Top of Mind ~ VHS Tapes, Refiguring the Future, and Talking to Machines
Hello!
The last time I wrote one of these (not so tiny) letters was back in November 2016. It is August 2018! O_O Yes, it's been way too long and many changes have occurred in my life. I'll share a few...
I am no longer working the full-time corporate gig. I started my life as a (full time) Ph.D. student in film and digital media at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Year 1 complete and Year 2 is just around the corner...
In March 2018, I became the program manager for this incredible organization!
Wrote a couple exhibition essays for artists I deeply admire last year, which can be found here and here.
Co-organizing and co-curating with this RAD group of women! The exhibition opening for Refiguring the Future will take place in New York at 205 Hudson Gallery followed by a two-day conference! It will be epic!!
So, yeah, my life is pretty much reading, writing, researching, curating, making art, and, well, talking to machines (including my phone, Alexa, and pretending they are sentient beings, for research purposes, of course). I'm trying my best to organize and be better at sharing. But feel free to check out my site here as well as this corner of the internet. Scroll all the way down for a thought/writing prompt!
Much love,
Dorothy
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Currently Reading
Your Art Will Save Your Life by Beth Pickens
The Book by Amaranth Borsuk
The Emotional Life of Your Brain by Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D. and Sharon Begley
Writing Projects I've Worked On
A Turtle in the Mission, personal essay on Processing Foundation's Medium Channel (I explain where my love for all things digital is derived from...)
Excerpts of a writing project titled The Great Sublimation, a collaboration with artist and scholar Elia Vargas, Vice Motherboard
Counter Bodies and Refutations of Genetic Determinism, exhibition catalog, Fridman Gallery
Hate the Player: Sexist video games and pick-up artists both try to gamify gender norms, Real Life, essay
Latest ArtCrush
>>>!!! Lee Blalock !!!<<<
Full disclosure: Lee is one of the exhibiting artists for REFRESH: Refiguring the Future
Speaking Engagements and Special Projects
New Normal / Old Normal at Kala Institute on September 6th from 7-9 pm - I will be participating on a panel discussion titled Making art in the age of #45 with co-panelists Ryanaustin Dennis, Guillermo Galindo, Christy Chan, and Favianna Rodriguez. Panel moderator: Dhaya Lakshminarayanan.
PlaceTalks Season 5 on September 27th from 7-9 pm (Library doors open at 5, lectures begin at 7 sharp!) - I will be giving a presentation titled Captain Video: The Last of the Small Screen Heroes, which is about video rental storefronts in the Bay Area! Not to be missed. I am SUPER excited to put this slide deck together for you all!!!
I will be the host for PRNT SCRN, a podcast produced by Art Practical! The first episode will launch on October 17, 2018 (my birthday! So, the best gift you could give me? Listening!).
Working with extraordinary humans to co-organize, Processing Community Day 2019 happening on January 19, 2019!
REFRESH: Refiguring the Future happens February 8-10, 2019 - For my NY friends and family OR folks traveling out to the east coast at this time, PLEASE join me and the rest of the REFRESH collective and Eyebeam team!!!
Thought / Writing Prompt for You...
You can't take anything away and you are unable to add anything to an existing structure or project. If you were given the opportunity to re-(con)figure something in the world (with these specific constraints in mind), what would it be and how would you re-(con)figure it?