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Liubo Borissov Originally from Bulgaria, Borissov earned his doctorate in physics at C o lumb i a, w h e r e h e b e ca m e fa scinated with the possibilities of electro-acoustic music and multimedia. He has since combined his scientific background with art, experimenting with movement, sound, and visual perception through perfo rm a n c e us i n g t e c h n o lo gy. H i s multimedia installations and performances have been presented in Europe, Japan, and North America. The New York Times featured one of his recent projects, an innovative virtual play that included 3-D characters, which he developed with two Pratt digital arts students.
Photo: René Pérez
faculty, Digital Arts Multimedia Artist
What’s the best advice you ever received and who was it from? As a child, my family taught me that knowledge is the one thing that cannot be taken away from you. This was formative for me, because I grew up in a place where it seemed anything you had could be taken away at any time for any reason by powers beyond your control. Who is your hero? Nicola Tesla. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? World traveler and explorer . If you could work on anything, what would it be? I’m interested in what drives people to want to make or experience art. Advances in neuroscience have promised some remarkable insights if not answers. Another way to study these questions is through simulation and modeling. I would like to work on emotional-aesthetic artificial intelligence.
Todd Bracher
B.I.D. ’96, industrial design Product Designer
After a decade of working in Copenhagen, Milan, Paris, and London, bracher founded his own Studio, located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Known for his highly reductive approach to design, Bracher has collaborated with designers from Tom Dixon and Fritz Hansen to Cappellini and Georg Jensen. When his Freud sofa came out in 2002 (now in the collection of the Freud Museum in Vienna), he became the first American designer of a Zanotta product. Bracher was named "New Designer of the Year" at New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair in 2008.
Photo: Seth Smoot
What do you consider the key to your success? Being true to myself, true to delivering honest meaningful solutions for life that ultimately resonate with consumers. What’s the best advice you ever received and who was it from? “Only work with people who have the power to say ‘yes,’” from Mark Goetz, Pratt professor and friend. Who is your hero? Darwin. He had the ability to reveal how important context and purpose is in creation. This is what drives my work. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a farmer… as my grandmother from Italy was. The beauty in growing red objects from the earth amazes me. If you could work on anything, what would it be? A single engine-aircraft. Slow, beautifully detailed, as a classic bicycle. What is your favorite place on the Pratt campus? The Pratt Chapel. I am not religious, but appreciated very much being in a quiet unexpected space.
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