David Steele Overholt
a.k.a. ₣₳łⱠØ₣₮Ɇ₦
David Overholt is a creative technologist, educator, and artist working at the intersection of emerging technology, design, and public engagement. With more than 20 years of experience in interactive media and arts education, he combines hands-on innovation with a fail-forward ethos — building systems that invite experimentation, curiosity, and collaboration.
He holds an MPS from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program and a BA in Graphic Design from Point Loma Nazarene University. At the Kansas City Art Institute, he launched and directed the Interactive Arts BFA program, bringing CNCs, laser cutters, AR/VR, and creative coding into a curriculum that bridged design and storytelling. He has also taught at UMKC, NYU, and PLNU.
As a consultant, Overholt has developed installations, mobile apps, projection mapping, and immersive experiences for Forbes 100 clients such as GE, Pfizer, Siemens, and Qualcomm, as well as institutions including TEDxKC, 21C Museum Hotel, and Children’s Mercy Hospital. His solo and collaborative projects have received support from the NEA, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Charlotte Street Foundation.
Recent work spans AI, Web3, and immersive design — from NEA-funded workshops with Charlotte Street Foundation, to co-founding NFT Central and serving on the board of PLUG Gallery. His practice includes both personal experiments (like Epilepsia AI and the Klippy persona) and curatorial efforts reflected in the FAILOFTEN Vault.
At its core, FAILOFTEN is about using creative technology as a way to explore, question, and build new systems of interaction — whether through exhibitions, services, or experimental modes.