Chicago, February 12th – 15th
Wednesday_ 2/12/2020
HERSTORY: Digital Innovations
10:30am-–12:00pm, Wednesday 2/12
Hilton Chicago, Room: Wilford C
Since the inception of this seminal oral history project, our goal has been to reveal infrequently told stories of women active in the arts during the digital revolution from the 1970s through the 1990s. Although cultural revolutions are rarely isolated, undeniable midwestern events gave rise to artistic innovations that played a major role in the birth of New Media Arts. Social developments, including the emergence of civic leadership in education and the arts, aligned with the merits of Chicago’s women’s movement and shaped the milieu from which the intersecting narratives presented in New Media Futures: The Rise of Women in the Digital Arts unfold. The University of Illinois and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago provided a foundational framework for the Chicago arts community that supported synergistic cultural environments in which the creativity and careers of the women featured in this book could flourish.
From late 2008 through 2012, we recorded interviews of twenty-two women whose contributions focused on 1985 as a pivotal point for a set of questions. We personally know many of these vibrant, creative women, and in the process of editing the book we discovered many more. This selection represents a breadth of generations and approaches that serve as exemplars from influential years in the twentieth century’s digital revolution.
Panelists:
Ellen Sandor, (art)N
Janine Fron, (art)N
Donna Cox, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Carolina Cruz-Neira, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Copper Giloth, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Tiffany Holmes, Maryland Institute, College of Art
Margaret Dolinsky, Indiana University Bloomington
Abina Manning, School of Art Institute of Chicago
Barbara Sykes, Independent Artist
Mary Rasmussen, Independent Artist
Maxine Brown, University of Illinois at Chicago
Dana Plepys, University of Illinois at Chicago
Contact: Janine Fron, janine@artn.com
New Media Caucus Business Meeting
12:30–1:30 pm, Wednesday 2/12
Wilford C
Dematerialization of the Art Experience
2:00–3:30 pm, Wednesday 2/12
Media Lounge (Salon C-2)
Rachel E. Clarke, Cal State University, Sacramento and Tom Burtonwood, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
This roundtable will explore the physical-virtual shift from 3D printing practices to Virtual Reality (VR) and Extended Reality (XR) experiences in new media. What VR/XR practices are extant, and what new practices are emerging? A discussion will follow ten lightning talks. Organized by Rachel Clarke and Tom Burtonwood.
Free and open to the public. No CAA Registration required.
Panelists:
Nadav Assor
Connecticut College
Nick Bontrager
Texas Christian University
Jon Chambers
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Chicago
Meredith Drum
Virginia Tech
Richard Haley
Wayne State University
Mona Kasra
University of Virginia
Brenda Lopez
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Agatha Park
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Kate Parsons
Pepperdine University, Art Center College of Design
Chelsea Thompo
Grand Valley State University
Kristin McWharter
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Contacts: Rachel Clarke recsep@gmail.com + Tom Burtonwood tburtonwood@saic.edu
Thursday 2/13/2020
Edge of Being
2:00–3:30pm, Thursday 2/13
Media Lounge (Salon C-2)
Laura Hyunjhee Kim, University of Colorado Boulder
Edge of Being is a hybrid-lecture-performance and presentation featuring provocations by artists Laura Hyunjhee Kim, Ryan Wurst, Melanie Clemmons, Zak Loyd who bend new media tools as a medium to situate hypermediated bodies in virtually simulated environments. From fantastical reimaginings to phantasmagoric envisionings of embodiment that oscillate between the virtual and physical, kinesthetic experiences brought forth by the situated absence and presence of synthetic bodies heighten the evocative metaphysical nature of posthuman experiences. Intermingling corporeal sensations with emergent forms of expression, the projects in conversation transcend the repertoire of ready-made digital platforms and uncannily resonate beyond the edges of the screen. In this experimental engagement, the participating artists will take each other’s ideas and projects out for a virtual walk, a departure point for visitors to ponder what it feelosophically means to sense the world as transient screen-based-beings of the now.
Free and open to the public. No CAA Registration required.
Contact: Laura Hyunjhee Kim
Being (T)here: Presence and Embodiment in Video and Digital Art
4:00–5:30pm, Thursday 2/13
ARTspace (Salon C-4)
Sarah Elizabeth Lasley, Indiana University, Masha Vlasova, Wofford College and Sue Huang, University of Connecticut, Lindsey Dorr-Niro, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
This panel investigates artistic questions of presence, body, and site-specificity within new media art, including projects that straddle the boundary between body and site, humyn and digital, irl and simulation. Organized by Sarah Lasley (Indiana University) and Masha Vlasova (Wofford College); moderated by Sue Huang (University of Connecticut).
Free and open to the public. No CAA Registration required.
Contacts: Sarah Lasley sarah.lasley@gmail.com + Masha Vlasova masha.vlasova@aya.yale.edu
Eleventh Annual New Media Caucus Showcase
8:00-10:00pm, , Thursday 2/13
Bar Louie, 47 W Polk St, Chicago, IL 60605
The NMC showcase is a curated series of rapid-fire presentations by 10 NMC members. It has proven to be an excellent forum to get to know the work of a fellow members in a lively atmosphere and is the signature offsite event of the New Media Caucus. Food and select drinks are provided, and the venue features a cash bar.
Talks from:
Aaron Whitney Bjork, Adjunct Associate Professor, ArtCenter College of Design
Meredith Drum, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech
roya ebtehaj, Postdoc Fellow, Santa Clara University
Rebecca Forstater, Syracuse University
Christina Freeman, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Hunter College, City University of New York
David Han, PhD Student, Cinema & Media Art, York University
Amay Kataria, Media Artist
Bridget Moreen Leslie, Artist
Clinton Sleeper, Assistant Professor, Florida State University
Chelsea Thompto, Visiting Professor, Grand Valley State University
Jiaqi Zhang and Francisca Rudolph, Fixity Equals Death
This event is free and open to the public, and no College Art Association registration needed.
It’s important that we get a headcount, however, so RSVP via Eventbrite is required.
Contacts: Liat Berdugo + Byron Rich
Friday 2/14/2020
Coding as Feminist Practice
8:30–10:00am, Friday 2/14
Media Lounge (Salon C-2)
KT Duffy, Northeastern Illinois University, Alejandro Toledo Acierto, Vanderbilt University, and Tiffany Mikell, Managing Director, ZaMLabs, Inc
This hybrid lecture-workshop will lead with a presentation of pedagogical research examining intersectional feminist values through the praxis of art and technology-based pedagogy, wherein Feminism is defined as the collective making, sharing, and practical strategies which employ a step-up-step-back approach that enables and empowers multiple voices to be present within the space of making. Alejandro Acierto, Tiffany Mikell, and KT Duffy will present project methodologies that allow for alternative ways of hypothesizing and planning and which explore the potential for a logic of feminism where objects (object-oriented programming) are reoriented within a radical feminist discourse. The lecture will follow with an experimental coding/making workshop.
Limited registration; Participants should register for the workshop here. Participants will need a computer.
Free and open to the public. No CAA Registration required.
Contact: KT Duffy ktduffyinc@gmail.com
Saturday 2/15/2020
Mediated Reenactments and the Post-photographic Moment
2:00–3:30pm, Saturday 2/15
Media Lounge (Salon C-2)
Niharika Dinkar, Boise State University and Catherine Zuromskis, University of New Mexico [NOTE: incorrect affiliation being corrected in the system]
Organized by Niharika Dinkar (Boise State University) and Catherine Zuromskis (Rochester Institute of Technology), this panel considers the visual culture of contemporary mediated reenactments (documentary, art, journalism, VR, etc.). What is at stake—historically, aesthetically, affectively, technologically—in the revivification of the past and what are its politics of representation?
Free and open to the public. No CAA Registration required.
Contacts: Niharika Dinkar niharikadinkar@boisestate.edu + Catherine Zuromskis czpph@rit.edu
NMC Affiliated Panels
Thursday_ 2/13/2020, 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Hilton Chicago, 8th floor
Corinna Kirsch, Peter McDonald, Francesca Franco, Tiffany Funk, Charles S. Evans
Thursday_ 2/13/2020, 4pm – 5:30 pm
Hilton Hotel, Lower Level, Salon C-2
Applying a modified SWOT Analysis, this workshop creates space to share experiences and strategies to overcome exclusionary practices. Facilitators guide participants through a group writing activity. Sharing is a means of finding empathy and build healing bridges. We welcome artists, designers, and educators to bring your ideas; share your experiences!
Facilitated by Vagner Mendonça Whitehead
Texas Woman’s University
Friday_ 2/14/2020, 10:30 – 1:00 pm
Hilton Chicago – Lobby Level – Continental A
Panelists:
Ruth West, Andres E. Burbano, Philip Galanter, Jeremy Stewart, Meredith Tromble, Elizabeth A. Demaray, Marian Mazzone, Ahmed Elgammal, Eitan Mendelowitz, Christiane Paul.
Friday_ 2/14/2020, 10:30am – 12:00pm pm
Hilton Chicago – 8th Floor – Lake Erie
Rashin Fahandej, Nadav Assor
Friday_ 2/14/2020, 4pm – 5:30 pm
Hilton Chicago – Lobby Level – Continental B
“Stuck Between the Teeth: Building and Breaking Transoceanic Bonds” Thea Quiray Tagle, University of Washington Bothell // Take My Breath Away: Danh Võ and the Erotic Detail Joshua Chambers-Letson // “Queering Diaspora in Middle Eastern Art: Performing Race and Empire” Andrew Gayed, York University // “Radical Visibility: a queer and disabled dress reform movement” Sky Cubacub, Rebirth Garments
Saturday_ 2/15/2020, 10:30am -12pm
Hilton Chicago – 4th Floor – 4K
Robert Ladislas Derr, Thea Fitz-James, Jennie Klein, Holly Hughes, Cynthia Pachikara
