An artist and transmedia producer of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent,
Marisa Morán Jahn’s works redistribute power, “exemplifying the possibilities of art as social practice” (ArtForum). Characterizing her playful approach, MIT CAST writes, ‘[Jahn] introduces a trickster-like humor into public spaces and discourses, and yet it is a humor edged with political potency.”
Key projects include
Bibliobandido (a story-eating bandit),
Video Slink Uganda (experimental films slipped or “slinked” into bootleg cinemas), Contratados (a Yelp! for migrant workers that has served 2 million users), and
CareForce, a project that amplifies the voices of America’s fastest growing workforce, caregivers, through two mobile studios (NannyVan, CareForce One), an app for domestic workers named by CNN as “one of 5 apps to change the world,” and a PBS/ITVS film series.
“Snatchural History of Copper” investigates copper, a key element used in motherboards, homes, and the IUDs of 170 million women across the world.
She is a collaborating artist on the “Open Collectives” station at the 17th Venice Biennale of Architecture led by MIT Associate Professors Rafi Segal (architecture) and Sarah Williams (civic data design) with Greg Lindsay.
Jahn’s art, films, and interactive media have been presented at President Obama’s White House, The United Nations, Museum of Modern Art, Tribeca Film Festival, The New Museum, ArtBrussels, National Center for Contemporary Arts Kaliningrad, Creative Time Summit, and more.
Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, BBC, Hyperallergic, Mic.com, The Nation, Univision, and hundreds more. She has won awards from Creative Capital, Tribeca, Sundance, Rockefeller Foundation, and Open Society Foundation.
She is the founder of
Studio REV-, a non-profit that co-designs public art and creative media with low-wage workers, immigrants, and women. Since 2009, Studio REV- has designed mobile games, interactive media, augmented reality projects, and curricula for clients such as The American Museum of Natural History, Seattle Public Library, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante Mexico, Bactria Arts Center in Tajikistan, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center, PBS Newshour Extra, and The New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
She has taught courses on art, creative technology, civic media, and storytelling at The New School, Columbia University, and across departments at her alma mater, MIT.
