Biography

Christopher Ernst (b. 1977) is a filmmaker, video artist and musician. He currently works as a video producer for MTV Networks and as part-time faculty in the graduate program for the New School Department of Media Studies & Film. Christopher's creative practice stretches across many genres of film and video, integrating divergent aesthetics and styles as a means to explore the influence of cinema on how we arrange and navigate everyday spaces. Primarily a guitar player and songwriter in his musical pursuits, Christopher has played in numerous bands over the past fifteen years. He currently is a member of the Brooklyn-based musical group Bells, featuring ex-members of Oxford Collapse and Jawbox. He received his MFA from the University at Buffalo Department of Media Study (2008), where he studied with Tony Conrad as a Dean’s Fellow in the College of Arts & Sciences, and received his BA from Hampshire College (2001), studying with filmmaker Bill Brand.

Christopher has helped produce commercial work for numerous clients, including New England Productions, MTV, Nickelodeon, Viacom, and EPiX. His collaborative art productions include projects with contemporary composer Otto Muller, independent musician Drew O’Doherty, experimental music ensemble Empty House Cooperative, filmmaker Steven Eastwood, and media artist G. Alan Rhodes. He is a founding member of the film and video art collective Octopus, an international ensemble of moving image artists whose goal is to challenge the boundaries between gallery and cinema. Recent awards and grants include the 2008-2009 New York State Council on the Arts Individuals Artists Grant in Film, Video, and New Media, and the 2007 Carnegie Art Center Video Regrant. Christopher’s film work and video art have been screened and exhibited internationally at a number of notable venues. Recent North American exhibitions include Vox Populi gallery in Philadelphia, PA; a public installation in the TTC Subway System as part of the Toronto Urban Film Festival; and numerous shows in Buffalo, New York, including the Burchfield Penny Art Center, the Carnegie Art Center, and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Recent international exhibitions include Teatro dell'Accademia in Rome, as part of the Abstracta Festival; Les Voûtes in Paris, as part of Festival Antenna; and the Red House Center for Culture and Debate in Sofia, Bulgaria. Christopher lives in Brooklyn.

 

Collaborators & Allies

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