BIOGRAPHY

She was born in 1979 and grew up in a small town in the Swiss canton of Aargau, living in a commune with her extended family. She now lives in Zurich. Her Step father’s work with computers in the 1980s paved the way for her to explore the relationship between humans and technology. She attended art school in Zurich at the age of 16 and still lives there today. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at 20 and went on to complete a Master’s degree in Cultural and Gender Studies at the ZHdK at 27. This course of study had a lasting impact on her worldview. Rather than merely reproducing the works of renowned contemporary cultural theorists, she aspired to continue writing independently. In doing so, she developed the concept of the ‘Divorg’ – a dividing organism.

Inspiration is literally anchored in her mind. Living with schizoaffective disorder, she hears voices and sees things that others do not perceive. She hears distortions and experiences the world colliding, exploding and falling apart into a thousand pieces, just like identities. This is a curse on the one hand, but hard work also brings gifts. Today, she recognises this complexity as a valuable source of artistic inspiration. Art helps her to cope with her illness. It enables her to express herself and make the world tangible, preventing her from losing herself in her own universe. The constant struggle between inside and outside, and the tension between identities, feeds her inspiration. This is also reflected in the duality of analogue and digital. She has been exploring these areas and the question of how humans and technology merge for over 30 years. She is particularly committed to breaking down barriers and making interfaces visible.

She works with a variety of materials. For her physical pieces, she uses computer circuit boards, ceramics, and technical components, among other materials. For digital works, she uses various software solutions and draws on the iPad, blurring the boundaries between analogue and digital processes. Her work includes robotic art, sculptures, sculptural paintings, digitally drawn pieces, videos and installations. She experiments with analogue and digital forms of expression, combining and transforming them. For instance, she employs FaceTime mapping to project her facial expressions onto sculptural paintings, thereby animating the previously static works and transforming them into video art. Through this approach, she attempts to break down the boundaries between formats, media, people and society, surrendering herself to the process.

At the centre of her artistic universe is the relationship between humans and technology and the mutual influence of the two on identity. She repeatedly asks herself: Who created whom?

She addresses this fundamental question in her robotic artwork Who is ADAM?, among other pieces. Just as Michelangelo depicted the creation of man through touch – the interface – with his Adam, she examines the connection between the analogue and digital worlds today. In her view, technology is inextricably linked to humans. It takes away abilities but also creates new ones. This is precisely what is crucial for her.

At the age of 27, she developed the concept of the ‘DIVORG’ – a dividing organism. Culturally speaking, the DIVORG is a successor concept to the cyborg, which Donna Haraway discussed in detail in her “Cyborg Manifesto”. The term ‘cyborg’ quickly conjures up images of the Terminator or the replicants from Blade Runner – technology as a threat. The term ‘cyborg’ refers to a cybernetic, or controlled, being. However, this term seems outdated to her in the 21st century. The DIVORG, on the other hand, represents a further development: an organism that must be in constant motion to survive in today’s fast-paced, information-rich world. This is precisely where her art comes in. She views technology as an opportunity to embrace the future with curiosity rather than fear. For her, art is the ideal medium for facing this future.

New concepts of identity are always criticised at first – that’s part of the process. However, she is more interested in the possibilities that technology opens up for us than in what it takes away. For her, that boundary has long been crossed – it’s a settled issue. Technology has become indispensable, and she wants to give it a face. She wants to make technology visible and, in doing so, create a mirror of ourselves.

STATEMENT

She embraces technology as an opportunity to approach the future with curiosity rather than fear. For her, art is the way she chooses to face this future. She repeatedly asks herself: Who created whom? Where will merging with technology take us? Is technology already becoming a new religion? Are we drowning in machines, or being reborn from them?” What does the term ‘nature’ mean today? In doing so, her art becomes a mirror of the 21st century.

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