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http://www.lynnhershman.com

[ 1 ] Tillie, the
Telerobotic Doll


[ 2 ] Lynn Hershman

[ 3 ] Telematics


[ 4 ] Female Archetypes of
the Present
Söke Dinkla



[ 5 ] Romancing the Anti-
body: Lust and Longing in
(Cyber)space
Lynn Hershman



  Telematics*
 

In which circumstances or on what occasion did you introduce [electricity or electronics] TELEMATICS or THE NETWORK into your work?

I began to think of the possibilities in 1979 with the interactive laser disk LORNA. I wanted to include audience choice and make that part of the aesthetic, and have been doing this ever since. As far as networks, that happened in 1994 when i wanted to expand the idea to incorporate telerobotically accessing many people, which could be interactive on both the real world and virtual worlds. This piece became both tillie the telerobotic doll as well as the Difference Engine 3. now I can barely conceive of a work that does not incorporate this access.

How can you describe the technical and aesthetical part played by [electricity] TELEMATICS in the work you will be showing in the [Electra] TELEMATIC CONNECTIONS exhibition? Please give your comments as regards these points.

See above. The technical capabilities become the aesthetic. I like to see and incorporate the strategies of telematics.

According to you, which are the consequences that can arise from the combination of art and contemporary TELEMATIC technology?

I think the most important and dynamic consequences have not yet been conceived. It is a nonlinear, connective communication that is its own language, which builds on information and uses agency as collective identity.


*These questions are based on ones asked by Frank Popper of the artists in his seminal exhibition Electra: Electricity and Electronics in the Art of the 20th Century in 1983 at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville Paris