About the Artist

Jim Cortez is a San Francisco-based artist and professional cat-herder who creates immersive, story-driven installations under the moniker Electric Gerbil. By combining complex engineering—from thousands of meticulously programmed LEDs to custom embedded hardware—with a healthy dose of retro-futurist whimsy, he builds participatory environments designed to spark unexpected connections, playful interaction, and shared rituals among strangers.

The Art of the Electric Gerbil

Jim’s artistic practice centers around large-scale light sculptures that invite people to touch, dine, gather, and play. Whether it’s Commune—a retro-futurist dining space built from bent metal and 13,000 individually addressed LEDs—or Friends for Dinner—an interactive glowing table aglow with 2,000 LEDs meant to encourage deep conversations—his work challenges the boundaries between participant and spectator.

Drawing heavily from his deep technical background, Electric Gerbil projects combine custom electronics, real-time show control software, and hands-on fabrication using materials like acrylic, wood, and steel. Jim regularly collaborates with a core crew of builders and artist communities to bring these complex visions to life. His installations have been showcased as placed art at multiple Burning Man events, and at regional events like unSCruz (where he was an Art Grant Recipient).

Engineering the Art

When he’s not covered in playa dust or soldering microcontrollers at 2 AM, Jim draws on an extensive career as an engineering and product executive to power his installations. From launching the Howdy streaming service and scaling voice AI at Roku, to co-founding hardware startups, his deep expertise in distributed systems perfectly feeds back into his art. The exact same precision required to manage billion-request architectures and lead large cross-functional teams is applied directly to architecting robust, spellbinding experiences that won’t randomly crash when fifteen people simultaneously push all the buttons.

Selected Works

• Commune (August 2024 - 2025)
• Friends for Dinner (August 2023)