Most Extraordinary People

There exists a type of person, a personality, that is so unique and so inspiring that they are able to change the world around them. These people are not the most successful nor the most well known. But they are the most passionate. They are the most driven. And they possess a creative obsessiveness and a finger to the pulse of the human spirit that intrigues me to no end. I am fascinated by such people, and I hope to spread awareness of them and their work.

Devine Lu Linvega

This should probably be noted more prominently: Devine is the reason this website of mine exists and the reason why I am inspired to do as much as I can with my conscious experience. Devine is one of two members in the art group 100 Rabbits which creates tools, art, and philosophies all from their skipper boat Pino. The extent to their success is, even under normal circumstances, fascinating. Their uniqueness as artists manifests in the feedback loop between their self-imposed lifestyle restrictions and their creations. How do you maximize computer battery efficiency when you need to edit photos but your ownly power source is a small solar panel? You code your own photoshop. Creating music? Make your own esoteric coding language. Indeed from immense pressure comes the brightest diamonds.

Ashley Lian

Ashley Lian is an artist and designer from New Milford, Connecticut. She received her BFA in Humanistic Studies and Fiber with a concentration in Experimental Fashion from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2017. She primarily works in textile design, apparel design, and illustration. She currently lives in Philadelphia and works as a textile designer for Anthropologie. Her work is characterized by a unique blend of traditional and digital techniques, and a focus on color, texture, and pattern. She is inspired by the natural world, and her work often features botanical motifs and organic shapes. She is also interested in the intersection of art and technology, and how new technologies can be used to create innovative textiles.

Dave Ackley

Dave Ackley is professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico. His pursuit of passion is the creation of an indefinitely scalable computational architecture. The computer as we know it today relies on deterministic computation, a CPU and RAM. While such an architectural structure allows for precise processing, it is inherently limiting and hinders computational growth. The infinite machine would prioritize resilience, survivability, and graceful degredatiion not only for the hardware, but up throught the entire computational stack. Low level communications would rely on relative and spatially dependent addressing rather than immutable global addresses like a common computer.

Professor Ackley's concepts of the infinitely scalable computer challenge the fundamental principles of computation. The departure from determinism and rigid logic is difficult to accept, let alone pursue. To a certain extent, the infinite machine bleeds into the realm of biology and biological systems: living computation.

Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson tells stories. I visited Laurie Anderson's gallery at the Hirshhorn modern art museum in February 2022; her work and personality are singularly fascinating to me. Her work is so vast and all-encompassing: music, painting, sculpting, coding, poetry, photography, and gonzo journalism. She is the type of person whos relentless pursuit of her own interests seem less than effortless, her creative abilities seem to require no effort whatsoever. In fact, I am convinced that is very literally the case.

It's people like Laurie Anderson that are gifted with an obsession that turns their mind open to the outside world, a talent so beautiful and brilliant that any onlooker is simultaneously inspired, inadequate, envious, and greatful. Though despite her intellectual prowess and her (seemingly) innate creative abilities, Laurie seems incredibly kind and self-aware of her gift. I am happy she is not humble. She inspires me to own my successes, to not shy away from applying myself to the fullest extent of my talent. I want to be like her.

Laurie's breakout moment was the song and accompanying music video O Superman.