Editors' Notes

Maria Damon and Michelle Greenblatt
Jim Leftwich and Michelle Greenblatt
Sheila E. Murphy and Michelle Greenblatt

A Visual Conversation on Michelle Greenblatt's ASHES AND SEEDS with Stephen Harrison, Monika Mori | MOO, Jonathan Penton and Michelle Greenblatt

Letters for Michelle: with work by Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, Jeffrey Side, Larry Goodell, mark hartenbach, Charles J. Butler, Alexandria Bryan and Brian Kovich

Visual Poetry by Reed Altemus
Poetry by Glen Armstrong
Poetry by Lana Bella
A Eulogic Poem by John M. Bennett
Elegic Poetry by John M. Bennett
Poetry by Wendy Taylor Carlisle
A Eulogy by Vincent A. Cellucci
Poetry by Vincent A. Cellucci
Poetry by Joel Chace
A Spoken Word Poem and Visual Art by K.R. Copeland
A Eulogy by Alan Fyfe
Poetry by Win Harms
Poetry by Carolyn Hembree
Poetry by Cindy Hochman
A Eulogy by Steffen Horstmann
A Eulogic Poem by Dylan Krieger
An Elegic Poem by Dylan Krieger
Visual Art by Donna Kuhn
Poetry by Louise Landes Levi
Poetry by Jim Lineberger
Poetry by Dennis Mahagin
Poetry by Peter Marra
A Eulogy by Frankie Metro
A Song by Alexis Moon and Jonathan Penton
Poetry by Jay Passer
A Eulogy by Jonathan Penton
Visual Poetry by Anne Elezabeth Pluto and Bryson Dean-Gauthier
Visual Art by Marthe Reed
A Eulogy by Gabriel Ricard
Poetry by Alison Ross
A Short Movie by Bernd Sauermann
Poetry by Christopher Shipman
A Spoken Word Poem by Larissa Shmailo
A Eulogic Poem by Jay Sizemore
Elegic Poetry by Jay Sizemore
Poetry by Felino A. Soriano
Visual Art by Jamie Stoneman
Poetry by Ray Succre
Poetry by Yuriy Tarnawsky
A Song by Marc Vincenz


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An Introduction to Laura Beloff
with questions by Jeremy Hight

Jeremy Hight: Who are some of your influences?

Laura Beloff: I am not very good in naming influences; there are no specific ones and at the same time many and different ones throughout my career. For example, at the moment I think lot of the really interesting art was done in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The experimental art of those decades has great thinking and nice sense of freedom in experimentation. I have deeply investigated works that deal with human body and senses; I can mention names such as Alfons Schilling (Vision Machines), Haus-Rucker Co, Rebecca Horn, Lygia Clark, Helio Oiticica, all of whom have really interesting works among many many others.

JH: What are you working on now?

LB: Right now I am finishing an exhibition for an art museum in Norway. It is an invited show with 3 existing works (Appendix, Evidence and A Unit), all of which need repairs, and one has been extended to include another part. (This is additionally my current work in university, where I am associate professor; IT-University in Copenhagen, Denmark).

The extended work, which is now called Evidence II (Extended) is a worn sensoring device that measures stress symptoms such as heart beat and galvanic skin resistance. This data is uploaded in more-or-less real-time to an online server. Here is some text on it, and another parallel work called A Unit: http://bioartsociety.fi/art-henvi/?page_id=6. (The last image in the row of images is the Evidence sensoring device.)

For this exhibition I have created another part for the work; in the museum will be a photograph of the device (which is not displayed but in use; worn by someone) and beside the photograph will be a small-scale artificial heart that gets the almost real-time data from the device+user. The heart image is beating in the rhythm of the user's real heart.

Otherwise, I have some new projects in their very initial planning state. I am looking at the possibility of conducting a research project with artistic aspects that would deal with prosthetics. The idea is to investigate the potentiality of extending prosthetics beyond "normality" with the use of contemporary manufacturing possibilities and information/communication technology. I guess this will take still some time and development to get it going.

Another new project is just waiting to get some funding. It is a small-scale research experiment with a philosophical/conceptual approach. It deals with the idea of energy production (and consumption). I am aiming at constructing a wearable microbial fuel cell that would create a symbiotic relationship with its wearer.

JH: Your work has an interestingly playful element. How important is this in your work and its larger commentary?

LB: It is extremely important. Specifically the idea of constructing non-purposeful but functional artifacts. I see playfulness, humor and irony as methods to create the works as "questions" rather than "answers."

JH: How your work changed since your earlier works and time at CalArts?

LB: Quite a lot, and in the recent years my work has focused deeper into investigations on human enhancement and the relation between human and environment.

JH: Tell us about your book.

LB: I was recently one of the editors of a book Field_Notes—From Landscape to Laboratory, which investigates the contemporary bioart scene, specifically looking at environment. A second edition of the book will be coming out soon from Punctum Books.

So, my own interests are currently extending towards the merger of organic matter (micro-organisms etc.) and technology, still obviously including the human or human perspective. I am also interested in investigating methods in science and how they form our perception of the world and the individual.

JH: What terms do you think are most fitting in describing your work and research?

LB: Speculative art & design, trans-disciplinary research, employing exploratory methods (bottoms-up approach).

JH: What relationship do you see in your work in regards to larger trends in technology and the body and culture at large?

LB: Many. But for me it would be easier to describe how my interest differs. Instead of investigating the relationship between human and machine/computer (as in HCI), I have always been interested in the relation between human and environment. In other words, I take for granted that human is enhanced with technology (phones, players, pads, eye-glasses, hearing aids etc. at the moment and more nano-scale enhancements in the future) while our environment gets increasingly enhanced (through GM and other developments); my hypothesis is that this situation must influence the human-nature/environment relationship. This is what I am interested in and exploring; in which ways do we connect to our environment in the future.


Laura Beloff is has been actively producing works and exhibiting worldwide in museums, galleries and art events since the late 1980's. In her pieces she combines technology with various mediums ranging from video to textile, from sound to sculptural and organic materials. Many of her works deal with individuals in the global society trying to adapt to artificially modified and enhanced complex world. Collaboration with other artists, musicians and computer scientists has been one of the features typical for her working methods. Her recent exhibitions include Hamburg and in Helsinki 2012, in Vienna 2011, in Brazil and Russia 2008 and at the Venice Biennale 2007; exhibitions in Finland and Norway are forthcoming in 2013. She has received various grants, residencies and awards: 2009 Prix Ars Electronica Honorary mention in Next Idea-category, 2002 Vida 5.0 honorary mention, and 2000 File-festival 3rd prize. She is frequently lecturing and publishing on her artistic research practice in universities and various conferences. 2002-06 she was Professor for media arts at the Art Academy in Oslo, Norway. 2007-11 she was awarded a five-year artist grant by the Finnish state. 2009-2010, 2011 she has been a visiting Professor at The University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She has a PhD-degree from Plymouth University, Planetary Collegium. Currently she is an associate Professor at IT-University in Copenhagen.


Jeremy Hight is the Art Director at Unlikely Stories: Episode IV. You can learn more about him at his bio page.



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