Kayla Anderson

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Most Recent Affiliation:


  • School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Location:


  • Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

Bio:

  • Kayla Anderson is an artist, writer, and organizer based in Chicago. Taking a playful approach to methods of excavation, her work engages with cultural artifacts of the past in order to propose parallel worlds. Her writing has been published by Leonardo/ISAST, the Royal College of Art, and MU TXT, and presented internationally. She curates exhibitions, lectures, and mentors students in the creation of artists’ publications at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Art Papers Jury Member:


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Writings and Presentations:


  • Title: Ethics, Ecology, and the Future: Art and Design Face the Anthropocene
    Writing Type: Paper
    Author(s):
    Exhibition: SIGGRAPH 2015: Hybrid Craft
    Abstract Summary:

    Art and design have become platforms for discussing the long-term implications of technology and modernity, most recently in relation to ecological crisis and the Anthropocene. While artists, designers and curators seek to raise awareness of the Anthropocene, it is important to remain critical of the narratives these practitioners develop. This paper provides a brief critique of how these issues are being addressed in the cultural sphere, suggesting that works of critical, conceptual and speculative design may be best suited to addressing the Anthropocene as they foster critical thinking about how we relate to technology and science, how we organize ourselves politically and socially, and how we define ourselves in the broader ecological assemblage. Artists and designers discussed include Marina Zurkow, Una Chaudhuri, Oliver Kellhammer, Fritz Ertl and Sarah Rothberg; Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby; and Jae Rhim Lee.

    Title: Object Intermediaries: How New Media Artists Translate the Language of Things
    Writing Type: Paper
    Author(s):
    Exhibition: SIGGRAPH 2014: Acting in Translation
    Abstract Summary:

    This paper uses Walter Benjamin’s concept of translation between people and things as a focal point for analysis of the work of contemporary new-media artists Paula Gaetano Adi and Lindsey French, who utilize robotics and interactive technology to explore interspecies communication. Framed by materialist, poststructuralist, and posthumanist theory, along with recent discourse in object-oriented ontology, this paper poses the work of Gaetano Adi and French as potential models for visualizing object-oriented and vital materialist interactions. In the age of the Anthropocene, thinking beyond the human has become increasingly vital in both ethical and ecological terms, making the ability to envision less anthropocentric, more object-oriented worldviews both novel and timely.

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