Ana Voog

Ana Clara Voog
Birth name Rachael Olson
Born 18 April 1966
Genres Pop rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician, performance artist, visual artist, writer
Instruments Guitar, bass, keyboard, vocals
Years active 1986–present
Associated acts The Blue Up?

Ana Clara Voog (born 18 April 1966)[1] is a musician, visual artist, performance artist and writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota.[2] Voog is the former front woman of The Blue Up?,[3] a pop rock band from the Minneapolis area.[4] On 22 August 1997[5] Voog began anacam, the second webcam (after JenniCam) that lifecasted, i.e., broadcast twenty-four hours a day live from a home.[6]

Early life

Ana Voog was born as Rachel Olson[2] on 18 April 1966[2] to a Lutheran Minister father.[7] She later changed her name to Ana Clara Voog. Although it was never legally changed,[8] Voog has used it as her primary name. Voog attended high school in Stillwater, Minnesota.

anacam

On 22 August 1997, Voog began a webcam project named anacam. Besides a view into Ana Voog's personal life, anacam also incorporated performance art and visual experimentation. Daily activities such as cooking dinner, vacuuming, and hosting visitors fill out the non-interactive periods on anacam. Other activities on the webcam range from chatting with cam-watchers, playing music, and ornate performance pieces involving household items.

While sex and nudity played only a small part in what could be seen on cam, Ms. Voog gained considerable attention, and criticism, for the portrayal of nudity and sexual activity, including masturbation and intercourse,[9] on her live webcam.

Voog distinguished the racier elements of her project from pornography, stating that the "site isn't about sex, but sexuality and sensuality".[9] In contrast with one-time collaborator Isabellacam, which was self-described as "a completely original take on female produced erotic content", Voog views sexuality on anacam as a part of her life.

From the beginning of anacam, Voog accompanied the webcam with a blog in a section of her site, analog and in her LiveJournal, started in 1999. Voog transcribed her earlier, hand-written journals to her online blog. In addition, she publishes poetry, stream-of-consciousness work, along with other writings.[10] Voog also produced many varieties of art, including paintings, drawings, video, and photographs.[11] A number of public archives of Voog's work have fallen into serious disrepair, although a representative selection has been published in J.D. Casten's book on Voog, Dreaming on Stage. Art installations by Voog have been hosted by the New York City Museum of Modern Art, and in the Walker Art Center and the Weisman Art Museum.

In May 2002,[12] Voog began to freeform crochet hats. Each is unique, and she sells them via her website.

On Voog's online work, Jorn Barger, who is credited with coining the word weblog,[13][14] states:

She was trying to live her life 100 per cent openly, which I thought was a righteous ideal. I wanted to emulate it in my own way by logging everything I found interesting, whether art or politics or silliness or even occasionally good porn.[13]

A number of newspapers and magazines have written about Voog and anacam, including Newsweek, USA Today, Playboy, and Yahoo! Internet Life.

Television appearances include Hard Copy, Vibe, A&E, Net Cafe,[15] and E!. She also appeared on an episode of the early "video blog" by Jennifer Ringley of Jennicam.[16]

A documentary, Camgirls, which has been in post-production for years, is still scheduled to be completed, according to Adakin Productions.[17]

In August 2009, Voog turned off her webcam on the 12th anniversary of the site. In total, anacam broadcast live, 24/7, for twelve years.[18]

Personal life

After over 10 years of debate, at the age of 30, Ana Voog had saline breast implants inserted.[19]

On 30 July 2007, she and her husband had their first child, Lili Zuzu Voog.[20] The child was conceived and birthed on cam. A second child, Violet Luna, was born on 8 February 2009.[21] Ana's third child, a son named Henry Rose, died on 14 May 2010, at 36 weeks gestation, from complications resulting from Trisomy 13.[22]

Discography

Recordings by The Blue Up?

Recordings by Ana Voog (solo)

References

  1. ↑ Ana Voog's weblog on LiveJournal
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ana Voog Biography on IMDB, retrieved 23 January 2009
  3. ↑ Steltenpohl, Jon, Rachael of The Blue Up? Interview, retrieved 23 January 2009
  4. ↑ Scholtes, Peter S. (18 September 2002), The City Pages, retrieved 23 January 2009
  5. ↑ Voog, Ana (22 August 2008), trance missions – 11 years, retrieved 23 January 2009
  6. ↑ Anacam, retrieved 21 July 2006
  7. ↑ Voog, Ana (31 August 2007-8-2007), trance missions, retrieved 23 January 2009 Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ↑ Voog, Ana (7 August 2007), updates, co-sleeping, hollow belly, retrieved 23 January 2009
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Voog, Ana, Anacan Anatomy, retrieved 23 January 2009
  10. ↑ Voog, Ana, Ana Voog Weblog, retrieved 23 January 2009
  11. ↑ Ana Voog and a Robot Dancing Together, retrieved 23 January 2009
  12. ↑ Voog, Ana (22 May 2002), voog hat bio, retrieved 23 January 2009
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Silkstone, Dan (7 April 2007), "The blogs that ate cyberspace", The Age (Melbourne), retrieved 23 January 2009
  14. ↑ Barger, Jorn (15 December 15 December 2007), "Top 10 Tips for New Bloggers From Original Blogger Jorn Barger", Wired, retrieved 23 January 2009 Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ↑ Voyeurism Online, 28 June 2000, retrieved 2 February 2009
  16. ↑ JenniShow Episode 32: JenniCon, 17 June 2006, retrieved 2 February 2009
  17. ↑ CamGirls Progress, 19 August 2008, retrieved 23 January 2009
  18. ↑ anacam's 12th ana-versary!, 22 August 2009, retrieved 12 February 2010
  19. ↑ Grady, Denise (2 July 1998), "Cosmetic Breast Enlargements Are Making a Comeback", The New York Times, retrieved 2 February 2009
  20. ↑ Voog, Ana (31 July 2007), trance missions – July 31st, 2007, retrieved 31 January 2009
  21. ↑ We're OK!, 11 February 2009, ISBN 1-60006-057-9, retrieved 12 February 2009
  22. ↑ henry rose (may 14th, 2010 r.i.p.), 23 March 2010, retrieved 12 February 2009

External links