxiety, and narcissism.

I vacillate among forms ranging from abstraction to portraiture, documentary, and satire. I enjoy telling jokes and I try to exploit the moment just after the punchline when one is left with the lingering subtleties of social disease.

I am inspired by material that balances sarcasm and prayer, giving rise to work that examines religion, humor, politics, and mass-media. My recent works, including THE ENDS (2009), Breaking Glass (2008), and Thanks for Giving My Number Back (2007), explore the thin lines between love and death, fantasy and reality, hope and helplessness.

My recent works in sound and music have included a satirical Christian-rock album, death-metal soundtracks, and experimental public-interventions based on John Cage's Variations scores using hand-made electronics and other instruments.

Biographical Information

Michael Trigilio is a multimedia artist living in San Diego, CA. Born and raised in San Antonio, TX, he received his B.A. in Humanities from the University of Texas at San Antonio. His fear of religion notwithstanding, he was ordained as a lay Buddhist priest in 1997, a role from which he resigned five years later. He received his M.F.A. from Mills College in 2003. His video work has been presented at the Anthology Film Archives in New York, Southern Exposure Gallery in San Francisco, and the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain in Strasbourg, among many other venues. Michael is a founding member of the independent radio project Neighborhood Public Radio which was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial exhbition. He serves on the permanent Visual Arts faculty at UC San Diego where he teaches courses in Media Arts.

updated January 24, 2010

Visual Arts Department
University California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Dr
La Jolla, CA 92093-0327

. . . education 
2003  M.F.A., Electronic Music & Recording Media (Intermedia Studies), Mills College, Oakland, CA
1999  B.A., Humanities (Art History & Criticism), University of Texas at San Antonio  

. . . videography
2009 - THE ENDS collection ("Cable," "Love Like Tanks," "Evacuation," "One Million Broken Years," "Standing Burst Emotion," "Sea of Reeds"), 15 minutes
2008 - Breaking Glass: My David Bowie Movie, 9 minutes
2007 - Thanks for Giving My Number Back, 43 minutes
2007 - Charles Spy Video, 6 minutes (with Trish Stone)
2006 - The Meaning of Miniscule, 4:25 minutes (documenting work by Gail Wight)
2005 - Works (After Hours), 11 minutes (with Trish Stone)
2005 - Nature (Superheroism), 4 minutes
2005 - Method vs. Madness, 4 minutes (with Aubra Fletcher)
2004 - Untitled Book Series, Volume 2, (video serial numbered "Book 22" through "Book 34"), 38 minutes
2002 - Untitled Book Series, Volume 1, (video serial numbered "Book 1" through "Book 21"), 50 minutes

. . . discography
2007 - Save As. . . by Michael Trigilio, Starvelab Records
2005 - Contempt for Music by Michael Trigilio, Starvelab Records
2005 - Neighborhood Public Radio promotional CD (Co-produced with Lee Montgomery). Released at Version Festival, Chicago, IL
2000 - Music for Former First Ladies, by Michael Trigilio, 40,000 People a Day records
1999 - Starve Music, by Michael Trigilio, 40,000 People a Day records

. . . solo and featured exhibitions / performances
2010 - Participation Nation: Art Invites Input, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD (with Neighborhood Public Radio)
2009 - Everything UP! (ActUP! Remix), Live musical performance, UC San Diego
2009 - Tune In, Tune Out, Turn Up Everything, Artdistrict, Boulder, CO
2009 - THE ENDS, Rubber Rose Gallery, San Diego, CA
2008 - NPR /FRELAB/ : (Forward and Reverse Engineering for Live Analog Broadcast), Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
2008 - Everything is Up, prelude to ArtPower's screening of My Architect, Calit2 Auditorium, UC San Diego, CA
2007 - Neighborhood Public Radio: Experimental Radio Lab, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
2006 - Radio Cartography, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA (through a grant from the Creative Work Fund)
2006 - Superordinary, Keys That Fit Gallery, Oakland, CA
2005 - Creative Justice, Amnesty International Exhibit, University of San Francisco, CA (solo musical performance)
2005 - Neighborhood Public Radio, Kuda.org., Novi Sad, Serbia. 2005
2005 - “Lost in Transition,” (w/ Neighborhood Public Radio), Sarajevo Center for Contemporary Art / Goethe Institute / Pro.Ba. Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina.
1998 - Starve Performance, Clipper Ship Space, San Antonio, TX
1997 - Michael Trigilio: Starve, Cabeza de Piedra Gallery, San Antonio, TX
1997 - Michael Trigilio: Hospice 1, Wong Spot Gallery, San Antonio, TX
1997 - Hospice 1, San Antonio College, San Antonio, TX
1995 - Archipelago, Pt.1, 1203 Artspace, San Antonio, TX

. . . group exhibitions
2009 - Repeat Until., CompactSpace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008 - Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, as part of Neighborhood Public Radio
2008 - Counter Hues, Golden Hill Art Space, San Diego, CA
2006 - The Whole Story, Watchword Press Exhibit, Theater Artaud, San Francisco, CA
2006 - LA Freewaves Festival - Online Exhibition (www.freewaves.org), Los Angeles, CA
2006 - 6th Annual 21 Grand Benefit, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2006 - Community Virology, Lobot Gallery, Oakland, CA
2005 - Truth and Lies, Mission 17 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 - Illuminated Corridor, Downtown Oakland, CA
2005 - eBay Art Project, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA
2005 - The Diorama Show, Mission 17 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 - 5th Annual 21 Grand Benefit, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2005 - After Hours, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA
2005 - Southern Exposure 30th Anniversary Art Auction, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 - By Any Means UnNecessary, Mission 17 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 - Secede or Celebrate, Punch Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 - The Way We Work (w/ Neighborhood Public Radio), Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 - Politics, Diablo Valley College Art Gallery, Pleasant Hill, CA
2001 - Think Again, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 - Tudor Remix with Maryanne Amacher & Noah Georgeson, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2001 - Blown Circuits, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA
2001 - Student Exchange exhibit, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco,CA
2001 - Video Special, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2001 - Archive Performance with Paul DeMarinis, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2000 - Salon, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA
2000 - Edible Material, University of Texas at San Antonio Satellite Gallery
1998 - Texas Dialogues: Parallels, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX

. . . screenings
2010 - Carousel Microcinema #2, Queen Bee's Gallery, San Diego, CA
2009 - T-10 Video Festival, 21 Grand, Oakland, CA
2008 - Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Santa Fe and Albequerque, NM
2008 - Cantocore, Guangzhou, China
2008 - Overlaps, Golden Hill Neighborhood CDC, San Diego, CA
2008 - CitizenFest Tres, Citizen Video, San Diego, CA
2007 - The Mobile Archive, WYSPA Art Institute, Gdansk, Poland
2007 - SoCal Animators - Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA
2007 - Bay Area Music and Dance Video Art, Fluctuating Images, Stuttgart, Germany
2007 - Bay Area Music and Dance Video Art, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
2007 - Thanks for Giving My Number Back, Artists’ Television Access, San Francisco, CA
2007 - Thanks for Giving My Number Back, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2007 - P.O.V. Animation Festival, Cerrito Theater, El Cerrito, CA
2007 - The Mobile Archive, Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany
2007 - Stranger Than Fiction, Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, Finland
2007 - T-10 Video Festival, 21 Grand, Oakland, CA
2006 - The Mobile Archive: Cross Currents, Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon, Israel
2006 - Stranger Than Fiction, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
2006 - P.O.V. Animation Festival, Parkway Theater, Oakland, CA
2006 - Filthy Filthy Puppets, Artists’ Television Access, San Francisco, CA
2005 - T-10 Video & Film Festival (featured artist), 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland
2005 - Michael Trigilio: Untitled Book Series, Volume 2, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
2005 - Conflict/Interview, Glass Eye series at Barbés, Brooklyn, NY
2005 - Art Attack Film Festival, Plattsburgh For Peace, Plattsburgh, NY
2005 - Cross Currents: Bay Area Video Art, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, France
2005 - Cross Currents: Bay Area Video Art, Fluctuating Images, Stuttgart, Germany
2005 - Video Time: Works in Series by Ellen Lake and Michael Trigilio, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA
2004 - T-10 Video Festival, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2004 - Monumental, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 - Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Seattle, WA
2004 - In Troubled Times (film series), SUDAC, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
2004 - VICE: The Exploration of Non-Virtuous Qualities, The B Complex, Atlanta, GA
2004 - Relative: Picturing Domesticity, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA
2004 - Arizona State University Short Film & Video Festival in Santa Ana, Rat Powered Films, Santa Ana, CA
2004 - DIGit: A Digital Media Exposition, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, NY
2004 - Empire Ultra, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
2004 - 8th Annual Film & Video Festival, ASU Art Museum, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
2004 - How-To Intensive, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
2004 - New Filmmakers, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY
2003 - Open Zone, Ocularis Gallery, New York, NY
2003 - Alumni Special, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2003 - Crash, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 - Videomixtape 3, Lucky Tackle, Oakland, CA
2003 - Videomixtape 3, Pond, San Francisco, CA
2003 - Thursday Night Special, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
2003 - Video Works: Heike Liss, Nomi Talisman, & Michael Trigilio, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2002 - Untitled Book Series, Volume 1, Danforth Hall, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2002 - Rotterdam VHS Festival, Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2002 - Thursday Night Special, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
2002 - Signal Flow, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2001 - Witness, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA

. . . performance festivals
2008 - Something is Happening events at UC San Diego, "Everything Is Up" intervention at Gilman Parkin Struture, December 5th
2008 - Intervene!Interrupt! Conference, Sesnon Gallery, UC Santa Cruz
2006 - Sampling Oakland , "Michael Trigilio Explains Three Religions," Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2006 - International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA),Zero One Festival (as part of Neighborhood Public Radio) San Jose, CA
2006 - Ghosttown Festival (w/ Neighborhood Public Radio), Portland, OR
2005 - Version 5 Festival (w/ Neighborhood Public Radio), Buddy Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003 - The Spring Has Sprung with the Contemporary Performance Ensemble, Mills College, Oakland
1998 - Starve Performance, Blue Star Artspace, San Antonio, TX
1996 - Archipelago, Pt.1, Jump Start Performance Space, San Antonio, TX

. . . public lectures
2009 - "Religion & Narcissism," CADRE, San Jose State University,CA
2009 - "Sarcasm and Prayer," Artdistrict, Boulder, CO
2009 - Art & Technology Conference, "1/4watt of pure power," UC Berkeley (with Lee Montgomery and Jon Brumit of Neighborhood Public Radio).
2008 - Naricissm and Self Portraiture, Golden Hill Artspace, San Diego, CA
2008 - Visiting Artist Lecture, Oberlin College, OH, Lecture: “Michael Trigilio: Media and Radio Works" 2/23
2008 - Conversation with Pi editor Oren Sarch, Price Center Theater, Uc San Diego, CA, 10/20
2008 - Guest Artist Lecture, Counter Hues Exhibit, Golden Hill Art Space, San Diego, CA 11/15
2007 - Lecturer as Artist-in-Residence, Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin, CA, Lecture: “Neighborhood Public Radio's Experimental Radio Lab,” 09/11
2007 - Panelist, Cinema Sud, Italian Film Festival, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA, 10/25
2007 - Guest Artist Lecture, St. Mary's College, Moraga, CA, Lecture: "Experimental Self-Portraiture" 03/21
2006 - Guest Artist Lecture, University of California Berkeley, CA, Lecture: "Untitled Book Series and Serial Methodology"03/14
2005 - Guest Artist Lecture, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, Lecture: "Untitled Book Series and Serial Methodology" 05/10
2005 - Guest Artist Lecture, Columbia College, Chicago, IL, Lecture: "The Untitled Book Series and Visual Language"04/28
2004 - New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA, Lecture: "The Complaint Project" with Heike Liss 01/21
2003 - Guest Artist Lecture, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, Lecture: "About the Untitled Book Series" 09/18

. . . commissions
2005 - Nature (Superheroism), commissioned by Michael Rosenthal to create an original work for the Ebay Art Project exhibit at Works/San Jose.
2002 - Decorum (dance by Lesley Braithwaite ), composed music and directed sound design
2003 - “Pope of Trash” (video by Nomi Talisman), composed and produced title music
2003 - Untitled (dance by Jessy Tuddenham), composed music and directed sound design
2002 - Another Time in Another Place (dance by Kathrine McClintock), composed music and directed sound design
2001 - French Domino Theory (dance by Lesley Braithwaite), composed music and directed sound design

. . . public workshops
July 13th, 2009 Synthpack Workshop, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, CO
October 2nd, 2008 Proyecto Civico workshop at Lui Velazquez, Tijuana
May 9th, 2008 "State of Mind Stations" event in collaboration with the Golden Hill Neighborhood Community Development Corporation, The Guild, San Diego, CA.
April 27th, 2008 Transmitter Building Workshop with Neighborhood Public Radio, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
February 22nd, 2008 “FMemory Radio Workshop," Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
February 2nd, 2008 Workshop with El Cubo project, A Friend's Place Drop-In Shelter, Los Angeles, CA
August 25th, 2007 Transmitter Building Workshop with Neighborhood Public Radio, Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin, CA

. . . published
2008 - 2008 Biennial Exhibition (catalog), Henriette Huldisch, Shamim M. Momin (eds), Whintey Museum of Art, Yale Univeristy Press, New Haven, March 10, 2008
2005 - Kitchen Sink Magazine, "Seasonal Cinema," by Michael Trigilio, Issue KS12, Fall 2005
2005 - “Interview with Ivan Brunetti,” The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Illuminations from the San Francisco Media Arts Underground, published by Artists’ Television Access, December 2005
2003 - Pop Abstraction, Humor, Narcissism, and God (Not God Really, It’s just that when I say “God” what I Really Mean is “Sex” and/or “Death,”). MFA Thesis, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2000 - Turning Wheel, "No Taxes For Torture," by Michael Trigilio, October 2000
2000 - Street Spirit Magazine, "The Day of Mindfulness" by Michael Trigilio, September 2000

. . . press
29. Good Times Santa Cruz, “Intervene! Interrupt!,” by John Malkin, May 14, 2008
28. Rhizome.org, “Access in Excess,” by Marisa Olson, April 8th, 2008
27. Women's Wear Daily, “New Voices in a High Rent District,” by Valerie Seckler, March 26, 2008
26. New York Press, “New York's Newest (And Tiniest) Radio Station,” by Billy Jam, March 26, 2008
25. Weekend Edition, National Public Radio, “Another NPR Crops Up at the Whitney,” by Karen Michel, March 22, 2008
24. New Music Box: Web Magazine from the American Music Center, “Broadcasting Messages from Party Central: A Sonic Guide to the 2008 Whitney Biennial,” by Randy Nordschow, March 12, 2008.
23. WFMU's Beware of the Blog, “Enablers, the Whitney Biennial, Neighborhood Public Radio,” by Mike Lupica, March 8, 2008
22. Artinfo.com, “The Best of the Biennial,” by Robert Ayers, March 5, 2008
21. ForYourArt, “Access in Excess: Neighborhood Public Radio,” by Tim Ivison, February 3, 2008
20. San Francisco Chronicle, “Neighborhood Public Radio mixes up Art and Radio,”by Reyhan Harmanci, December 29, 2007
19. Sfweekly.com, “Don’t Start Believin’” by Hiya Swanhuyser, December 2005
18. Punk Planet, "Neighborhood Public Radio," by Roman Mars, issue PP69, September 2005
17. San Francisco Magazine, “Best of Arts and Entertainment: Super Local Radio Station,” July 2005
16. San Francisco Bay Guardian. "Critic's Choice - 'Cross Cuts,'" by Clark Buckner, June 1, 2005
15. Sfist.”Bay Blogger Thursday Interview,”.Jackson West, June 2005.
14. SF Gate (Culture Blog), "Friday night art opening: The Diorama Show," by Matt Petty, June 27, 2005
13. Danas. “Neighborhood Public Radio U Novi Sadum,” M.J., June 2005
12. Chicago Reader. NPR at Version>5, April 2005
11. Chicagoist.com.”Cos Da Fat Cats Don't Own Dem Airwaves”. Sam Bakken., April 2005
10. East Bay Express. "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by NPR at 21 Grand," January 12, 2005
9. SF Gate, "By Any Means UnNecessary," Alison Bing, January 2005
8. Artforum, Pamela M. Lee's Top Ten of 2004. "The Way We Work," at Southern Exposure. December, 2004
7. Wirednews.com, "Boomboxes Are Hip Again," Elizabeth Biddlecombe, October 27th, 2004
6. The State Press Magazine, “The Reel Deal,” Kathleen Neil, April 22, 2004
5. East Valley Tribune, “The Skinny on Short Films,” Jennifer Wood, April 23, 2004.
4. Switch, “ASU Art Museum Creates a Beach-Blanket Film Festival,” Billy Cioffi, April 2004
3. SF Weekly, Review of "The Way We Work," 2004
2. East Bay Express. Review of "The Way We Work," 2004
1. Mills Weekly, "Surreal show awakens senses," by Corinne Slar, November 21, 2002

. . . grants 
2008 - Academic Senate Research Grant, UC San Diego
2006 - Creative Work Fund Grant for Neighborhood Public Radio and Southern Exposure Gallery
2006 - ISEA: Zero One Festival – Community Domain Commission for Neighborhood Public Radio
2005 - CEC ArtLinks Grant for Neighborhood Public Radio
2002 - Mills College Graduate Research Grant
2002 - Crothers Scholarship Award
2001 - Mills College Graduate Research Grant
2001 - Mills College Graduate Assistantship
1998 - Visual Arts Scholarship, University of Texas at San Antonio
1994 - ASCAP Young Composers Awards Honorable Mention