Most Interesting People 2011: Kasumi

Why she's interesting ... An experimental media artist and Cleveland Institute of Art professor, Kasumi has traveled the world creating groundbreaking installations. BREAKDOWN the video, a piece she compiled from thousands of public domain film clips, won a 2010 Vimeo award for best remix.

The tools of her trade ... Kasumi paints on film, uses Sharpies to scribble on celluloid and employs dancers, the electric guitar and emerging technology in her work. "Because no one's done it before, because it's so, like, What is she doing?, I can work comfortably in so many different realms. My work isn't in a compartment. It can't be classified because it's still growing."

Kasumi, the creation ... "My mother was an artist — really, very experimental, using found objects. My father was literally a rocket scientist. I have both those things that made me at least not fear technology."

What excites her ... Politics. "Injustice is the thing that just kills me. I try to explore, answer, research or find out the answers to [questions like], Why do people fall for lies?"

What's more intimidating ... Working with the New York Philharmonic or Grandmaster Flash? "Working with Grandmaster Flash, anything goes — it's more improvisatory, which makes it more fun. Doing this New York Philharmonic thing, it was a little scary. But both [were] equally fun and cool. ... Rightly or wrongly, I give the same amount of attention and care in the work I create for any venue."

Defying age ... When Kasumi performed at Carnegie Hall in 2009, she convinced the organization not to print her age in the playbill. It is the first time one hadn't been listed in almost 120 years.