b. 1983
Frank Napolski is an intermedia artist and creative technologist based in Buffalo, New York. He creates work that assembles fragments of sound, light, and motion into experiential arcs. His practice spans generative media, audiovisual installation, and long-duration performance, and he is known for integrating code-driven systems with live events and responsive environments. Across much of his work, technology, place, and human presence converge in patterns whose coherence emerges like an afterimage—the mind arriving late to a structure already felt.
In 2021, Napolski co-founded Groupwork, an interdisciplinary collective recognized for producing immersive, sensorial environments. Rooted in underground culture, the collective has become known for “ecstatic curated experiences” that blur the boundary between outsider club music and installation art. Napolski is also a long-time collaborator with Torn Space Theater, contributing as a resident lighting and sound designer to the company’s experimental productions.
Recent projects include middle distance: a guided calibration (2023), a performance that positioned the projector toward the audience through a nearly invisible scrim, revealing not only the image but the beam itself—rendering the apparatus of projection newly legible.
In Field Service (2024), a site-specific audiovisual installation at the historic grain silos of Silo City, Groupwork wove generative imagery and sound into the industrial and natural landscape, shaping a temporary dialogue between place, weather, and its transient guests. The project was supported by the BICA Generator Fund and deepened the exploration of algorithmic systems, spatial choreography, and collective experience in public space.
Groupwork premiered Runtime (2025) as part of the IN.SIGHT Performance Series, a multi-year collaboration with Torn Space Theater that investigates long-duration performance, recursive media, and networked sensory stimulation. Originally selected for a National Endowment for the Arts Digital Arts Grant—later rescinded due to federal funding cuts—the series continues to evolve, extending Napolski’s research into elegant, code-driven environments in video, sound, and light.
https://pure.computer
https://groupwork.fyi
https://nplsk.info
Bio courtesy of the artist.