[-empyre-] Week 1: Welcome Joanna Raczynska

[Renate Ferro]

Welcome to week one on our April discussion on –empyre-soft-skinned space.  I thought it was most appropriate that we spend some time this month thinking about the legacy of a few artists that have passed away these past few weeks. Moving image, installation and performance artists Grace Quintanilla (Mexico), Barbara Hammer (US), Carolee Schneemann (US), and Agnes Varda (FR) have moved and inspired so many of us.    These artists and many with them have located their discourse within feminist presence, persistence, struggle and cultural resonance. Through discourse, action, and the use of technology these artists taught us about life and living. We invite the subscribers of –empyre– to join us by sharing biographical information and links in celebration of the work of these artists. At the same time we hope that many of your will share your own work, how these artists may have inspired this work, and what their legacies may mean to you. 
 
I have included my bio below as I will be joining Joanna Raczynska this week.  Joanna has curated the work of Barbara Hammer so we are looking forward to her sharing her thoughts and research this week. I am hoping to share personal narratives about the other artists this week as an introduction. 
Please join us.  Renate

Renate Ferro (US) is a conceptual media artist who toggles between the creative skins of old and new technologies. Her work has been featured at the Hunter College Gallery (NYC), The Freud Museum (London), The Dorksy Gallery (NYC), The Hemispheric Institute and FOMMA (Mexico), The Janus Pannonius Muzeum (Hungary), and The Free University Berlin (Germany). Her video work has been screened at Peking University (Beijing), Johnson Art Museum (Ithaca, NY), and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore).  She has taught at Cornell University since 2004 and the managing moderator and curator of –empyre-soft-skinned space.  She has been on the moderating board of –empyre- since 2007.  

Joanna Raczynska: I’m a writer, curator, and filmmaker based in Baltimore, MD, who – since 2009 – has organized screenings and artist presentations for the film department at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Guests have included Barbara Hammer, Babette Mangolte, Kevin Jerome Everson, Jem Cohen, Peter Hutton, and Jennifer Reeves, to name a few. I’ve juried competitions for the Animator International Animated Film Festival, Poznan, Poland; Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, England; International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany; Ann Arbor Film Festival, MI; Images Festival, Toronto, Canada; and Cleveland International Film Festival, OH. As a panelist for a variety of funding agencies including the New York State Council on the Arts, Individual Artists Program, and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Rubys Artist Projects Grants, I’ve helped to support moving image work with awards given directly to independent filmmakers. My experience in arts administration spans work with several non-profit organizations including Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY (where I was media arts director); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; and the Baltimore Museum of Art, among others. I earned my master’s degree with distinction in documentary by practice, Royal Holloway College, University of London (2001). Several of my shorts have screened at various international sites, including the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland; ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; Sheffield Doc/Fest and LUX, London, UK; and Squeaky Wheel, Buffalo, NY. 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rferro at cornell.edu