Linda Dement (born 1960 in Brisbane) is an Australian multidisciplinary artist, working in the fields of digital arts, photography, film, and writing non-fiction.[1] Dement is largely known for her exploration of the creative possibilities of emergent technologies such as the CD-ROM, 3-D modelling, interactive software, and early computing.[2][3]
About edit
She began exhibiting in 1984.[4] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) from City Art Institute, Sydney in 1988.[5]
Dement's work has been exhibited in Australia and internationally in galleries and festivals, including at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, Ars Electronica in Austria, the International Symposia of Electronic Art in Sydney and Montreal and the Impakt Media Arts Festival in Europe.[6]
Along with Australian artist collective VNS Matrix, Dement's work pioneered Australian cyberfeminism in art. Cyberfeminist politics and poetics used technology to deconstruct gender stereotypes in mainstream culture, and proactively situated women in relation to the rise of electronic culture in the early 1990s.[7] Through her work, Dement aims to "give form to the unbearable."[8] Dement's work has been described as depersonalised autobiography,[9] that is, an appropriation of the digital as a space of expression, or a "rupture" in the info-tech dominated sphere of computer culture.[10] Her work explores the relationship between the physical body and the body politic, exaggerating female "other-ness" or the "monstrous-feminine."[11]
Censorship edit
Some of Dement's early works have come under censorship by the Australian Government. Typhoid Mary was taken to the NSW Parliament as being "obscene" and subsequently came under the classification of the Australian Government's Office of Film and Literature as "not suitable for those under the age of 18." In My Gash also received a formal "Restricted" classification.[12]
Works edit
| Year | Title | Media | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Awry Signals | Performance art, augmented reality, and mixed media for the creation of the electronic device | a collaboration with Nancy Mauro-Flude to create a séance device and performance | |
| 2013 | 50BPM | a collaboration with Kelly Doley | ||
| 2013 | Kill Fix | |||
| 2012 | Moving Forest | Nicknamed "Castle 2012" | ||
| 2011 | Killing the Host | |||
| 2010 | Bloodbath | Bump Projects; a collaboration with Francesca da Rimini, Kate Richards, Nancy Mauro-Flude, Sarah Waterson and Sydney Roller Derby League. | ||
| 2009 | The Ends of the Earth | a collaboration with Jane Castle[13] | ||
| 2009 | On Track | a collaboration with group In Serial; Linda Dement, Petra Gemeinboeck, PRINZGAU/podgorschek and Marion Tränkle, formed through the eMobilArt workshop programme 2008 - 2009 | ||
| 2008 | Moving Forest London | a collaboration with Shu Lea Cheang and Martin Howse for the Transmediale Festival in Berlin, Germany. | ||
| 2007 | I Know You Think It's Too Late | |||
| 2007–1997 | Eurydice | a collaboration with Kathy Acker | ||
| 1999 | In My Gash | CD-ROM | ||
| 1995 | Cyberflesh Girlmonster | CD-ROM | To make this work, Dement set up a stall as part of Artist Week at Adelaide Festival in 1994. She then digitally scanned 30 women's body parts of their choice. These scanned body parts were then digitally manipulated and reworked as "mutant" bodies to make up the work. Many of the "flesh donors" were prominent Australian cyberfeminist artists present at the Festival.[11] | |
| 1991 | Typhoid Mary | CD-ROM | [14] | |
| 1991–1981 | Various photographic works |
Writing edit
- Artists Thinking About Science (with Helen Watson-Verran et al.). Adelaide, S.A.: Australian Network for Art and Technology, 1994.[15]
- I Really Want to Kill You But I Can't Remember Why (with Jasmine Hirst et al.). Woolloomooloo, NSW: Artspace Australia, 1995.[16]
- "Girl #4 Late 70s," in Peter Blazey et al. (eds.), Love Cries. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1995[17]
- "Payment," in Leonie Stevens (ed.), Warp Drive. Milsons Point, NSW: Random House, 1998[18]
- Byte Me: art + culture + technology (with Kevin Murray et al.). Bendigo, Vic.: Bendigo Art Gallery, 1999[19]
Awards and Prizes edit
- Dement was twice awarded the Harries Australian National Digital Art Award in 2005 and 2006,[20] was awarded a New Media Arts Fellowship in 1996 and the Digital Futures Fund in 2010 by the Australia Council for the Arts, Best CD-ROM at the 9th Stuttgarter Filmwinter Festival in Germany; and Honorable Mentions by New Voices/New Visions, Palo Alto, California; and Ars Electronica, Austria.[4]
References edit
- ^ Daniel Palmer, "Digital Art: A Rich Ecology Archived 2014-02-12 at the Wayback Machine"
- ^ Zurbrugg, Nicholas, ed. (1994). ' Linda Dement Interviewed by Glenda Nalder', Electronic Arts in Australia. Vol. 8. Murdoch, W.A: Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture. p. 166.
- ^ Abrams, Loney (4 January 2019). "The Other Art History: The Forgotten Cyberfeminists of '90s Net Art". Artspace. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ a b 'Linda Dement' by Vickie Crowley in Gerstner, David A., ed. Routledge international encyclopedia of queer culture. Routledge, 2006.
- ^ Frost, Andrew. "Linda Dement Biography". Scanlines-Media Art in Australia Since 1960. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ Munster, Anna. Materializing new media: embodiment in information aesthetics. UPNE, 2011.
- ^ Tofts, Darren (2005). Interzone: Media Arts in Australia. Victoria: Craftsman House. p. 118. ISBN 097573038X.
- ^ Dement, Linda. "Linda Dement artist statement". www.videoartchive.org.au/. Monash University. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
- ^ Mikki Halpin, Holly Willis (1996). "When the personal becomes digital: Linda dement and Barbara Hammer move towards a Lesbian Cyberspace". Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory. 9:1 (17): 235.
- ^ Tofts, Darren (2005). Interzone : media arts in Australia. Fishermans Bend, Vic.: Craftsman House. p. 118. ISBN 097573038X.
- ^ a b Tofts, Darren (2005). Interzone : media arts in Australia. Fishermans Bend, Vic.: Craftsman House. p. 120. ISBN 097573038X.
- ^ Tofts, Darren (2005). Interzone : media arts in Australia. Fishermans Bend, Vic.: Craftsman House. p. 121. ISBN 097573038X.
- ^ Barrett, Di (2009). The ends of the earth : 13 October - 28 November 2009 (2 of 2 ed.). Adelaide: SASA Gallery. p. 6. ISBN 9780980591194. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
- ^ "Typhoid Mary, Linda Dement". Australian Video Art Archive (AVAA). Monash University. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ Watson-Verran, Helen; Dement, Linda; Australian Network for Art and Technology (1 January 1994). Artists thinking about science. Adelaide, S.A.: Australian Network for Art and Technology. ISBN 0646204416. OCLC 221760074.
- ^ Hirst, Jasmine; Dement, Linda; Richardson, Elvis; Munster, Anna; Artspace (Woolloomooloo, N.S.W.) (1 January 1995). I really want to kill you but I can't remember why: Linda Dement, Jasmine Hirst, Elvis Richardson. Woolloomooloo, NSW: Artspace Australia. ISBN 1876017007. OCLC 38407551.
- ^ Blazey, Peter; Dawson, Victoria; Herbert, Tim (1 January 1995). Love cries. Sydney, N.S.W.: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 020718626X. OCLC 34149425.
- ^ Stevens, Leonie (1 January 1998). Warp drive: Australian drug stories. Milsons Point, N.S.W.: Random House Australia. ISBN 0091835461. OCLC 40872293.
- ^ Murray, Kevin; Dement, Linda; Clarke, Julie; Tofts, Darren; Bell, Anonda; Bendigo Art Gallery (1 January 1999). Byte me: art + culture + technology ; Linda Dement ... [et al. Bendigo, Vic.: Bendigo Art Gallery. OCLC 44894526.
- ^ Frost, Andrew. "Linda Dement bio". Scanlines.