. Conversations at the Edge (CATE)

April 18 – Dawn Chan and Mary Flanagan: On Power and Play in Virtual Worlds

Dawn Chan and Mary Flanagan in person Critics Dawn Chan and Mary Flanagan, winners of the 2018 Thoma Foundation Arts Writing Awards in Digital Art, engage in a wide-ranging conversation about the social and political dynamics embedded in virtual reality, games, digital art, and software design. Considering the work of Rachel Rossin, Ramsey Nasser, Jenova […]

April 11 – Tabita Rezaire: Network Blossom

Tabita Rezaire in person French Guyana-based new media artist and energy worker Tabita Rezaire navigates power structures on and offline to pursue decolonial healing. Through performance, 3D animation, and screen interfaces, her work addresses the ongoing effects of colonialism and decenters occidental authority. She presents a trio of videos that reimagine technology, spirituality, and the […]

Refiguring Binaries

Curator Kelani Nichole in person In recent years, the contours of a new contemporary art movement have begun to emerge, forged in reaction to the ideologies of Silicon Valley, the platforming and globalization of culture, and technologies of power like artificial intelligence, photorealistic computer-generated images, and virtual and augmented reality. These “Simulists” simultaneously embrace and […]

On Sondra Perry

We close this season of Conversations at the Edge with a performance and video by New York-based interdisciplinary artist Sondra Perry whose work critically examines the technologies and power relations that affect representation and black identity. This week, we welcome School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduate student Lindsay A. Hutchens to reflect upon […]

November 16 – Sondra Perry: Performance and Video

Mixing personal history and pop culture, New York-based artist Sondra Perry savvily dissects power relations that shape Black identity and representation. Her performances and multimedia works use video games, glitchy 3D avatars, and computer desktop windows to express and explode biases built into the code of everyday life. In the video-performance Lineage for a Multiple-Monitor Workstation: […]

October 19 – The Real-Fake

In an epoch defined by avatars, reality bubbles, and the rapid spread of alt-facts, the role of computer simulation technologies and the parallel worlds they produce take on new dimensions. Curated by Claudia Hart, Rachel Clarke, and Pat Reynolds, The Real-Fake brings together 23 artists working with 3D simulation tools to produce a new esthetic and ethic of the […]

Feb 19 – Robin Deacon: White Balance: A History of Video

Thursday, February 19th | Robin Deacon in person! Acclaimed artist and filmmaker Robin Deacon presents a stirring performance on the history and aesthetics of video. The title White Balance refers to the process by which a video camera is adjusted to account for differences in light. For Deacon, this process also suggests video’s capability to convey […]

September 18 – Jonathan Monaghan: Alien Fanfare

Thursday, September 18 | Jonathan Monaghan in person! Seamlessly melding imagery from art history, mainstream video games, and contemporary advertising, Jonathan Monaghan’s videos are surreal explorations of power, value, and the role of technology. The artist, whose work takes shape through glossy animated videos, virtual environments, and 3D printing, presents a selection of his latest videos, a […]