I began writing about art as a regular artist commentator for Sedge Thomson’s live public radio show; in addition to producing hundreds of commentaries in fifteen years of broadcasting, I have contributed to many print and online publications. Selected writings are linked below, including a number of interviews and the opinion column “Peripheral Vision.” The list is a work in progress.
Artist’s Writings
Ask Not What AI Can Do For Art…
Artnodes Journal: Special Issue on Art, Design, and AI (Online and PDFs in English, Spanish, and Catalan)
Very Complex Matter: Collaborations in Art & Geobiology
Artnodes Journal: Art & Research issue
(Online and PDFs in English, Spanish, and Catalan)
Dream Vortex and the Demon Artist
Essay on Dream Vortex for Interalia Magazine
Blog
Art and Shadows
Art and Shadows investigates contemporary art in light of contemporary research, screening ideas from various forms of science for their application to art. Visit site
Selected Books
D‘Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s Generative Influences…
D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson’s Generative Influences in Art, Design, and Architecture: From Forces to Forms, ed. Ellen K. Levy and Charissa Terranova, includes my essay.
Interspecies Communication
Patricia Olynyk and I co-edited and contributed to Interspecies Communication, Public Journal #59.
The Hexapodarium
With Iain Boal, Lawrence Weschler, and Gail Wight, from Salt Point Press. My essay places Wight’s work in context with contemporary art.
The Routledge Companion to Biology in Art & Architecture
A survey exploring the full spectrum of biology in relationship to modern and contemporary art & architecture. Co-edited with Charissa Terranova.
The Art and Films of Lynn Hershman Leeson
Editor of and contributor to the “first historical and critical analysis of [Hershman’s] work by prominent scholars.”
Lia Cook
As one of three authors, I focused on new media aspects of the ouvre of this internationally-known textile artist.
Pairings of Polarities: The Life and Art of Sonya Rapoport.
Editor Terri Cohn included my essay on Rapoport’s work Horizontal Cobalt in this important collection of writings on the conceptual artist.
Yesterday and Tomorrow: California Women Artists.
My contribution to this volume, edited by Sylvia Moore, focuses on self-taught artists.
Selected Features and Reviews
A Disturbance in the Flow
A commentary on the Raqs New Media Collective and the Pacific Rim Summit of the International Society for Electronic Artists. Read review
Art As A Way Of Knowing
A personal account of the Exploratorium’s symposium “Art As A Way of Knowing,” interlaced with findings in art, history, and science. Download PDF
Connected or What It Means to Live in the Networked Society
A book review responding, in form as well as text, to Steven Shaviro’s provocative critique of being “networked.”
Gene(sis) at BAM
An artist and a scientist walk through an exhibition of art related to genetics, and see entirely different things.
ILLUMInations (Venice Biennale)
Ten artists in the Venice Biennale whose works contain, like a chunk of a fractal, the big themes animating the festival.
Invisible Dynamics
The Exploratorium’s Invisible Dynamics project might be accurately be described as a generator for multi-dimensional landscapes.
Taking Art’s Measure
Does art criticism matter? A rumination on the action of criticism within a community.
We Are/Are Not Animal
A look at the notion that there is a boundary between “animal” and “human,” the history of that idea in regards to gender, and why it is important for us to think about these issues now.
We Interrupt Your Program
If, as some linguists say, men interrupt women as a way of asserting their power, the fourteen artists in We Interrupt Your Program turn the tables.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Papers
Chemical Symbolism in the Art of Sonya Rapoport
Rapoport had unusual access to the nuclear labs at the University of California, Berkeley during the years they were adding new elements to the periodic table. This paper discusses a late 1970s print overlaid on data from a nuclear experiment. Read abstract
Notes on the Creative Process of Artist Collectives
Can an artist collective achieve genius? My experiences with the Stretcher crew lead to an investigation of the history and dynamics of artists working in groups. View abstract
Selected Interviews
Heather Akroyd & Dan Harvey
Christopher Alexander
Carol Becker
Michael Bell
Claudia Bernardi
Janet Bishop
Chris Brown
Tecoah Bruce
Irene Brydon
Christopher Bucklow (portfolio)
Ann Chamberlain & Stephanie Johnson
Claude Clark, Sr. & Claude Clark, Jr.
Michael Damm
Richard Deacon
Roy De Forest
Marie Dern
Rene di Rosa
Cliff and Mandy Einstein
Charles Gill
Marnie Gillett
Andy Goldsworthy
Ann Hatch
Wally Hedrick
Robbin Henderson
Toi Hoang
Doug Hall
Ann Hatch
Wally Hedrick
Doug Hollis
Mildred Howard
Lewis Hyde
Ned Kahn (interview)
Ned Kahn (portfolio)
Paul Karlstrom
Leslie King-Hammond and Amalia Mesa-Bains
Ella King-Torrey
Paul Kos
Stephanie Johnson & Ann Chamberlain
Suzanne Lacy
Lawrence Lasky
Robin Lasser
Kent and Vicki Logan
Liz Mamorsky (portfolio)
Jill Manton & Susan Pontious
Amalia Mesa-Bains and Leslie King-Hammond
Keith Morrison
Nobu Nagasawa
Dennis Oppenheim
Deborah Oropallo
Alan Rath
Don Rich
Peter Richards
John Roloff
David Ross
Jos Sances
Raymond Saunders
Kay Sekimachi
Hassel Smith
Norman and Norah Stone
Canan Tolon
Fred Tomaselli (portfolio)
James Turrell
Lars Ulrich
Catherine Wagner
Darren Waterston (portfolio)
John Weber
Carrie Mae Weems
Lawrence Weschler
Selected Columns and Features
Art & Science (second page missing)
Being Food
Earthquake Kit
Gardening and Growing
Heroes
Speed
Survival Instinct
Time and the Artist
Wisdom Like Perfume: Writings on the Spiritual in Art
Words and Images