[ JSR ]

Jean-Sebastien Rousseau [ JSR ] is an artist+designer+programmer in the field of new media (some may say ‘media programmer’). He does freelance work+research for different companies and universities in Montreal and Quebec City. Rousseau conceptualizes, constructs and programs systems for realtime video processing, rendering, data visualizations and simulations. His hardware & software creations/designs allow people to build interactive immersive environments, performative setups and architectural installations (temporary or permanent).

He is now a fulltime employee at ESKI Studio (Montreal), working as a designer+programmer, developing a broad range of systems/installation/interfaces, focusing on networked applications and devices.

He also directs mixar [mxr] (creatively and technically). MXR is a collective of artists bringing together (mixing=MIX) Arts and Research (AR).

In the past, he has been actively working at the Topological Media Lab as a research assistant (2004-2008), and now as an affiliate programmer and designer (2008-now). He also works as a consultant and programmer for Yan Breuleux (ybx.ca, purform.com ),  Axel Morgenthaler (PhotonicDreams) and Lina Dib. In the past, he did contractual jobs for the Society of Arts and Technologies, Battat Contemporary, ESKI studio and the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques.

JSR also intensly lived a short collaboration with the inspiring people from Panico Studio, a studio space that was located in Montreal’s creative nest : the Mile End. The studio was perfect for dance rehearsals, performances, photo shoots and video shoots. It was a unique opportunity to interact with unique people : Kiani DelValle, Pippy VanPippen and Jamie Fava. With them, JSR ruled the world for the first part of 2010.

He is also the chief VJ for Eresys, a Montreal-based collective of artists/performers who produce monthly events. During these events,  DJs and visualists join forces to create euphory only out of beats and pixels. For this type of gigs, he setups the projectors, the projection surfaces, the cameras, and do the VJing. For these occasions,  JSR uses the name of his collective (Mixar). Represent.

In order to share some code and knowledge, JSR sporadically teaches Max5/Jitter workshops with the support of the Topological Media Lab (and the Design and Computation Arts Department), at Concordia University, Montreal.

Jean-Sebastien Rousseau holds a degree in Computation Arts (Digital Media) from Concordia University, Montreal. He has previously spent 2 years at Montreal’s Polytechnique University,  doing core courses in mechanical engineering. He also holds a collegial diploma in Sciences, Literature and the Arts.

In his free time, JSR likes to run, hike, longboard, bike, ski and windsurf. Rousseau currently lives in Montreal.