[-empyre-] WEEK 1 on empyre: Art, Engineering, and Politics: In Memoriam, Beatriz da Costa

[Renate Ferro]

It is with honor that -empyre soft-skinned space pay tribute to the
life of Beatriz da Costa and her work this
month. Today we have also launched -empyre's new website.  This week
we are grateful to Robert F. Nideffer, Beatriz' partner who will be
our guest joined by Christiane Paul.  Their biographies are listed
below.  We want to invite all of Beatriz' family, friends, colleagues,
and others to participate this month on -empyre.  Please forward the
introductory post on your emails and social media so that we can a
broad and global response this month.

Robert F. Nideffer holds an MFA in Computer Arts, and a Ph.D. in
Sociology, and is a Full Professor in Studio Art and Informatics at UC
Irvine. His work has been shown at a variety of venues including Museo
Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; the Whitney
Biennial; and the Museum of Modern Art New York, NY.

Robert was Beatriz's colleague and partner.

Christiane Paul is Adjunct Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney
Museum of American Art and Associate Prof. at the School of Media
Studies at The New School. She has written extensively on new media
arts and lectured internationally on art and technology. Her recent
books are Context Providers – Conditions of Meaning in Media Arts
(Intellect, 2011), co-edited with Margot Lovejoy and Victoria Vesna;
New Media in the White Cube and Beyond (UC Press, 2008); and Digital
Art (Thames and Hudson 2003; expanded new edition 2008). As Adjunct
Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art, she
curated several exhibitions—including Cory Arcangel: Pro Tools,
Profiling (2007), Data Dynamics (2001) and the net art selection for
the 2002 Whitney Biennial—as well as artport, the Whitney Museum’s
website devoted to Internet art. Other recent curatorial work includes
The Public Private (Kellen Gallery, The New School, Feb. 7 - April 17,
2013), Eduardo Kac: Biotopes, Lagoglyphs and Transgenic Works (Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, 2010); Biennale Quadrilaterale (Rijeka, Croatia,
2009-10); Feedforward - The Angel of History (co-curated with Steve
Dietz; Laboral Center for Art and Industrial Creation, Gijon, Spain,
 Oct. 2009); INDAF Digital Art Festival (Incheon, Korea, Aug. 2009);
and Scalable Relations (Beall Center for Art and Technology, Irvine,
CA; as well as galleries at UCSD, UCLA and UCSB, 2008-09). Dr. Paul
has previously taught in the MFA computer arts department at the
 School of Visual Arts in New York (1999-2008); the Digital+Media
Department of the Rhode Island School of Design (2005-08); the San
Francisco Art Institute and the Center of New Media at the University
of California at Berkeley (2008).

Renate Ferro
-empyre- soft skinned space
moderating manager