BIO
Debra Swack is a new media artist whose projects have been presented at the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts/The Virtual Public Art Exhibit ("Digital Maze Symmetry Project" adapted for
iphone “Layar” 3D virtual sculpture application), "Robots and Representation Symposium" at Purdue University, "Post Human" at Columbia College, "Soundlab VII" in Cologne, The University of California at Irvine, The New York Hall of Science curated by Anne Barlow of the New Museum, White Box Gallery, Eyebeam (selected by Sarah Cook and Beryl Graham), Princeton University, Aaron Packer Gallery, the University of Illinois in Chicago, Northern Illinois University Museum, The Banff Center for the Arts, The Arts and Genomics Center in Amsterdam and Vancouver, Xerox's Palo Alto Lab, Real Art Ways (Sol LeWitt Collection) and the Beecher Center for Arts and Technology.
Publications include Hz's Swedish on-line Journal, Thames and Hudson’s “Infinite Instances” written by Olga Ast and edited by Mark Batty,e-Scholarship/University of California's “The Emotions-after Charles Darwin”, MIT's “Art and Innovation at Xerox Parc” edited by Craig Harris (curated by Rich Gold) and “Information Arts” by Steven Wilson, Ars Electronica Cyberarts 2005, Kloone4000, Allegories of the Genome, Art Calendar, NY Arts, PhotoReview (selected by Photography Curator Philip Brockman of the Corcoran) and Printmaking Today.
She recently participated in Soundlab’s VII 10th year festival in Cologne with “Birdsongs; the Language Gene” (which reconfigures birdsongs into human music). “Birdsongs” was previously presented in the “Sonic Fragments” sound-art festival at Princeton University in March 2008.
“The Emotions (after Charles Darwin)”; an interactive video project done in collaboration with neuroscientists at the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland explores the universality of emotions at a biological level and their futuristic possible genetic modification through synthetic biology, technology and software design, thus changing our very identity or humanness as we know it.
"The Emotions" was presented (and published by e-Scholarship) at the Digital Arts and Culture Conference at the University of California at Irvine in 2009 and in 2010 in “Post Human/ Future Tense” at Columbia College in Chicago (and published in the exhibition catalogue) and “Robots and Representation” at Perdue University. "The Emotions" will be published in the Swedish on-line journal HZ in July.
She also participated in the ArcheTime Interdisciplinary Sci-art Conference on the artistic, scientific and academic concepts of time at Tank exhibition space in June 2009 with two projects; “Animal Patterning Project” and “Digital Maze Symmetry Project” which will be both included in Infinite Instances” by Thames and Hudson in 2011.
“Animal Patterning Project” is a bio-art project that explores the concept of genetically altering the patterning of animal skins to make them more aesthetic for human exploitation and later usage in garments and accessories. This would be achieved by actually “growing” living organisms/tissues in a lab environment and developing their desired patterning over time. Additionally an immersive animation video (created with Adobe Illustrator, Aftereffects, Premiere, Photoshop and Flash) will simultaneously project possible animal design patterns that could be achieved genetically onto multiple wall/floor surfaces.
"Digital Maze Symmetry Project" allows the participant to “grow” and interactively navigate through their own software designed virtual architectural maze space in real-time according to the laws of symmetry. It was produced during the summer of 2008 for a virtual reality CAVE immersive environment at the Banff Center for Arts under a co-production grant.
In addition to having seven projects in the collection of Rhizome's artbase at the New Museum her work is in the collection of MOMA, the New York Public Library, the Beecher Center for Arts and Technology, Princeton University, Banff Center for the Arts, The University of California, Xerox, Tank Exhibition Space and Sol LeWitt. She has degrees in art and computer science (Phi Theta Kappa) and is currently employed as a researcher for the SUNY@Buffalo Research Foundation where she does software testing and technical writing.
iphone “Layar” 3D virtual sculpture application), "Robots and Representation Symposium" at Purdue University, "Post Human" at Columbia College, "Soundlab VII" in Cologne, The University of California at Irvine, The New York Hall of Science curated by Anne Barlow of the New Museum, White Box Gallery, Eyebeam (selected by Sarah Cook and Beryl Graham), Princeton University, Aaron Packer Gallery, the University of Illinois in Chicago, Northern Illinois University Museum, The Banff Center for the Arts, The Arts and Genomics Center in Amsterdam and Vancouver, Xerox's Palo Alto Lab, Real Art Ways (Sol LeWitt Collection) and the Beecher Center for Arts and Technology.
Publications include Hz's Swedish on-line Journal, Thames and Hudson’s “Infinite Instances” written by Olga Ast and edited by Mark Batty,e-Scholarship/University of California's “The Emotions-after Charles Darwin”, MIT's “Art and Innovation at Xerox Parc” edited by Craig Harris (curated by Rich Gold) and “Information Arts” by Steven Wilson, Ars Electronica Cyberarts 2005, Kloone4000, Allegories of the Genome, Art Calendar, NY Arts, PhotoReview (selected by Photography Curator Philip Brockman of the Corcoran) and Printmaking Today.
She recently participated in Soundlab’s VII 10th year festival in Cologne with “Birdsongs; the Language Gene” (which reconfigures birdsongs into human music). “Birdsongs” was previously presented in the “Sonic Fragments” sound-art festival at Princeton University in March 2008.
“The Emotions (after Charles Darwin)”; an interactive video project done in collaboration with neuroscientists at the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland explores the universality of emotions at a biological level and their futuristic possible genetic modification through synthetic biology, technology and software design, thus changing our very identity or humanness as we know it.
"The Emotions" was presented (and published by e-Scholarship) at the Digital Arts and Culture Conference at the University of California at Irvine in 2009 and in 2010 in “Post Human/ Future Tense” at Columbia College in Chicago (and published in the exhibition catalogue) and “Robots and Representation” at Perdue University. "The Emotions" will be published in the Swedish on-line journal HZ in July.
She also participated in the ArcheTime Interdisciplinary Sci-art Conference on the artistic, scientific and academic concepts of time at Tank exhibition space in June 2009 with two projects; “Animal Patterning Project” and “Digital Maze Symmetry Project” which will be both included in Infinite Instances” by Thames and Hudson in 2011.
“Animal Patterning Project” is a bio-art project that explores the concept of genetically altering the patterning of animal skins to make them more aesthetic for human exploitation and later usage in garments and accessories. This would be achieved by actually “growing” living organisms/tissues in a lab environment and developing their desired patterning over time. Additionally an immersive animation video (created with Adobe Illustrator, Aftereffects, Premiere, Photoshop and Flash) will simultaneously project possible animal design patterns that could be achieved genetically onto multiple wall/floor surfaces.
"Digital Maze Symmetry Project" allows the participant to “grow” and interactively navigate through their own software designed virtual architectural maze space in real-time according to the laws of symmetry. It was produced during the summer of 2008 for a virtual reality CAVE immersive environment at the Banff Center for Arts under a co-production grant.
In addition to having seven projects in the collection of Rhizome's artbase at the New Museum her work is in the collection of MOMA, the New York Public Library, the Beecher Center for Arts and Technology, Princeton University, Banff Center for the Arts, The University of California, Xerox, Tank Exhibition Space and Sol LeWitt. She has degrees in art and computer science (Phi Theta Kappa) and is currently employed as a researcher for the SUNY@Buffalo Research Foundation where she does software testing and technical writing.
