Miguel Novelo

"Don't byte da hand that feeds you" is a video game about the relationship between humans and our most prominent biological design, the dog. The piece utilizes text, spoken word, soundscapes, and interactivity to illustrate the concept of domestication as a technological advancement. It relies on scientific papers, philosophy theories, and human-dog myths.

We are in the dream of a dog, and we explore through playful perspective, control, and decision-making. The world uncovers blurbs of storytelling that illustrate the unequal relationship between dogs and humans. We get told the history and possible futures of unbalanced and symbiotic relationships, blurring the lines of anthropomorphic identity.

This piece defines the dog as a human extension rather than an animal. It exemplifies possible futures as we observe the abandonment of digital pets as proof and envision robots that suffice the role of our canine companions—consequently, their inevitable obsolescence. The final topic of the presentation ends by portraying a speculative future where our species grants full human rights to our first-designed species. And we entertain the idea of a fairer symbiotic relationship between humans and dogs.

About the Artist

Miguel Novelo is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher whose work utilizes algorithmic cinema, game engine environments, and human computer interaction design. His research-based practice investigates non-human perspectives and speculative world-building, creating systems where audiences engage with geological change, animal cognition, and the liminal spaces between landscape and data.

He is a recent recipient of the 2026 The Knight Arts + Tech Fellowship. He received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2018 and an MFA from Stanford University in 2022. His work has been presented at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, the Recology AIR Program, and international film festivals.

Novelo teaches at Stanford University and in the CADRE program at San José State University. At Stanford University, he is a full-time Lecturer in Experimental Media Arts within the Department of Art & Art History and a Symbolic Systems program affiliate; he also serves as a Lecturer at SJSU’s CADRE Laboratory for New Media.