Critical Writing Index

The Raw Data Diet, All-Consuming Bodies and the Shape of Things to Come

by Lynn Hershman

Leonardo, Winter 2005, v. 38, no. 3, pp. 208-212

Written by artist Lynn Hershman about her artistic practice. Her recent works aim to "expand the possibilities of singular identity into a networked trajectory composed of flowing data that eats itself, cannibalizing in the process information that mutates and is re-expressed in unpredictable ways." This process generates unique individual reactions while revealing broader cultural patterns. She explores cloning, genetic mutation and identity piracy in her work The Dollie Clones, two robotic sheep fitted with camera eyes (video camera in the left eye and webcam in the right), which are activated by Internet users. Hershman's dolls comment on surveillance techniques and the changing practices of vision in the digital age. Her works Agent Ruby, Synthia and DiNA are interactive online art projects that explore identity construction, artificial intelligence and telepresence.

ITEM 2005.193 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

The Dollie ClonesLynn Hershman

SynthiaLynn Hershman

Agent RubyLynn Hershman

DiNALynn Hershman

TeknolustLynn Hershman