Micha Cárdenas
Encyclopedia
Micha Cárdenas is a transgender
performance
and new media artist. Her work deals with the interplay of technology
, gender
, sex
, immigration
and biopolitics
. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
in the Interdivisional Media Arts and Practice (iMAP) program. She received her MFA at the University of California San Diego in the summer of 2009, and holds a Master's degree in Media and Communications with distinction from the European Graduate School and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science
from Florida International University.
She was previously the Interim Associate Director of Art and Technology for the Culture, Art and Technology program at UCSD and a researcher at the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts
, CalIT2
and the UCSD School of Medicine.
performance in Second Life
. Recent projects include virus.circus, a collaboration with Elle Mehrmand
. Cárdenas also worked in the Experimental Game Lab at CRCA on the Scalable City project. She has also curated exhibits in Tijuana, Mexico
Cárdenas has also published several works related to the theoretical issues raised in her performances including "Becoming Dragon, A Transversal Technology Study" and I Am Transreal in the book Gender Outlaws the Next Generation, edited by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman. Additional published works include "Technesexual Interface: Erotic Mixed Reality Performance", in Digimag.it co-authored with Elle Mehrmand
. Cárdenas' book, co-authored with Barbara Fornssler, Trans Desire / Affective Cyborgs discusses an experimental conception of politics based in desire.
As a member of the Electronic Disturbance Theater/b.a.n.g. lab
, She helped design the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a GPS device that is designed to help illegal immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border find water stations during their journey. Cardenas argued that the aim of this project was "about giving water to somebody who's dying in the desert of dehydration," but which critics claimed was an irresponsible use of government funds, and a tool that would also help facilitate other illegal activity, like smuggling, as well.
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
and new media artist. Her work deals with the interplay of technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and biopolitics
Biopolitics
The term "biopolitics" or "biopolitical" can refer to several different yet often compatible concepts.-Definitions:# In the work of Michel Foucault, the style of government that regulates populations through "biopower" .# In the works of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, anti-capitalist insurrection...
. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
Education
Cárdenas is currently a PhD Student at the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in the Interdivisional Media Arts and Practice (iMAP) program. She received her MFA at the University of California San Diego in the summer of 2009, and holds a Master's degree in Media and Communications with distinction from the European Graduate School and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
from Florida International University.
Career
Cárdenas was a Lecturer in the Visual Arts Department and Critical Gender Studies Program at UCSD in 2009 and 2010.She was previously the Interim Associate Director of Art and Technology for the Culture, Art and Technology program at UCSD and a researcher at the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts
Center for Research in Computing and the Arts
The Center for Research in Computing and the Arts is an interdisciplinary organized research unit of UCSD in San Diego, Califorina. CRCA provides support for numerous projects which intersect with the fields of New Media Art, Software Studies, Game studies, Art/Science collaborations, Mixed...
, CalIT2
Calit2
The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology is an academic research institution jointly run by the University of California, San Diego and University of California, Irvine ....
and the UCSD School of Medicine.
Artwork
Cárdenas has performed and presented her work in many places around the world, including the 2010 California Biennial,, the 2009 Mérida Biennial and the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics 7th Encuentro in Bogotá, Colombia. In 2008, Cardenas performed "Becoming Dragon", a 365 hour mixed realityMixed reality
Mixed reality refers to the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualisations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time...
performance in Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
. Recent projects include virus.circus, a collaboration with Elle Mehrmand
Elle Mehrmand
Elle Mehrmand is a new media performance artist and musician. Mehrmand's work combines the body and electronics. Her performance art work has been presented at museums, galleries and art festivals throughout the Americas...
. Cárdenas also worked in the Experimental Game Lab at CRCA on the Scalable City project. She has also curated exhibits in Tijuana, Mexico
Cárdenas has also published several works related to the theoretical issues raised in her performances including "Becoming Dragon, A Transversal Technology Study" and I Am Transreal in the book Gender Outlaws the Next Generation, edited by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman. Additional published works include "Technesexual Interface: Erotic Mixed Reality Performance", in Digimag.it co-authored with Elle Mehrmand
Elle Mehrmand
Elle Mehrmand is a new media performance artist and musician. Mehrmand's work combines the body and electronics. Her performance art work has been presented at museums, galleries and art festivals throughout the Americas...
. Cárdenas' book, co-authored with Barbara Fornssler, Trans Desire / Affective Cyborgs discusses an experimental conception of politics based in desire.
As a member of the Electronic Disturbance Theater/b.a.n.g. lab
Electronic Disturbance Theater
Ricardo Dominguez, Brett Stalbaum, Stefan Wray, and Carmin Karasic are collectively known as The Electronic Disturbance Theater or EDT for short. Taking the idea of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the EDT members always used their real names. They never concealed their identities...
, She helped design the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a GPS device that is designed to help illegal immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border find water stations during their journey. Cardenas argued that the aim of this project was "about giving water to somebody who's dying in the desert of dehydration," but which critics claimed was an irresponsible use of government funds, and a tool that would also help facilitate other illegal activity, like smuggling, as well.
External links
- Cardenas' Homepage at UCSD's Culture, Art and Technology Program
- Cardenas' Blog