Women, Art, and Technology

Judy Malloy

The MIT Press, ISBN 0262134241
The necessary contributions by female artists in the creation of media art hasn’t yet received the contexualization and place in history they deserve. The realization of artifacts which can help reflect on the central role of the body and the necessary gender issues or, more generally, on every theme developed with a peculiarly feminine sensitivity is inferior in quantity compared to the productions by male artists. This book is a compendium of experiences covering a wide time span, introduced by some historical essays and described by academic papers, already published by the renowned magazine ‘Leonardo’. The systematization of the subjects has spurred well-motivated critiques by several european cyberfeminists, mostly aimed at the almost exclusive presence of northamerican experiences and the lack of a coherent overall contextualization, which would have given a different weight to the informations collected. Nonetheless, the historical value of the different documents is above average and the result is worthy especially for the presence of materials from past decades. They are a piece we hope many others will add to, to build a theoretical and historical foundation necessary to the development of a wonderful generation of conscious young electronic artists.