Courtney Gaston is a theatrical lighting and media designer whose research focuses on integrating new technologies into performance. They are the co-head of the Art Department on an ongoing, devised research project titled “Media Clown” which premiered in the Emerging Artist Series at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019. “Media Clown” explores the live interactivity of traditional performance and new technologies through motion capture, space tracking, and live content generation. In the summer of 2021, they continued as the production designer on the second iteration of Media Clown after the project secured funding from Epic Mega Grants. Using Epic Games’ software, Unreal Engine, she created three immersive virtual playing spaces which were used with a live performer and presented in an interactive theatrical experience.

Courtney has also spent the last several years focusing their research on integrating lighting and costume design. Along with Wesleyan Theater costume shop manager, Robin Mazzola, they have worked to find ways in which the process from design to execution can be fully collaborative, considering ways in which costumes can be constructed to support lighting systems. They presented this research at the 2023 Prague Quadrennial and the upcoming Critical Costume Conference in Los Angeles.