David W. Halsell is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer whose work in video, installation, and performance has engaged a wide range of ideas from perceptual consciousness to our personal and social relationships with the natural world. More recently his work has been largely in sound and social practice, reflecting social justice issues and the perennial concerns of environmental sustainability— all with an awareness of the anxieties of modern society. Recent projects of note include CAMPBIENT: The 44 Hour Sound Art Residency and Radio Brennpunkt, the only open culture Internet radio station.
Halsell’s works have been exhibited and performed at the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park, The Seattle Design Festival, Madrid Abierto 2007, Digital Art Weeks at ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art at the University of Minnesota, the Zeppelin Sound Projects Festival at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, and The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. His writings have been published in NY Arts magazine and the Spanish new media journal A Minima.
Halsell received his MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Washington, graduating cum laude and as Mary Gates Scholar, and was a Research Associate at the Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) at the University of Washington.
Selected Exhibitions, Screenings & Performances
2025
- Campbient acousmatic retrospective, Summer at SAM, Seattle, WA
2024
- Sounds Interesting, Seattle Design Festival, Seattle, WA
2019 – present
- CAMPBIENT: The 44 Hour Sound Art Residency, co-founder of annual sound art residency
2018
- Caging The Colors, BOREALIS, A Festival of Light, Seattle, WA
2012
- Trinity, Ohrenhoch der Geräuschladen, Berlin, Germany
2011
- The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Hot Springs, AR
- The Astoria/LIC International Film Festival, Long Island City, NY
- The Columbia Gorge International Film Festival, Vancouver, WA
- The Landlocked Film Festival, Iowa City, Iowa
2008
- IMAGINING NOW: Contemporary Experimental Cinema, Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Havana, Cuba
- No Defects, Ohrenhoch der Geräuschladen, Berlin, Germany
- In The Making: 250 Years/250 Artists, Fe Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- The Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival, Seattle WA
2007
- Findings, Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- Madrid Abierto 2007, Madrid, Spain
2006
- Digital Art Weeks 2006, ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Zürich, Switzerland
- Resurgency, Summer Solo Series, Fe Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- Showing Signs of Life, Future Tenant Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
2005
- Control Acoustics, Zeppelin 2005 Sound Projects Festival, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Vaguely Positive, Future Tenant Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- inkJet, Artist Image Resource, Pittsburgh, PA
2003
- Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Redmond, WA
- Spheres: The 2003 UW Summer Arts Festival, Seattle, WA
- Finding Patterns In Chaos, Mohala Arts Gallery, Seattle, WA
2002
- Surveillance, Richard Hugo House, Seattle, WA
- NewMusicWest Festival, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Workshops/Teaching
- Guest Lecturer, Alcott Transdisciplinary Lab for Attentive Studies, Alcott Gallery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Research Associate, Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS), University of Washington
Bibliography
- Erika Schultz, Borealis: a ‘magical, light, beautiful’ art event in South Lake Union, October 12, 2018
- Hannah Levin, “Gotta Get Out,” City Arts, November 29, 2011
- Sarah Mogin, “Finding Art on Campus,” The Tartan, April 16, 2007
- Carol Vogel, “I Like Ur Art: Saatchi Creates an Online Hangout for Artists,” The New York Times, December 18, 2006
- Kurt Shaw, “Lawrenceville Crawl,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 13, 2006, Ticket: 15.
Publications
- “Introducing Campbient: The 44-Hour Sound Art Residency”Soundest, Issue 6, 2020.
- “Autopoiesis: Science and Systems in Technological Art,” A Minima, no.13, 2005, 132-7.
- “Autopoiesis,” NY Arts, Vol.11, no. 3/4, 2006, 77.
Awards
- Honorable Mention, SpokAnarchy!, 59th Columbus International Film + Video Festival
Education
- MFA, Carnegie Mellon University, 2007, Art
- BFA, University of Washington, 2004, Sculpture (cum laude)