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Irina Aristarkhova: "Cyberfeminist Legacies in New Media Art" at CAA

February 13, 2025
CAA

On February 14, Stamps Professor Irina Aristarkhova will chair the panel discussion ​“Cyberfeminist Legacies in New Media Art” at the College Art Association (CAA) 113th Annual Conference in New York.

Presented by the New Media Caucus, the panel includes Hyla Willis, Nathanael Elias Mengist, Margaret Tan, and María Fernández.

Abstract: In the last decade there has been a resurgence of interest in the histories and creative practices of cyberfeminism. Recent exhibitions and publications have highlighted the current political and technological moment and proposed intersectional approaches to new media (for example Stephanie Dinkins’ ​“On Love and Data,” Mindy Seu’s ​“Cyberfeminist Index,” and Legacy Russell’s ​“Glitch Feminism). This panel will consider, among other topics, the legacy of the art collective subRosa, to examine questions raised by cyberfeminists in the tactical media movement and including the conception of ​“tactical biopolitics” by Beatriz Da Costa and Kavita Philip. The panel questions would include 1) How new forms of networking between software, hardware and wetware, may give rise to new aesthetic forms or possibilities for intersectional solidarity among new media artists, designers, scholars, and activists; 2) In considering the legacies of Tactical Media and Cyberfeminism, how acknowledgment and critique of their biases bring a helpful reexamination of the labor politics and extractive logics embedded in today’s artificial intelligence, algorithms, the Internet of Things, and autonomous‑, bio‑, and reproductive technologies.

Presentations:

  • Margaret Tan, independent artist: Maintenance Work in a Smart Nation and Beyond
  • Nathanael Elias Mengist, University of Washington: After-birth; Or, the black feminist purposes of alchemy
  • Hyla Willis, Robert Morris University: Terms and Conditions: a Slow-Click EULA-gy
  • Irina Aristarkhova, University of Michigan Ann Arbor: subRosa and New Tactical Media Art

Cyberfeminist Legacies in New Media Art
Friday, February 14th, 2025
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM Eastern
New York Hilton Midtown – 2nd Floor – Regent. The panel will be presented as part of the in-person CAA Conference. CAA registration is required for this event.