Lynn hershman leeson interview stream

I think of Neuromancer by William Gibson—I wonder if that was something that interested you. But it just seems that they were interrelated. I thought that was really interesting. WEISS: Trauma—especially in your dollhouse and video installation Home Frontin the form of domestic violence—reappears throughout your work. So is that capability, of editing out or correcting trauma, appealing?

HERSHMAN LEESON: I think we have to learn how to do it, and not accept trauma that has been given to us for some reason, that we either inherited or is in our genes or is in an accident that happened in our lifetime, and use that in a way that it can be reconverted through creative restructuring—to not accept trauma as the end. Frank Ochberg,] who named it, and he was in his eighties living in Michigan and still practicing.

I think I interviewed something like over 20 scientists for The Infinity Engineand, eventually, I made an installation that used some of these interviews.

Lynn hershman leeson interview stream: A Talk with Lynn

But I did it mainly so I could learn from this experience more than anything; without knowing what it would result in. AB: What did you feel that the public reaction was in depicting and working through these scientific processes? LHL: I think people didn't really understand at first, but I'm used to that because it usually takes 20 years for people to understand my work laughs.

I didn't show my work for a long time; I finally showed the Breathing Machine in They kept saying it wasn't art. So it doesn't bother me that people won't show the work or say it isn't art because I know that eventually, they will. Although some people did get it. You know, I just feel very lucky that I was able to, on one hand, make the antibodies and on the other hand, to convert all the work itself into DNA.

That was part of a show I did in ; inI wouldn't have been able to do that because the technology was so new, it hadn't been invented yet.

Lynn hershman leeson interview stream: Eternally Yours: An Interview

Then, you look back and say well, you know, you're really pioneering these ideas of, for instance, taking an exhibition and making the exhibition into DNA, or making an antibody out of Roberta and having it treat cancer patients. So, it's ultimately about keeping an open mind and not having any borders or definitions of what is art, what isn't art, or how you use it.

AB: Your work feels inherently optimistic. I think we have to kind of keep optimism in view for the future - especially giving this current situation - as well as the next decade or so. Do you have any advice for artists to embrace and cultivate optimism?

Lynn hershman leeson interview stream: Here you will find lectures, panels,

LHL: I just think that we're born into specific times, with specific tools, and it's really up to all of us to use the tools. Not in a way that will threaten us but in a way that can deal with ideas of sustainability and the future of the planet. We can't give up on that. I think that making art in itself requires optimism - or making anything creative requires optimism - because you have to believe that what you're doing is important.

You're often working alone and to do something in isolation, you must believe in it and believe that it will have an effect. So optimism and humor are secret weapons that really need to be used. How are the preparations for this going?

Lynn hershman leeson interview stream: The pioneering artist discusses

You can't touch anything and a lot of my work, from the seventies and eighties, requires looking through a periscope or pulling a trigger or touching. So it's being revised because I can't use any of those pieces. AB: That's too bad. Can you tell me about some of your newest works that you're preparing for this show? Margot chose the theme of the Cyborgs that has been running through my practice, much like that of DNA, for the past five decades.

The Video Viewing Room series presents recent video works and archival recordings. This online initiative revives The Kitchen's longstanding Video Viewing Room—a dedicated space within our buildings from through the early s. Since the s Lynn Hershman Leeson has addressed issues of identity construction and the conflicting complexities of a culture entrenched in and obsessed with technology and artifice.

Her innovative and in-depth investigations span the fields of art, science, and technology, engaging formats that range from sound and performance to photography and bio- and net-based art. Hershman Leeson conceived of these four commercial spots to promote her site-specific installations of Forming a Sculpture Drama in Manhattan at the Chelsea and Plaza Hotels.