Nostalgic Technologies and Contemporary Artists

Week 12 - Devices of Wonder, Amber Phelps, and Risa Horowitz

Monday's class was split into two parts, part of it was dedicated to reading the University of Chicago Chronicle article on "Devices of Wonder" and viewing the online exhibition, and in the second part of the class we had a short artist talk from Amber Phelps Bondaroff, a current grad student at the U of R. Amber uses a lot of older, re-purposed technology in her work, and much of it is very lo-fi (or as she seemed to call it, no-fi) and although short, I found her talk very interesting and her artwork really engaging.

image via getty.edu

After viewing the online exhibition and discussing the article in groups, we chose one device to talk about further. My group chose the Chromatrope, which was the one I found most interesting. It used two circular lenses that would rotate around each other when the crank was moved, which gave the illusion of movement within a still image.This reminded me a lot of the AR Art software Ned Bartlett showed in his lecture, because it was providing layers of information and added another layer of realism to a still image. It also spoke to the nature of realistic 2D images - we were viewing it through a lens, which puts in the position of a viewer, and the experience is significantly different than experiencing crashing waves in person. 

On the Wednesday of that week, we had a guest lecture from Risa Horowitz who did an artist talk and shared her artwork throughout her career. I took my intro to 3D class with Risa and was familiar with some of her work through that. Her interest in play, amateur vs. professional, and conceptual art were very evident even in her intro studio class, and I really enjoyed being able to see a more thorough view into her bodies of work. Risa started off her lecture by giving us a definition of creative technology that stated that an art work uses creative technology if it requires as much discussion of the technology involved as it does the art itself, and then quickly told us her art work does not fit under this definition even though it does require use of creative technology. However, the use of different technologies (film photography in her early self-portraits and very high-tech telescopes in her current work with Saturn) as well as the collaboration in her art practice (seen in "Thirtieth Year by Day") make her work an excellent example of creative technology in contemporary Canadian art.

image via risahorowitz.com

Project Proposal

On Display: Exploring Fat Bodies through Textile Technologies

For this proposal, I would like to make a piece using textiles and textile-specific technology. I would create a series of five muumuu-like plus size dresses that would exhibit audio when approached. The five dresses would all have bold, clashing patterns – one would have thick horizontal stripes, one would have a large polka dot print, one would be a black and white checkerboard pattern, and the other two would have differing large floral patterns that might be reminiscent of the prints on retro couches or curtains. These dresses would be hand-sewn by me, and would have stitched details to create the “parts” of a fat body – the breasts, stomach, mons pubis, butt, and rolls of fat, as well as stretch marks. The stitching would be used to make the dresses three dimensional and more accurately reference all dimensions of the fat body, and I would also sew the material in a way to distort the pattern as if it were stretched over a body. I would use textile specific technologies, such as the Arduino-compatible Flora wearable electronic platform, available from Ada Fruit Industries. The fives dresses would be hung individually, and as they were approached they would exhibit audio recordings. Once the viewer was within one foot of the sensor, each piece would begin to tell a personal story of abuse or harassment I’ve experience that was directly related to the size of my body. Each piece of audio would be no more than two minutes, in an attempt to keep the audience most engaged.

This piece would be titled “On Display” and would explore fat bodies, clothing as a means of exploring self-identity, and the ways in which fat bodies are viewed as public property. I would display this work in a high-traffic, public area such as a mall. If I were to display this work in Regina, I would do so in the Cornwall Centre mall downtown. I would want to display this work in such a public area, and specifically in a mall, because members of the public often feel that they have access to and ownership over fat bodies and this piece would engage with that wide-held believe. Shopping malls also exemplify the way bodies are policed and controlled by mainstream notions of beauty and what is “acceptable.” Malls exist as public spaces whose function is to have influence and control over how people adorn their body, as well as a place where non-normative bodies feel unwelcome and are placed on display. As a fat person, I generally feel quite comfortable exposing my body (such as wearing revealing clothing in warmer months) in outdoor public spaces, but become noticeably uncomfortable when that public area becomes an enclosed space. While I can only speak from my own experiences, I have heard similar sentiments from other friends who also have visibly non-normative bodies – we are comfortable to walk down Scarth Street and sit in Victoria Park, but when we need to go into the Cornwall Centre for coffee or to use the washroom we become uncomfortably aware that our bodies are on display as non-normal and, as such, are open for commentary by strangers. Because I experience my body very differently in malls than I do in other public spaces, I think displaying this work in a high-traffic shopping mall in a central area is integral to piece’s themes and function.

Although I had already been interested in this sort of art, I had very little understanding of the technologies used in them. After the in-class lecture by Ned Bartlett and the demonstration on how to use Arduinos, I had a more comprehensive understanding of these technologies and knowing how they were already being used by artists inspired me to consider using them in an art piece. I spoke to Ned Bartlett after the Arduino workshop as I was inspired by this technology, and we spoke briefly about lilypads being used in art. I wasn’t aware that lilypads were made specifically for textile work, but after finding that out I was very excited by the possibilities. Ned Bartlett’s lecture included a video of a light-up hat for an infant that was made by amateur users in their home. Seeing the way that the lilypad in this hat did not interfere with the aesthetic line of the material, and that the infant did not seem irritated by its presence, made me think that this is a technology I could use in art projects of my own.

I am influenced by a few different artists for this art piece, and for many different reasons. Misha Cardenas’ work greatly influenced this project, as they use technology-based art as a tool for activist purposes. In particular, their piece titled “autonets” acts as an inspiration because it is a textile art work that utilizes lilypads and is used as activism for people with non-normative bodies and identities. I am also influenced by Cindy Baker, a Saskatoon based artist who also identifies as fat, and who discusses non-normative bodies in her artwork. I am particularly interested in Cindy Bakers’ on-going performance titled “Personal Appearance,” in which she wears a custom built professionally made mascot costume of herself. Of this piece, she says that that dressing as a “manifestation as a cuddly cartoon character functions to erase social barriers, encouraging physical contact and the building of emotional bonds.” She also says that “Personal Appearance engages the notion of fatness, addressing the lived reality of taboo bodies in spaces made for the socio-normative body, and encouraging discussions on the nature of size, beauty, acceptance, accommodation and accessibility.” Cindy Baker’s discussion of non-normative bodies in spaces made for socially normative bodies speaks very well to what I would hope to accomplish with my artwork.

image via openspace.ca

One of the things that appeals to me about the Arduino is that, as far as technology goes, it is very accessible to individuals who don’t know much about the possibilities of technology’s use. In the videos shown during our Arduino lecture, it is evident that the use of this technology is often a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) sort of technology. This was especially evident in the helium balloon photographs that captured images of the earth. I feel that in general DIY is an important part of activism because it gives individuals an autonomy over their bodies and how their identities and experiences are expressed. However, despite the accessibility of this type of technology and the open-source sharing that accompanies it, I do not find myself particularly skilled when it comes to technology and would not feel comfortable doing the coding on my own. I would want to collaborate with another person on this art piece, and have them address the technical aspects of using lilypads and the software involved with that. I would ideally like to work with one other person, as a team who shares credit, who is also engaged in activist-based art forms.

Image Making and Photography

On March 20th, we had a class discussion about photography, including the distinctions between professional, amateur, and instant photography as well as the benefits and downsides of each one. We also talked about the authenticity of an image, and then broke off into groups where we chose a professional photograph and then tried to recreate/reference it using an iPhone camera. We chose Cindy Sherman's iconic Film Still #14 and I think some of our iPhone photos were really successful.

Aurdinos in Art

Week 8 - Ned Bartlett and Aurdino workshop

When starting off his lecture, Ned Bartlett was sure to stress that technology is amazing when it works, that technology is a medium, and, like any medium, has a reason and has to have a purpose in an art piece. These might not be universal truths for everyone who utilizes creative technologies but, as someone who is interested in technology but not very familiar with it, they really resonated with me.

After the lecture, what interested me most about the Arduino was the open-source software and the accessibility it provided. I like that it is available to almost anybody, and the DIY sense that comes with that. Ned's "Space Ball" gave a really great idea of the things that are possible with the Arduino.


During the demonstration portion of the topic, I was really nervous about being totally Arduino-inadequate, but it ended up being as user friendly as promised and I was really excited when we got out LED blink at different intervals and even dim when it was translated to analog. I actually snapped a photograph of our Arduino set-up with my dying cell phone at the time, but I forgot to save my photos to my SIM card before getting a new phone and lost all of my photographs (which was pretty disappointing and further proof to my tech-illiteracy). However, it was a very simple set up and likely looked the exact same as every other Arduino in the class room, so it's probably not a great disaster that the documentation was lost. 

While note related to Arduinos, Ned showed some other creative uses of technology at the end of his lecture and one in particular stood out to me. AR Art is an app that "breathes life into objects" by providing extra layers of information and the results are stunning.

still from arart.info's vimeo video

Interactive Online Media and VJing

Week 6 - Interactive Online Media lecture and VJing demonstration with Ian Campbell


Interactive online media seems to be a pretty big topic (almost like creative technologies itself) and I always find that a bit scary. How can I really understand something so vast and vague? Still, I find it engaging and interesting, so I want to be more confident when talking about interactive online media. Our reading for this lecture was Henry Jenkin's "Quentin Tarantino’s StarWars: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture." In it, he argues that re-appropriation of pop culture (in this case, Star Wars) is an integral part of consuming media and that doing so allows viewers to produce related media, which makes the role of "viewer" an active rather than passive one. In his introduction, he writes...

"Too often, fan appropriation and transformation of media content gets marginalized or exoticised, treated as something that people do when they have too much time on their hands. The assumption seems to be made that anyone who would invest so much creative and emotional energy into the products of mass culture must surely have something wrong with them."

Full disclosure: I've looked at fan fiction, fandoms, and otherwise engaged, excited participation in media with the skeptical gaze of smug disinterest in the past. (And while Jenkin's says media convergence and participation isn't just about fan culture, a lot of it is, and I think that's often what's most evident). That's in part because I'm the type of person to overlook even things I'm really interested in, and also because I never really got it until recently. There is definitely a sense of superiority that people who think they don't participate in interactive online media have other those who actively and excitedly engage in these practices, but it is actually the latter who consume media more critically. Interactive online media isn't limited to niche areas like The Sims or World of Warcraft, it includes online platforms like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram along with games and other apps. It would be near impossible to avoid any sort of interactive online media, and the truth is, why would you want to? Rather than taking away from "real life," online media creates worlds of augmented realities, where information online and off can be layered on top of one another to make for a more engaging, fulfilling experience. 

When we were discussing participatory culture and media convergence, the first thing that came to mind was of nail polish brands that will do limited edition collections related to a movie. I've never been interested in fan fiction or other aspects of geek culture, but I do have quite the affinity for nail polish. Although I've seen them for a few different movie, including an OPI line for Shrek, the one that came to mind was the Hunger Games line from China Glazes.

image via chinaglaze.com

Despite not working with film or video very much, with the exception of an intermedia assignment last year, I was really excited that Ian Campbell would be giving a VJing demonstration. I've really enjoyed both of his pieces in the current exhibition at the Mackenzie Art Gallery, and saw him VJ for the first time at Neutral Ground's Arts Birthday in January. I had never seen VJing before and was really impressed with the way different projectors were hitting specific parts of the walls and how the images being projected interacted with and related to the music/noise/sound art. Being able to hear him speak and have a (small) insight into the process and the software used was really interesting.

I enjoyed the wide array of examples Ian showed in addition to a bit of his own VJing. While probrably one of the most lo-fi, the video I liked the most was Friedrich van Schoor's Spider Projection. It was playful and simple enough to be understood, as well as being delightfully creepy and really engaging.

image via designboom.com

Micha Cardenas' Autonets

Micha Cardenas is a transgender artist based in California and is a PhD student at the University of Southern California in Media Arts and Practice. Cardenas is primarily a performance artist, however they* use media very creatively in their artistic practice. Cardenas’ artist bio on their website describes them as “an artist/theorist who works at the intersections of bodies, technology, movement and politics” which I think is a very accurate description of their artwork. Although Cardenas’ work is not directly related to the lectures and workshops we have had in class thus far, their innovative use of technologies in their art practice makes them very relevant to this class. I believe that more relationships between Cardenas’ art work and our class will become present in future lectures, particularly our lectures on Interactive Gadgets, Visual Arts and New Technology, and Professional Visual Arts Practices, which are all listed on the course syllabus as upcoming lecture topics.

Cardenas’ most recent artwork, and what I believe to be one of their most interesting, is their Local Autonomy Network which is usually known shortly as Autonets. On its website, Autonets is described as an “artivist project” (a hybrid of artist and activist) which suggests that this art project functions as a form of activism. Autonets uses new technologies as an anti-violence tool of communication for women, queer and transgender people, and people of colour. Rather than looking to the police or other people in authority for help, who are often of no help to queer people and people of colour, Autonets explores how members of marginalized communities can help take care of each other. The “background” section if its website states that “Autonets empower communities to become more autonomous through collectively agreed on networks of communication.”

image via autonets.org

Autonets are mesh wearable electronic garments that alert everyone else wearing the mesh garments in the network when they are activated. These garments can be activated when someone needs help or is in a dangerous situation and doing so sends their location to other people in the network. Despite being fully-functioning, the likelihood of such electronic garments being readily produced and easily accessible for women, queer folks, and other minorities isn’t very likely, especially in the near future. As such, Autonets exists as a series of performances, workshops, and presentations as much as it exists as a functional art object. While I understand how this technology is being used, and the radical effects it can have on marginalized communities, I cannot accurately explain how the technology behind the Autonet mesh garments work. According to its website “the first two series of prototypes use Xbee wireless transmitters, led lights and electroluminescent (EL) wire to be able to send direction and distance information.”

In an interview, Cardenas explains their inspiration for Autonets: “I wanted to make safety devices as art that were designed for me and my community so that I could feel safe walking home at night because I did not feel safe walking home at night. Regularly, on a daily basis, I don’t feel safe. I have to really think about my safety as a trans person living in L.A.” Autonets also intends to be an independent form of communication, that is, one that does not rely on corporate or state-based technologies and as such is less vulnerable to surveillance. While Autonets is just one of Misha Cardenas’ art projects, I think its performance and workshop based medium, its creative and innovative use of new technologies, and its focus on marginalized communities and identities is a an excellent overview of their art work as a whole, which is very relevant to our course content.

Hip Hop

Week 4 - Hip Hop Culture, Beat Making, and DJing with Dr. Charity Marsh

In this week, we talked about Hip Hop as a contemporary art practice and a use of creative technology. On Monday we had a lecture from Dr. Charity Marsh, who's research is primarily in the area of hip hop culture in Northern First Nations and Inuit communities. The first things I found most interesting was how hip hop culture is being re-appropriated by Canadian youth in a way that references hip hop "tradition" while making changes to be more specific to Inuit communities in Nunavut (an example of such would be NWA: Natives With Attitude). Hip hop has been an important art form for Black communities and is often a really successful tool to discuss the marginalization and oppression people of colour face, and I think it's really interesting that it is being used by First Nations and Inuit communities in Canada for the same purpose.My favourite piece shown by Dr. Marsh was the beat boxing/throat singing combination, both art forms are impressive on their own and the way the young women put them together was amazing.

image via interactivemediaandperformance.com

For the workshop portion of the week, we visited the Interactive Media and Performance (IMP) labs. I had heard a bit about the IMP labs when I took intermedia last year, but I didn't know much about it and was always a bit hesitant to find out more despite knowing that it was available to the public. In our lecture the class before Dr. Marsh spoke about the five parts of hip hop, which are DJing, rapping, break dancing, beat making, and graffiti art, and we had the chance to experience two of those aspects (DJing and beat making) in the IMP labs. I tend to be nervous around electronic equipment I'm not familiar with (which is a lot of it) but once given a bit of direction I had a lot of fun with both of them. The DJ pod in particular was really cool, and I enjoyed hearing the DJing other students were doing, as well as the quick demonstration of the research assistant who was in the pod with us.

Audio and New Music

Week 3 - lecture by Dr. Pauline Minevich and workshop by Rebecca Caines (zoome recorder and bloom generative ipod app)

In the third week of class, we explored music's place in creative technology, the innovative technologies present in music's history, and current technologies that are are used in music and sound art. Our reading for the week was an article on Stanford's iPhone Orchestra and an accompanying video of an orchestral performance. The iPhone Orchestra demonstrates a meeting of new technology and traditional music practice, which I think demonstrated the themes of that week's lecture and discussions very clearly.


Monday's lecture by Dr. Pauline Minevich began with a 1626 quotation by Francis Bacon that is said to have predicted technologies in the field of music far before their time. In thinking of the concepts of technology and new media, it is common to think only of the past 15-20 years, but what is considered "new technology" is relevant to the time period in which they are developed. Almost 400 years ago, Bacon spoke about technology in music in a similar way to how we would talk about it now, and in the last 200 years there have been numerous new inventions that have played an important role in music and sound art. While many musicians and artists were discussed in Dr. Minevich's lecture, a few in particular stood out to me as especially interesting. In 1909, Arnold Schoenburg wrote his Five Orchestral Pieces, one of which was just called Sounds. These pieces were not melodic, and instead tried to reference paintings through layers of sounds, the way colours and textures would be layered. Another artist of interest to me is Alvin Lucier, who's 1969 piece I Am Sitting in a Room is considered one of the first applications of generative sound.

On the Wednesday, we broke into two groups and, alternating, had a to chance to use two different technologies intended for exploring sound art. For the first half go the class I paired with a classmate and used the Zoom recorder to record different sounds around the university. We were encouraged to think about the characteristics of different noises, such as liquid and solid, human and artificial, and loud and soft. A few of the sounds we recorded included a toilet flushing, foot steps in a stairwell, and the beeping of an elevator. I had never used a Zoom recorder before, and although I was only able to use it for a short period of time it seemed pretty user friendly and accessible.  

In the second part of the class, we were given an iPad with the Bloom application on it. Bloom in a generative sound app for iPhones and iPads, and I think using the iPad gave a lot more freedom for interaction given the larger screen. The app was fun to play around with, but it raised a few questions. The one that stood out most for me was the question of ownership: if I create music on a sound app such as Bloom, is that music mine or does it belong to the creators of the generative sound software. While not an art-making tool, such iPhone/iPad apps are still fun and interesting to interact with.