vns matrix
VNS Matrix was an Australian feminist artist group who were active from 1991 to 1997. Our activist practice was concerned primarily with women’s role in technology and art, specifically taking issue with the gendered dominance and control of new technologies. We also explored the construction of social space, identity and sexuality in computer games and cyberspace.
vns matrix: Josephine Starrs, Julianne Pierce, Francesca da Rimini and Virginia Barratt.
Exhibitions
August 2016 FEMFLIX, SCA Galleries, Sydney, Video Installation and performance of the new text: a tender hex for the anthropocene
June 2007 KISS KISS BANG BANG, ‘45 years of art and feminism’, Museo Bilbao, Spain
Oct 2001 VNS MATRIX WEBSITE, ‘Next Wave Down Under’, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
Mar 2001 INFILTRATE lightbox, ‘Chemistry: Art in South Australia 1990 - 2000′, Art Gallery of South Australia
Sept 1999 BAD CODE, Axis Exhibition, The Old Church, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
June 1998 BAD CODE, Aust Film Commission annual conference, Melbourne, Australia
March 1997 BAD CODE, ‘Cybercultures’, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia
Jan 1997 BAD CODE, Australian Film Commission pavilion, MILIA, Cannes, France
Sept 1995 ALL NEW GEN, installation, YYZ Gallery, Toronto, Canada
April 1995 ALL NEW GEN, CDROM, ‘utopia/dystopia: feminist activism and art’ Centre of
the Arts, San Francisco
March 1995 ALL NEW GEN, installation, Aust Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
Jan 1995 ALL NEW GEN, installation, Artspace, Sydney, Australia
ALL NEW GEN, CDROM, ‘Cyber’, Gallerie Patrick Martin, France
August 1994 ALL NEW GEN, installation, ISEA ‘94, Helsinki, Finland
July 1994 Public poster project, ‘Esensual Fragments’, ACCA, Melbourne
June 1994 INFILTRATE lightbox, ‘25 Years of Performance Art in Australia’
Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1993 ALL NEW GEN, installation, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, Australia
ALL NEW GEN, lightboxes and soundworks, FISEA, Minneapolis
ALL NEW GEN, lightboxes and soundworks, Fannie Bay Park, Darwin, Australia
ALL NEW GEN, lightboxes and soundworks, TISEA, Institute of Modern Art,
Brisbane, Australia
1992 ALL NEW GEN, lightboxes and soundworks, TISEA, Australian Centre for
Photography, Sydney, Australia
A CYBERFEMINIST MANIFESTO FOR THE 21st CENTURY
6m x 3m Billboard, Experimenta, Melbourne, Australia
A CYBERFEMINIST MANIFESTO FOR THE 21st CENTURY
2m x 1m cibachrome, Siggraph ‘92 Art Show, Chicago, USA
A CYBERFEMINIST MANIFESTO FOR THE 21st CENTURY
6m x 3m Billboard, Watch This Space (Public Art billboard project)
Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1991 A CYBERFEMINIST MANIFESTO FOR THE 21st CENTURY
Exhibition and distribution of manifesto and images, Cy MishMash World
Elaine Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Curatorial and conferences
May 2000 Presentation of VNS Matrix artwork
‘What is the Enlightment 2′ conference, Maastricht, Netherlands
Sept 1999 Presentation of BAD CODE
NXT Conference, Darwin, Australia
Sept 1997 Julianne Pierce & Josephine Starrs represent VNS Matrix at Documenta X
Kassel Germany (CYBERFEMINIST INTERNATIONAL, Hybrid Workspace)
Sept 1996 Presentation of BAD CODE
DEAF, V2, Rotterdam
Presentation of BAD CODE
‘Memesis: The Future of Evolution’, Ars Electronica Symposium, Linz, Austria
Sept 1995 Online presentation and workshop
SPIRALSPACE, YYZ Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Artist’s talk
New York University multimedia department
Artist’s talk
Studio XX, Montreal, Canada
Dec 1994 Guest speakers
‘New Media ISEA Forum’, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Oct 1994 Guest speakers
‘Terminal Futures’ conference, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
Aug 1994 Guest speakers
International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA ‘94), Helsinki, Finland
June 1994 Manifesto Event
Manifesto paste-up, soundworks and LED display
25 years of Performance Art, The Performance Space, Sydney, Australia
March 1994 Curated FUTURE LANGUAGES
Forums, workshop, artists talks, online installation, video screening
1994 Adelaide Festival Artists Week, Adelaide, Australia
1993 PATHOGENIC VECTORS
Performed paper, Electronic Media Art Conference, ‘Video Art - Checking the Frontier’, Sydney, Australia
GOING DOWN AND BYTING THE CODE
Performed paper, Griffith University Conference ‘Media Futures’, Gold Coast
PATHOGENIC VECTORS
Performed paper, International Symposium on Electronic Art, Helsinki, Finland
Selected bibliography
1998 SCREWED, June 1998
Images and text from Bad Code
Anthology edited by Ruth Hessey and Samantha Trenoweth,
published by Allen and Unwin
1996 ARS ELECTRONICA catalogue
Interview by Nova Delahunty
1995 WIRED, Sept 1995
Cyberdykes R Us, profile of All New Gen
JUICE, May 1995
Rise of the Cyberfems, Article by Ruth Hessey
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, March 28, 1995
Genesis of the Killer G Slime, Article by Emma Tom
THE AGE, March 22, 1995
Matrix maids do dirty work in video void, Article by Robyn McKenzie
THE AUSTRALIAN, jan 26, 1995
Where do we go from here?, Interview with Julianne Pierce
ID - The Future Issue
The Future is Female, Article on Cyberfeminism
1994 FLASH ART, March 1994
Contested Zone from All New Gen by VNS Matrix
Review of All New Gen by Adrian Dannatt
THE AUSTRALIAN, May 1994
Cyberfeminists take Aim with Game, Article by Trudi Macintosh
HYPER GAMES MAGAZINE, Issue #2 January 1994
Game Grrrls, Article by Virginia Barratt
BLACK AND WHITE, Number 5, February 1994
Babes in Boyland, Article by Pippa Leary
ARTLINK, Vol 14, #10
All New Gen, Review by Deborah White
1993 BROADSHEET, Vol 22, #4, December 1993
Girls in (Cyber)Space, Review of ‘All New Gen’ by Jyanni Steffensen
WORLD ART, Inaugural Issue, November 1993
Reproduction of 3 images from All New Gen
Nintendo’s New World Art, Article by McKenzie Wark
THE ADVERTISER, November 10, 1993
Rampage, Review of All New Gen by John Neylon
THE AGE, November 24, 1993
Tussling with Big Daddy Mainframe, Article by Rachel Buchanan
FISEA catalogue, November 1993 (USA)
Image and artists statement
ARENA, April/May 1993
Engineering Politics, Review of TISEA by Graeme Byrne
FRAMEWORK, Vol 6, #2, May 1993
Artist Pages All New Gen
Special issue on art & technology. Editor: Peter Lunenfeld (USA)
ARTLINK, Vol 13, #1, May 1993
Scan+ supplement, Against ‘Neofuturism’: Women artists in Technological Media, Zoe Sofia
EYELINE, #21 Autumn 1993
Under the VR Spell? Subverting America’s Masculinist Global Hologram
Article by Glenda Nalder
BROADSHEET, Vol 22, #1, March 1993
Infiltrate, Interview with David Broker
KALEVA, February 1993
Elekronisen taiteen kilometrypulvaat
Review of TISEA by Erkki Huhtamo (Finland)
KANAL, February 1993
TISEA 92, Review by Annick Bureaud (France)
ART AND TEXT, #44, January 1993
Reproduction of image from All New Gen
Contingencies of Value, Article by Graham Forsythe
1992 TISEA catalogue, November 1992
Image and artists statement
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, ‘Good Weekend’ November 11, 1992
Sound and Visionaries, Article by Ruth Hessey
ICON, Issue 17, December 1992
Electronic Art, Article by James Compton
ART AND TEXT, #42, May 1992
A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century
image reproduction and poster campaign documentation
SIGGRAPH ‘92, July 1992
A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century
THE AUSTRALIAN, ‘Computers and High Technology’ June 9, 1992
A New Face for Modern Women, Article by Richard Jinman
BROADSHEET, Vol 21, #1, March 1992
Adelaide Festival Special Issue
Centrespread of A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century
Collections
Richard L. Sandor Private Collection, Chicago, USA
Griffith Artworks, Griffith University, Qld
Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Harvard University, Columbia, USA