Profile
An artist, filmmaker, and transmedia producer of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, Marisa Mor谩n Jahn鈥檚 work 鈥渆xemplifies the possibilities of art as social practice鈥 (ArtForum) and explores 鈥渃ivic spaces and the radical art of play鈥 (Chicago Tribune).听 鈥淸Jahn] introduces a trickster-like humor into public spaces and discourses, and yet it is a humor edged with political potency,鈥 notes MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology, characterizing her playful approach. Codesigned with youth, new immigrants, and working families, Jahn鈥檚 civic-scale projects have engaged millions both on the street and at venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the United Nations, Tribeca Film Festival, and Obama鈥檚 White House. Her public artwork, civic media tools, films, architectural and urban-scale collaborations have been supported by The New York Times, the BBC, PBS, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Univision Global, Hyperallergic, Art in America, Architectural Review, CNN, and hundreds more. She has received grants and awards from National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, Creative Capital, Open Society, Tribeca Film Institute, Anonymous Was A Woman, Joyce Foundation, and more.听
In 2008, she embarked on creating the artwork / literacy movement 鈥淏ibliobandido鈥 (in English, 鈥榮tory eater鈥) with a community in rural Honduras. This project centers around the eponymous character, a bandit who EATS stories and whose fame rivals Santa Claus. As a living legend still active today, Bibliobandido has transformed the lives of 20,000 young believers in Central and North America. In 2022, Jahn and award-winning filmmaker Benjamin Murray began shooting their Sundance-supported documentary film chronicling the impact of the beloved, story-hungry villain.听
For another civic-scale artwork called 鈥淐areForce鈥 (2010-present), Jahn collaborated with the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) to create a social practice artwork including a PBS film that amplifies care workers' voices. This movement for domestic workers鈥 rights has contributed to new laws in 10 states and a federal bill underway. NDWA co-founder Ai-jen Poo writes, 鈥淐areForce harnesses the catalytic power of art, architecture, and storytelling to dream bigger, dream futures into being that we鈥檝e never experienced and create new protagonists.鈥 In 2020, 鈥淐areForce鈥 informed the creation of 鈥淐arehaus,鈥 an artwork that is also the U.S.鈥檚 first care-based co-housing building designed with architect Rafi Segal. The Biden administration and U.S. Congresspeople interviewed Jahn regarding the possibility of proliferating the 鈥淐arehaus鈥 model across the country. With Segal, Jahn co-authored the related book 鈥淒esign & Solidarity鈥 (Columbia University Press, 2023).听
Jahn has taught at Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (her alma mater), and Parsons/麻豆传媒色情片, where she is the Director of Integrated Design.听
She was a 2022 Sundance Fellow, a Senior Researcher at MIT, and an artist in residence at the National Public Housing Museum.
Degrees Held
BA, UC Berkeley
MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Recent Publications
Book:
. Columbia University Press (2023)
Authored by Marisa Mor谩n Jahn and Rafi Segal in conversation with Mercedes Bidart, Arturo Escobar, Michael Hardt, Greg Lindsay, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Ai-jen Poo, and Trebor Scholz.
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Performances and Appearances
Exhibitions and Presentations: The United Nations, Obama鈥檚 White House, Venice Biennale of Architecture, Tribeca Film Festival, Mextr贸poli Architecture and City Festival (Mexico City), Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montr茅al), Boston Museum of Science, The New Museum (New York), Asian Art Museum San Francisco, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Center for Contemporary Art (Kaliningrad, Russia), ArtBrussels Art Fair, Aedes Architectural Forum (Berlin), Van Abbemuseum (Einhoven, NL), P茅rez Art Museum Miami, Bay Area Now 4 (San Francisco Triennale), The New York Hall of Science, Zero One Biennale, and public spaces in Armenia, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Honduras, Uganda, and across the United States.
Research Interests
public art, socially engaged art, design, graphic design, transmedia film, interactive media
social justice, activism, immigration policy, low-wage workers, working families, women
Awards And Honors
Creative Capital, Sundance, Tribeca Film Institute, Joyce Foundation, Anonymous Was a Woman, Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, MAP Fund, Visible Project, Open Society Foundation, Ford Foundation
Portfolio