YLEM: Artists Using Science and Technology
YLEM is an international organization connecting artists, scientists, technologists, makers, and others working across art, science, and technology. Founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1981, YLEM has a long history of supporting artists working with emerging technologies through exhibitions, forums, publications, and professional networks.
I have been involved with YLEM since 1999 and became its president several years later. Since 2025, I have been working to reboot the organization and expand its international scope while building on its original mission.
The renewed YLEM is intended to connect communities working across different regions and disciplines. One focus is to establish stronger connections between the San Francisco Bay Area and China's Greater Bay Area. Another is to broaden YLEM's definition of technology-based practice beyond fine art to include maker spaces, the Maker movement, fabrication, and other forms of hands-on technological experimentation.
The goal is to build on YLEM's history while creating a more international and interdisciplinary platform for contemporary practices at the intersection of art, science, technology.