WOMEN, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION ARTS Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology Stephen Wilson A new breed of contemporary artist engages science and technology—not just to adopt the vocabulary and gizmos, but to explore and comment on the content, agendas, and possibilities. In this rich volume, Stephen Wilson offers the first comprehensive survey of international artists who incorporate concepts and research from mathematics, the physical sciences, biol- ogy, kinetics, telecommunications, and experimental digital systems such as artificial intelli- gence and ubiquitous computing. THE NEW MEDIA READER edited by Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort This reader collects the texts, videos, and computer programs—many of them now almost impossible to find elsewhere—that chronicle the history and form the foundation of the still- emerging field of new media. General introductions by Janet Murray and Lev Manovich, along with short introductions to each of the texts, place the works in their historical context and explain their significance. THE MIT PRESS MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 http://mitpress.mit.edu WOMEN, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY edited by JUDY MALLOY foreword by PAT BENTSON Although women have been at the forefront of art and technology creation, no source has adequately docu- mented their core contributions to the field. Women, Art, and Technology, which originated in a Leonardo journal project of the same name, is a compendium of the work of women artists who have played a central role in the development of new media practice. The book includes overviews of the history and founda- tions of the field by, among others, artists Sheila Pinkel and Kathy Brew; classic papers by women working in art and technology; papers written expressly for this book by women whose work is currently shaping and reshaping the field; and a series of critical essays that look to the future. continued on back flap ARTIST CONTRIBUTORS include computer graphics artists Rebecca Allen and Donna Cox; video artists Dara Birnbaum, Joan Jonas, Valerie Soe, and Steina; com- posers Cécile Le Prado, Pauline Oliveros, and Pamela Z; interactive artists Jennifer Hall and Blyth Hazen, Agnes Hegedüs, Lynn Hershman, and Sonya Rapoport; virtual reality artists Char Davies and Brenda Laurel; net artists Anna Couey, Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss, Nancy Paterson, and Sandy Stone; and choreographer Dawn Stoppiello. CRITICS include Margaret Morse, Jaishree Odin, Patric Prince, and Zoë Sofia. JUDY MALLOY is an electronic fiction and Internet pioneer and editor of the electronic publication Arts Wire Current. A LEONARDO BOOK JUDY MALLOY PAT BENTSON EDITED BY FOREW0RD BY WOMEN ART WOMEN ART & TECHNOLOGY ART & TECHNOLOGY MALLOY, editor OF RELATED INTEREST 0-262-13424-1 ,!7IA2G2-bdecei!:t;K;k;K;k Women, Art, and Technology leonardo Roger F. Malina, series editor Designing Information Technology, Richard Coyne, 1995 Technoromanticism: Digital Narrative, Holism, and the Romance of the Real, Richard Coyne, 1999 Metal and Flesh: The Evolution of Man: Technology Takes Over, Ollivier Dyens, 2001 The Visual Mind, edited by Michele Emmer, 1994 The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet, edited by Ken Goldberg, 2000 The History of Virtual Art and Its Future, Oliver Grau, 2003 Leonardo Almanac, edited by Craig Harris, 1994 In Search of Innovation: The Xerox PARC PAIR Project, edited by Craig Harris, 1999 The Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media, edited by Peter Lunenfeld, 1999 Women, Art, and Technology, edited by Judy Malloy, 2003 The Language of New Media, Lev Manovich, 2000 Immersed in Technology: Art and Virtual Environments, edited by Mary Anne Moser with Douglas MacLeod, 1996 Information Arts: A Survey of Art and Research at the Intersection of Art, Science, and Technology, Stephen Wilson, 2002 Women, Art, and Technology edited by Judy Malloy The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England  2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or informa- tion storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in Garamond 3 and Bell Gothic by Achorn Graphic Services, Inc. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Women, art, and technology / edited by Judy Malloy. p. cm — (Leonardo) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-262-13424-1 (hc. : alk. paper) 1. Art and technology—History—20th century. 2. Technology and women— History—20th century. I. Malloy, Judy. II. Leonardo (Series) (Cambridge, Mass.) N72.T4W66 2003 700′.1′05082—dc21 2002045178 Contents series foreword ix foreword: the leonardo women, art, and technology project xii Patricia Bentson preface xv introduction: at the intersection of art and technology in a time of transformation xx Judy Malloy I Overviews 1 women and the search for visual intelligence 2 Patric D. Prince 2 the poetics of interactivity 16 Margaret Morse 3 women, body, earth 34 Sheila Pinkel 4 restructuring power: telecommunication works produced by women 54 Anna Couey 5 through the looking glass 86 Kathy Brew II Artists’ Papers 6 my love affair with art: video and installation work 104 Steina 7 transmission 114 Joan Jonas 8 the individual voice as a political voice: critiquing and challenging the authority of media 134 Dara Birnbaum 9 small leaps to ascend the apple tree 148 Jo Hanson 10 shifting positions toward the earth: art and environmental awareness 160 Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison 11 process(ing) interactive art: using people as paint, computer as brush, and installation site as canvas 180 Sonya Rapoport 12 touch-sensitivity and other forms of subversion: interactive artwork 192 Lynn Hershman 13 bicycle tv: expo ’92 installation 206 Nancy Paterson 14 acoustic and virtual space as a dynamic element of music 212 Pauline Oliveros 15 “i always like to go where i am not supposed to be” 224 Rebecca Allen with Erkki Huhtamo 16 algorithmic art, scientific visualization, and tele- immersion: an evolving dialog with the universe 242 Donna J. Cox 17 my autobiographical media history: metaphors of interaction, communication, and body using electronic media 260 Agnes Hegedu ¨ s 18 reflections on some installation projects 276 Judith Barry 19 do while studio 290 Jennifer Hall and Blyth Hazen Contents vi 20 tech work by heart 302 Brenda Laurel 21 imagine a space filled with data . . . 312 Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss 22 landscape, earth, body, being, space, and time in the immersive virtual environments osmose and ephe ´ me ` re 322 Char Davies 23 sound installations and spatialization 338 Ce ´ cile Le Prado 24 a tool is a tool 348 Pamela Z 25 production and reproduction 362 Nell Tenhaaf 26 your words, my silent mouth: trying to make narrative sense out of nonnarrative work (a brief collection of interviews and polemics in the interest of aesthetic quasi-clarity) 376 Allucque ` re Rosanne Stone 27 video arte povera: lo-fi rules! 388 Valerie Soe 28 face settings: an international co-cooking and communication project by eva wohlgemuth and kathy rae huffman 398 Kathy Rae Huffman 29 diane fenster: the alchemy of vision 412 Diane Fenster and Celia Rabinovitch 30 pigs, barrels, and obstinate thrummers 426 Linda Austin and Leslie Ross 31 fleshmotor 440 Dawn Stoppiello with Mark Coniglio III Concluding Essays 32 embodiment and narrative performance 452 Jaishree K. Odin Contents vii 33 brazilian counterparts: old histories and new designs 466 Simone Osthoff 34 technology has forgotten them: developing-world women and new information technologies 478 Martha Burkle Bonecchi 35 crossing the threshold: examining the public space of the web through day without art web action 492 Carol Stakenas 36 contested zones: futurity and technological art 502 Zoe ¨ Sofia appendix: listing of web site contents 523 contributors 527 index 531 Contents viii Series Foreword The cultural convergence of art, science, and technology provides ample opportunity for artists to challenge the very notion of how art is produced and to call into question its subject matter and its function in society. The mission of the Leonardo book series, published by the MIT Press, is to publish texts by artists, scientists, researchers, and scholars that present innovative discourse on the convergence of art, science, and technology. Envisioned as a catalyst for enterprise, research, and creative and schol- arly experimentation, the book series enables diverse intellectual commu- nities to explore common grounds of expertise. The Leonardo book series provides a context for the discussion of contemporary practice, ideas, and frameworks in this rapidly evolving arena where art and science connect. To find more information about Leonardo/ISAST and to orderour pub- lications, go to Leonardo Online at 〈http://mitpress.mit.edu/Leonardo/〉 or send e-mail to 〈leo@mitpress.mit.edu〉. Joel Slayton Chair, Leonardo Book Series Book Series Advisory Committee: Pamela Grant-Ryan, Michael Punt, An- nick Bureaud, Allen Strange, Margaret Morse, Craig Harris. LEONARDO/INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE ARTS, SCIENCES, AND TECHNOLOGY (ISAST) Leonardo, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technol- ogy, and the affiliated French organization, Association Leonardo, have two simple goals: [...]... Foreword: The Leonardo Women, Art, and Technology Project Patricia Bentson Leonardo Special Project Manager The Leonardo Women, Art, and Technology Project began in 1993 with the primary aim of encouraging women artists working with technologybased media to write about their work The tremendous response to the project confirms the importance of recognizing these artists: since the start of the project,... that the exhibition “dealt with the relationship of the computer and the arts It was concerned with the exploration and demonstration of connections between creativity and technology (and cybernetics in particular) the links between scientific or mathematical approaches, intuition, and the more irrational and oblique urges associated with the making of music, art, and poetry.”4 Her selection of artists,... discover that the process of writing can also help Foreword xiii them view their own work in new ways—teaching them much about their processes and aiding their future work Early in the project two goals were defined: (1) to increase the numbers of women artists writing and publishing in the journal Leonardo, thereby ensuring that the works and concepts of women artists are included in the full discussion... produced by women artists, curators, critics, and theoreticians Edited by Judy Malloy, this collection of critical commentaries and artists’ documentaries serves to illuminate the important historical contribution to art- and- technology Series Foreword x enterprises by women Women, Art, and Technology provides insight into essential artistic frameworks that helped shape several generations of artists and define... greets the publication of this volume We are indebted to Judy Malloy for her dedication to the project and the book; to Doug Sery of the MIT Press for his recognition of the importance of the topic for the Leonardo Book Series; to the California Tamarack Foundation for its early support and encouragement of the project; and to all the authors who have participated in the project by documenting their... Pinkel, artist, associate professor of art at Pomona College; artist and information activist Anna Couey; and artist Kathy Brew, who was director of the New York City initiative ThunderGulch, set the stage for the book’s central collection of artists’ documentation Patric Prince documents the work of Collete Bangert, Lillian Schwartz, Vera Molnar, and other computer art pioneers in Women and the Search... was the relationship between art and the obvious intelligence of the artist In addition to formulating the art idea, artists using computer technology had to have the means to take it to fruition I first appreciated the concept of visual intelligence after talking to Frank Dietrich and reading his respected early history of the movement.1 The status of artists in the West has changed from servant or artisan... notable exception was the Art and Social Consciousness special issue, Leonardo 26, no 5 (1993), which was guest-edited by Sheila Pinkel This topic-focused rather than medium-focused issue features a number of articles that were written by both women and men artists about their artworks that address social and political issues Currently, through the Women, Art, and Technology Project and other special projects,... and define the field of new media Providing a scholarly forum for women artists, researchers, and theorists to write about their work has long been a consideration of Leonardo In 1993 the Leonardo Women, Art, and Technology Project, under the guest editorship of Judy Malloy, focused on the achievements of women artists and functioned as a catalyst for this book Introductory essays by critical theorists... regularity the final form of performance and installation and other conceptually rooted art forms The artist’s paper—a hybrid of conceptual art documentation and of the technical paper—is also at the core of Leonardo’s publishing practice, and it has become an integral component of new media practice In recognition both of Leonardo’s integral role in hosting the artistwritten paper and of the women who . Research at the Intersection of Art, Science, and Technology, Stephen Wilson, 2002 Women, Art, and Technology edited by Judy Malloy The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England  2003 Massachusetts. Massachusetts 02142 http://mitpress .mit. edu WOMEN, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY edited by JUDY MALLOY foreword by PAT BENTSON Although women have been at the forefront of art and technology creation, no. WOMEN, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION ARTS Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology Stephen Wilson A new breed of contemporary artist engages science and technology not just to adopt the vocabulary