Addie Wagenknecht

Addie Wagenknecht
Addie Wagenknecht
Born Addie Wagenknecht
April 15, 1981
Portland, Oregon
Nationality American, Austrian
Education MPS Interactive Telecommunications, New York University
Known for interactive art, open source, digital art
Notable work Lasersaur, wifitagger, webcam venus
Movement Open Source

Addie Wagenknecht (born Portland, Oregon) is an American artist and researcher living in New York City and Austria. Her work deals primarily with pop culture, feminist theory, new media and open source software and hardware.[1]

Life and Work

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Multimedia and Computer Science from University of Oregon in 2001 where she studied under Craig Hickman, Wagenknecht started work as a network administrator and freelance game developer. She worked on projects for Apple Inc., the National Science Foundation and University of Oregon.

In 2005, she moved to New York City where she completed her Master's degree from New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program under Red Burns. Wagenknecht co-created BikeJus, a bike which generates power with the goal of allowing the user to live 'off the grid'.[2] In 2006, Wagenknecht founded with her husband Stefan Hechenberger, the New York City and Vienna based research and development lab, NORTD labs, which developed the open source system called CUBIT (multi-touch) based off her thesis project.[3] and the more recent iteration TouchKit.

From 2007 to 2008 she was a fellow at Eyebeam Atelier and again in 2013. In 2011, under NORTD labs she was a fellow at Culture Lab.[4] During 2012 NORTD labs held residencies at Hyperwerk Institute for Postindustrial Design in Basel, Switzerland and Carnegie Mellon University STUDIO for Creative Inquiry under Golan Levin. Wagenknecht is currently an artist at the New York City based Free Art and Technology Lab aka F.A.T. lab. She is Mozilla first Open(art) Fellow.[5]

Wagenknecht currently is the chair of the Open Hardware Summit at MIT.[6] In addition she is represented by bitforms gallery in New York City. [7]

Selected works

CUBIT (2007)

Main article: CUBIT

The first open source Multi-touch system using Diffused Illumination with software written in OpenFrameworks was developed under NORTD labs as their first open source project. CUBIT (multi-touch) was designed with the intention to redefine visual computing and depart from the mouse pointer paradigm. CUBIT (multi-touch) was originally developed as a thesis project at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program in 2006 and its continued research and development into 2008 as TouchKit was supported by a fellowship at Eyebeam Atelier.

Undisclosed Publicity (2007)

A performance piece developed as a ready-to-wear accessory which allows preemptive non-disclosure of the users identity. Allowing the user control over their anonymity instantly. It was developed as a reactionary piece to living in New York City to help control a persons personal space while still remaining in an urban environment.

ctrl+z: the career machine (2009)

Ctrl+z is a work which critiques the lack of support and the expectation in parenting to do it all. It plays with the social assumption that mothers are completely fulfilled by mothering and mothers who chose to pursue other things are selfish. If mothers are told not to have both, then they can now choose exactly that. Think of Ctrl+Z like birth control, in reverse. These child donation points gives mothers the permission to live as so many fathers do- absent. They are free, anonymous and a way to instantly re-contextualize the self.

Lasersaur (2009-)

Main article: Lasersaur

The Lasersaur is an open source laser cutter designed by NORTD labs to fill the need of makers, artist and scientist who wanted a safe, cheap and highly capable machine. It started its alpha stage in March 2011 and beta stage in June 2011 after successful funding on Kickstarter. Current worldwide Lasersaur builds can be viewed on their google map page. Lasersaur systems have also been built by many Universities such as New York University, University of Newcastle and Carnegie Mellon University.

WifiTagger (2012)

The WifiTagger runs on OpenWrt firmware and a TP-Link WR741ND router, likens Wi-Fi SSIDs to digital graffiti. It allows you to create four open 32-digit SSIDs which when selected directs the user to the interface to add new tags. It was developed for Free Art and Technology Lab in 2012.

Webcam Venus (2013)

In Webcam Venus is a project created by asking online sexcam performers to replicate iconic works of art. This piece was an experimental homage to both fine art and the lowbrow internet phenomenon of cams. The piece was developed for Free Art and Technology Lab in 2013 in collaboration with Pablo Garcia.

Asymmetric Love (2013)

Asymmetric Love re-uses CCTV equipment and arranges 14 cameras into to a ‘baroque’ chandelier. It is placed as such in an entrance portal of museums or major collection houses. Number 2 from the series was the highest selling lot at Phillips Auction House in New York City for their first digital art auction in October 2013.[8]

Deep Lab (2013- )

Deep Lab was founded by Wagenknecht in 2013[9] with the support of The Studio for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University to examine contemporary culture through an understanding of alternative market economies and creative research, using anonymity as a proxy. The group's works are accessible via a hidden services site on the deep web. All contributors are able to contribute, create, and publish anonymously via a fluid multi-pseudonymous identity, with the option of attribution. The collaborative is made up primarily of women working within privacy, surveillance, code, big data research, art and critical culture. Founding members include Jillian York, Claire L. Evans, Lorrie Cranor and Jacob Appelbaum. [10]

Awards and Fellowships

References

  1. ↑ Economist, The (2008-05-01), Home invention, The Economist Newspaper Limited, retrieved 2008-05-03
  2. ↑ CNN, Cutting Edge Designs, CNN, retrieved 2007-10-05
  3. ↑ Gizmodo (2008-05-04), Build Your Own Multitouch Table With The Cubit, retrieved 2008-05-04
  4. ↑ Greene, Kate (2008-05-01), Open-Source, Multitouch Display, MIT Technology Review, retrieved 2008-05-03
  5. ↑ Thompson, Matt, Art Meets the Open Web, retrieved 2012-07-12
  6. ↑ Gibbs, Alicia, Meet your chairs, retrieved 2013-03-26
  7. ↑ http://www.bitforms.com/artists/wagenknecht
  8. ↑ http://www.phillips.com/press/2013/NY-Paddles-On-Results-Oct-2013
  9. ↑ http://placesiveneverbeen.com/index.php/deep-lab/
  10. ↑ http://placesiveneverbeen.com/index.php/deep-lab/

External links