Computers Bring Me No Joy: Discussions with Shing Yin Khor on Puppetry, Gender, and Ethos of Art

In this episode of Scene Shift: The Podcast, hosts Sibyl Wickersheimer and Maureen Weiss reconnect with their former student-turned-colleague Shing Yin Khor, an installation artist, cartoonist, game designer, and puppeteer exploring Mythic Americana, collaborative storytelling, and new human rituals. What began over twenty years ago in the Cal State Long Beach scene shop has evolved into a friendship built on shared curiosity, respect for craft, and a refusal to follow prescribed norms. Khor reflects on the journey from set design to creating immersive installations, graphic novels, and independent games, and how puppetry became a liberating practice for exploring gender, embodiment, and control. The conversation moves fluidly between the tactile and the philosophical: cordless drills and band saws, the joy of making, and a rejection of digital detachment captured in Khor’s memorable line, “Computers do not make me happy.” Together, they unpack how physical labor connects to moral intention, how commercial art differs from independent work, and how creative collaboration can serve as quiet resistance to capitalism’s demand for productivity. The trio also begins to explore the concept of moral ambition: what it means for artists to pursue work that not only tells stories but reshapes culture with integrity, care, and purpose, a topic inspired by Rutger Bregman.