Cusp Conference is an annual gathering of thinkers, innovators, creators, visionaries and explorers from the arts, sciences, technology, business and design. The program is eclectic by design, intended to provoke cross-pollination of ideas and generate new thinking, in 25 or more presentations over two days. A conference "about the design of everything" created and hosted by design firm ''Multiple Inc.'' (formerly ) and held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Theater in Chicago, Cusp is centered on the idea that virtually everything that exists has been designed - by humans, by nature or by some other force. Cusp Conference presenters have touched on topics as diverse as landscape waste,

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

s, democracy, social media, education, intellectual property law, medicine, virtual worlds, typography, green architecture, evolutionary biology, smell and taste and serious games.

History

Launched in 2008, Cusp Conference presenters and performers have included

Adam Curry Adam Clark Curry (born September 3, 1964) is an American podcaster, announcer, Internet entrepreneur and media personality, known for his stint as a VJ on MTV and being one of the first celebrities to personally create and administer Web sites. ...

Yves Behar Yves may refer to: * Yves, Charente-Maritime, a commune of the Charente-Maritime department in France * Yves (given name), including a list of people with the name * ''Yves'' (single album), a single album by Loona * ''Yves'' (film), a 2019 Fre ...

Andy Bichlbaum Jacques Servin (also known by the pseudonym Andy Bichlbaum; born 1963) is an American media artist and activist. He is one of the leading members of The Yes Men, a culture jamming activist group. Their exploits in "identity correction" are docume ...

Baba Brinkman Dirk Murray Brinkman (born October 22, 1978) is a Canadian rapper and playwright best known for recordings and performances that combine hip hop music with literature, theatre, and science. Early life and education Born in the remote communit ...

Molly Crabapple Molly Crabapple (born Jennifer Caban; 1983) is an American artist and writer. She is a contributing editor for ''Vice (magazine), VICE'' and has written for a variety of other outlets, as well as publishing books, including an illustrated memoir, ...

, Matthew Diffee,

Josh Elder Josh Elder (born May 17, 1980 in Carmi, Illinois) is an American journalist, lecturer and writer, primarily of comic books and graphic novels. Early life Josh Elder graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in Film.http://www ...

Hartmut Esslinger Hartmut Esslinger (born 5 June 1944) is a German-American industrial designer and inventor. He is best known for founding the design consultancy frog, and his work for Apple Computers in the early 1980s. Life and career Esslinger was born in ...

iJustine Justine Ezarik ( ; born March 20, 1984) is an American YouTuber. She is best known as iJustine, with over one billion views on her YouTube channel. She gained attention as a lifecaster who communicated directly with her millions of viewers on ...

Richard Farson Richard Farson Ph.D., (November 16, 1926 – June 13, 2017) was an American psychologist, author, and educator. He was the president and chief executive officer of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, which he co-founded in 1958 with physici ...

John Fetterman John Karl Fetterman (born August 15, 1969) is an American politician who is the United States senator-elect from Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he has also served as the 34th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania since 2019. Fet ...

Douglas Gayeton Douglas Gayeton is an American multimedia artist, filmmaker, writer, and photographer who divides his time between a farm near Petaluma, California and Pistoia, a medieval Tuscan town. Along with his wife, Laura Howard-Gayeton, he directThe Le ...

Kirsty Hawkshaw Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 26 October 1969) is an English electronic music vocalist and songwriter. In addition to her work as a solo artist, she is known as the lead vocalist of early 1990s dance group Opus III, and her collaborative work with oth ...

, Dr. Alan Hirsch, Dr. Carl Hodges, Dr. Ayanna Howard,

Michelle Kaufmann Michelle Kaufmann is an American architect and designer. In 2002, Kaufmann founded Michelle Kaufmann Designs, which designed and built single-family and multi-family green homes using prefabricated modular technology. The firm was closed in May 20 ...

, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Rita J. King,

Camille and Kennerly Kitt Camille Karie and Kennerly Caye Kitt (born 1989) are American identical twin actresses and electric/acoustic harpists, who compose, arrange, and perform as The Harp Twins. The Kitt sisters have released over 100 singles online, as well as nine ...

Neo-Futurists The Neo-Futurists are an experimental theater troupe founded by Greg Allen in 1988, based on an aesthetics of honesty, speed and brevity. Neo-Futurists in theatre were inspired by the Italian Futurist movement from the early 20th century. Origin ...

, Dr Paul Polak,

Wendell Potter Wendell Potter (born July 16, 1951) is an American advocate for health insurance payment reform, ''New York Times'' bestselling author, and former health insurance industry communications director. A critic of HMOs and the tactics used by health ...

Daniel Bernard Roumain Daniel Bernard Roumain (known by his initials, DBR; born 1970) is a classically trained composer, performer, violinist, and band-leader, whose work combines classical music with jazz, hip-hop and rock. Composer In September 2010, ''Dancers, Drea ...

Smoking Popes Smoking Popes is an American pop punk band from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. They are composed of brothers Matt Caterer (bass), Josh Caterer (lead vocals/guitar) and Eli Caterer (guitar/backing vocals) and Mike Felumlee (drums). History ...

, and

Richard Saul Wurman Richard Saul Wurman (born March 26, 1935) is an American architect and graphic designer. Wurman has written, designed, and published 90 books and created the TED.com, TED conferences, the EG Conference, TEDMED, and the WWW Conference. Education ...

References

External links

CuspConference.com
- official website
Multipleinc.com
- owner
2010 Cusp Conference on DesignChat
- video interview Conferences in the United States {{design-stub