* 1954, currently based: Quebec, Canada
Affiliated institution: Immersence, Inc.
http://immersence.com/
About
Char Davies is internationally recognized for pioneering artworks using the technologies of virtual reality. Originally a painter, she transitioned to digital media in the late-80s, becoming a founding director of the 3-D software company Softimage. Her most renowned virtual environment, Osmose (1995), is considered a landmark in the history of new media art. Davies has also published numerous essays on virtual space, and in 2005 she completed a doctorate in new media philosophy (CAiiA, University of Plymouth, UK). Recent awards include an honorary doctorate of fine arts (University of Victoria, British Columbia). Davies is based in rural Québec and San Francisco. (http://www.immersence.com/biography/)
CV
2005 PhD in philosophy, Center for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts, University of Plymouth, UK
2002 Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts, University of Victoria, British Columbia / Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts
2002 Artist in Residence at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver B.C.
2002 Regents-Lectureship from UCLA
2001 New Media Residency grant from the Canada Council
1998 founding of Immersence Inc / art & technology research company
1993 Prix Distinction, Ars Electronica, Linz / for "The Yearning"
1991 Prix Pixel Image at Imagina (Monte Carlo, Monaco)
1987 - 1997 founding director and Board of Directors of Softimage Inc. / head of the Visual Research group
1978 Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Victoria, British Columbia
1973 - 1975 Bennington College, Vermont / studied liberal arts (visual art, philosophy, religion, anthropology and biology)
Works
- »Éphémère« 1998
- »OSMOSE« 1994
News
Exhibitions & Events
Publications & References
Paul, Christiane. Digital Art. World of Art Series, New York: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 2008.
Kalay, Yehuda E.. Architecture´s New Media: Principles, Theories and Methods of Computer-Aided
Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004.
Lovejoy, Margot. Digital Currents: Art in the Electronic Age. London/New York: Routledge, 2004.
Grau, Oliver. »Novas Imagens da Vida: Realidade virtual e arte genética.« In Arte e Vida no Século XXI: Tecnologia, ciéncia e criatividade, edited by Diana Dominguez, 285-303. Sao Paulo, Brazil: Editora UN, 2003.
Lipkin, Jonathan and Charles H. Traub. In the Realm of the Circuit: Computers, Art and Culture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person Prentice Hall, 2003.
Gigliotti, Carol. »Women and the Aesthetics of New Media.« trAce, Online Writing Centre (June 2003).
Packer, Randall and Ken Jordan. Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality. New York: W. W. Norton and Company Inc, 2002.
Treadwell, Andrew. Virtual Transcendence. Oxford, UK: Oxford Brookes University, 2002.
Pesce, Mark et. al.. Game On: Head Games. London: Barbican Center Books, 2002.
Lamm, Bettina. »Explorative Space: Spatial Expression and Experience in Gardens and
in VR Works.« Virtual Space: Spatiality in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds (2002): 215-237.
Jones, Stephen. »Breathing/Diving/Dreaming/Dancing BEAP in Perth (You Can´t Buy These
Emotions off the Hollywood Shelf).« Artlink 22, no. 4 (2002).
Ippolito, Jon and Steve Dietz. »Ten Myth of Internet Art.« Leonardo 35.5 (October 2002): 485-498.
Deepwell, Katy. »Reverie, Osmose and Ephémère: Dr. Carol Gigliotti interviews Char
Davies.« n.paradoxa, international feminist art journal 9 (2002): 64-73.
Burgess, Marilyn. »Support For New Media Arts In Canada: What Place For Artists?.« Site Street, online journal (Fall 2002).
Flanagan, Mary. »Hyperbodies, Hyperknowledge: Women in Games, Women in Cyberpunk,
and Strategies of Resistance.« In Reload: Rethinking Women + Cyberculture, edited by Mary Flanagan and Austin Booth, 444-447. Boston, MA: The MIT Press, 2002.
Baler, Pablo. »The Doors of Expression: The Work of Art in the Age of Quantum Processing
Power.« Sculpture 21, no. 4 (May 2002): 118-120.
Dietz, Steve. »Ten Dreams of Technology.« Leonardo 35, no. 5 (2002): 509-513-515-522.
Wertheim, Margaret. »Worlds Apart - Realities, Virtual and Otherwise.« LA Weekly (May 18-24 2001): 37.
Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
Kerckhove, Derrick de. The Architecture of Intelligence. Wien, New York: Springer Verlag, 2001.
Hansen, Mark. »Embodying Virtual Reality: Touch and Self-Movement in the Work of
Char Davies.« Critical Matrix: The Princeton Journal of Women, Gender and Culture 12, no. 1-2 (2001): 112-147.
Cutler, Randy Lee. »010101.« Canadian a/r/t 18, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 118-120.
Pesce, Mark. The Playful World: How Technology Is Transforming Our Imagination. New York: Ballantine Books, 2000.
Napier, JoAnn and Denise Shortt and Emma Smith. »Culture: Char Davies, Virtual Artist.« In Technology with Curves: Women Reshaping the Digital Landscape, edited by . Toronto, Ontario: Harper Colllins Ltd, 2000.
Lyall, Marta. »Traversing the Wilderness of Body.« In Shifting Ground: Transformed Views of the American Landscape, edited by Rhonda Lane Howard. Washington DC: Henry Art Gallery and University of Washington, 2000.
Jones, Stephen. »Towards a Philosophy of Virtual Reality: Issues Implicit in "Consciousness
Reframed".« Leonardo 33, no. 2 (2000): 125-132.
Banville, Annie-Claude. »La polysensorialité dans Osmose de Char Davies.« In Jeunes chercheurs du CELAT, edited by . Montreal: 2000.
Whitelaw, Mitchell. »Virtual Futures for New Media Art.« Artlink 19, no. 2 (1999): 53.
Wertheim, Margaret. »Out of This World.« New Scientist 161, no. 2172 (February 1999): 38-41.
Rajah, Niranjan. »The Representation Of A New Cosmology: Immersive Virtual Reality
and the Integration of Epistemologies.« In Invencao: thinking the Next Millenium, edited by . Sao Paolo, Brazil: ITAU Cultural, CAiiA, 1999.
McRobert, Laurie. »Immersive Computer Art and the Making of Consciousness.« In Reframing Consciousness, edited by Roy Ascott, 32-37. Bristol, Wilmington: Intellect Books, 1999.
Kac, Eduardo. »Beyond the Screen: New Directions in Interactive Art.« Blimp: Film Magazine 40 (1999): 49-54.
Fisher, Jennifer. »Char Davies.« Parachute 94 (April-June 1999).
Crighton, Gary. »The Real and the Virtual: Karl O´Donoghue Interviews Char Davies.« New Media Notes: Art and Technology in Ireland , no. 2 (March 1999).
Tuer, Dot. »The Second Nature of Simulation: Mirroring the Organic in the Virtual
World of Char Davies's Ephémère.« In Char Davies: Ephémère, edited by National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa, ON, Canada: 1998.
Pesce, Mark. »3-D Epiphany.« .
Morse, Margaret. Virtualities: Television, Media Art and Cyberculture. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998.
Mirapaul, Matthew. »An Intense Dose of Virtual Reality.« The New York Times Online (July 9th 1998).
McDonagh, Patrick. »Char Davies´ Ephémère.« .
King, Charles. »Char Davies and Ephémère.« Silicon Graphics Online (October 1998).
Kac, Eduardo. »Novos Rumos na Arte Interativa.« Veredas 3, no. 32 (August 1998): 12-15.
Heim, Michael. Virtual Realism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Goldstein, Jon. »Silicon and Acorns.« Time Digital (October 1998): 16.
Goldberg, Ken. »Virtual Reality in the Age of Telepresence.« Convergence Journal 4, no. 1 (Spring 1998): 33-37.
Gagnon, Jean. »Dionysus and RGlobal: Immersion in Char Davies´s Environments.« In Char Davies: Ephémère, exhibition catalogue, edited by . Ottawa, CAN: 1998.
Davis, Erik. TechGnosis: Myth, Magic and Mysticism in the Age of Information. New York: Harmony Books, 1998.
Cobb, Jennifer. Cybergrace: The Search for God in the Digital World. New York: Crown Publishing Group, 1998.
Brew, Kathy. »Digital Portfolio.« Civilization: Magazine of the Library of Congress (Oct.-Nov. 1998): 79.
Anders, Peter. Envisioning Cyberspace: Designing 3D Electronic Spaces. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998.
Spalter, Anne Morgan. The Computer in the Visual Arts. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesely Longman Publishing Co., 1998.
Zelanski, Paul and Mary Pat Fisher. Colour. New York: Perason Education, 1998.
Davies, Char. »Osmose.« In Arte Virtual - Realidad Plural, edited by Karin Ohlenschläger. Monterrey, MEX: Museo de Monterrey, MEX, 1997.
Davies, Char. »Osmose.« Nov'Art: Les états généraux de l'écriture interactive (February 1997): 34-37.
Wertheim, Margaret. »Virtual Ecology.« .
Reid, Robert. ArchitectsBeobachters: 1,000 Days that Built the Future of Business. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons, 1997.
Pearce, Celia. The Interactive Book: A Guide to the Interactive Revolution. Indianapolis: MacMillan Technical Publishing, 1997.
O´Brien, Paul. »Sensing the Future Conference: Arthouse, Dublin.« Circa (Summer 1997).
Morse, Margaret. »Virtually Female: Body and Code.« In Processed Lives: Gender and Technology in Everyday Life, edited by Jennifer Terry and Melodie Calvert. New York: Routledge Champman and Hall, 1997.
Morley, Andrew. »Serious Games.« Contemporary Visual Arts 15 (1997): 66.
McClellan, Jim. »The Amazing Technicolor Dream Float.« Esquire (June 1997): 60.
Lévy, Pierre. Cyberculture. Paris: Editions Jacob, 1997.
Langlois, Monique. »La nature dans l´art.« ETC Montreal 38 (Summer 1997): 17-21.
Grau, Oliver. »Vom Zen des Tauchens.« Die Zeit (June 1997): 62.
Grau, Oliver. »In das "lebendige" Bild: Die Virtuelle Realität setzt der Kunst neue Spielregeln.« neue bildende kunst. Zeitschrift für Kunst und Kritik , no. 6 (1997): 28-36.
Grau, Oliver. »Künstler für fünf Minuten.« c´t Magazin für Computertechnik , no. 6 (1997): 104-108.
Godwin, Nicola. »Tripping on the Light Fantastic.« The London Daily Telegraph (June 1997): 12-13.
Faber, Liz. »Games that People Play.« Creative Review (August 1997).
Carlisle, Isabel. »Games with a Magic Edge.« The Times (June 26th 1997): 39.
Patterson, Nancy. »Technology (Does not Equal) Art.« Fuse 20, no. 5 (November 1997): 43-45.
Graham, Beryl and Carol Brown, ed. Serious Games. London: Barbican Art Gallery and Tyne and Wear Museums, 1996.
Wertheim, Margaret. »Lux Interior.« 21C: Scanning the Future 4 (1996): 26-31.
Wertheim, Margaret. »Virtual Nature: Osmose - Char Davies' Organo-Virtual Odyssey.« Metropolis (September 1996): 58-61.
Sims, David. »Osmose: Is VR Supposed to be this Relaxing?.« Computer Graphics and Applications (IEEE Computer Society) 16, no. 6 (November 1996): 4-5.
Schutze, Bernard. »La Tentation de la techno-mystique.« Inter Art Actual (Winter 1996): 25.
Rutledge, Virginia. »Reality by Other Means.« Art in America 84, no. 6 (June 1996): 38-39.
Porter, Stephen M.. »Expanding the VR Aesthetic.« Computer Graphics World 19, no. 7 (July 1996): 4.
Pesce, Marc. »Osmose en Ik/ Osmose and Me.« Wave 17 (March/April 1996): 44-47.
McRobert, Laurie. »Virtual Reality and the Dynamics of Transcendence.« Explorations: Journal for Adventurous Thought XV, no. 1 (Fall 1996).
Mattei, Maria Grazia. »Fino All´Ultimo Respiro.« Virtual 32 (June 1996): 36-37.
Lunenfeld, Peter. »Char Davies.« Art + Text 53 (1996): 82-83.
Klaus, Francois. »Osmose-toi si tu l´oses!.« Interactif 9 (May 1996): 94-95.
Graham, Beryl. »Not A Show About New Technology, A Show About Interaction.« In Serious Games, edited by . London: Barbican Art Gallery and Tyne and Wear Museums, 1996.
Dyson, Frances. »Charged Havens.« WorldArt 3 (Fall 1996): 42-47.
Dove, Kelly. »Year in Review, Wired for 3D: Best of 96.« 3D Design II (12) (December 1996): 31.
Deleage, Jean-Rémi. »Premiers pas dans la transparence.« Sciences et Avenir 591 (May 1996): 82.
Davis, Erik. »Osmose.« Wired 4.08 (August 1996).
Bardini, Thierry. »Quand la l´imaginaire devient realite virtuelle: Á props de myth
entourant les technologies du virtuel.« Interface: La Revue de la Recherche (January 1996).
Weintraub, Annette. »Artifice, Artifact, The Landscape of the Constructed Digital Environment.« Leonardo 28, no. 5 (1995): 365-366.
Le Grande, Jean-Pierre. »Char Davies: Osmose du virtuel au naturel.« Vie des Arts XXXIX, no. 160 (Fall 1995): 27-29.
Jones, Mark J.. »Char Davies: VR through Osmosis.« Cyberstage 2, no. 1 (Fall 1995).
Grant Marchand, Sandra. »Char Davies: Osmose.« In Project Series, exhibition catalogue Musée d´art contemporain de Montréal, edited by . : 1995.
Bureaud, Annick. »ISEA 95, Montreal.« Leonardo Electronic Almanac 3, no. 11 (Novembre 1995).
Bernier, Robert. »Char Davies: L´espace immersif, espace perceptif.« L´informateur des Arts II, no. 1 (Fall 1995): 58-60.
Asiomanoff, Florent. »Osmose: L´univers de Char Davies.« Nov´Art , no. 18 (Fall 1995): 12.
Allen, Carl. »Trois oeuvres Montréalaises font l'événement.« Qui fait quoi , no. 140 (Novembre and Décembre 1995).
Faure-Walker, James. »Art in the Intelligent Lunch- Box.« Modern Painters (Spring 1994).
Robertson, Barbara. »Computer Artist Char Davies.« Computer Artist 3, no. 2 (February/March 1994): 16-20.
Herken, Rolf. »Jury Statement.« In Der Prix Ars Electronica: International Compendium of the Computer Arts, edited by Christine Schöpf and Christian Schenk and Paul Pritchard, 18. Linz: Veritas-Verlag, 1993.
Davies, Char. »Virtual Space.« In Space: In Science, Art and Society, edited by Francois Penz and Gregory Radick and Robert Howell, 69-104. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Malloy, Judy. Women, Art, and Technology. Leonardo, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003.
Davies, Char. »Rethinking Virtual Reality: Key Concepts and Concerns.« In Hybrid Reality: Art, Technology and the Human Factor, edited by Hal Thwaites. Montreal, Canada: International Society on Virtual Systems and Multimedia, 2003.
Davies, Char. »Espaces Entrelacés: Virtual Reality as Poeisis.« In Prefiguring Cyberculture: An Intellectual History, edited by Darren Tofts and Annemarie Jonson and Alessio Cavallaro, 192-193. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2002.
Davies, Char. »Changing Space: Virtual Reality as an Arena of Embodied Being.« In Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, edited by Randall Packer and Ken Jordan, 293-300. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2002.
Davies, Char. »Osmose: Notes on Being in Immersive Virtual Space.« In Digital Creativity: A Reader, edited by Colin Beardon and Lone Malmborg, 101-110. Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger Publishers, 2002.
Davies, Char. »Landscape, Earth, Body, Being, World, and Time in the Immersive Virtual
Environments Osmose and Ephémère.« In Emergent Futures: Art, Interactivity and New Media, edited by Angela Molina and Kepa Landa, 47-58. : Institució Alfonse el Magnánim, Diputació de Valencia, 2000.
Davies, Char. »As If.« Forbes ASAP Big Issue IV: The Great Convergence (Octobre 1999): 161.
Davies, Char. »Osmose: Notes on Being in Immersive Virtual Space.« In Digital Creativity, edited by Colin Beardon and Lone et. al. MalmborgVol.9. . Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger Publishers, 1998.
Davies, Char. »Changing Space: Virtual Reality as an Arena of Being.« In The Virtual Dimension: Architecture, Representation, and Crash Culture, edited by John Beckmann, 144-155. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.
Davies, Char. »Ephémère: Landscape, Earth, Body, and Time in Immersive Virtual Space.« In Reframing Consciousness, edited by Roy Ascott, 196-201. Portland: Exeter, 1998.
Davies, Char. »Techne as poiesis: Seeking Virtual Ground.« edited by Roy Ascott, 28. : University of Wales, Newport, 1997.
Davies, Char and John Harrison. »Osmose: Towards Broadening the Aesthetics of Virtual Reality.« Computer Graphics (ACM SIGGRAPH) 30, no. 4 (1996): 25-28.
Davies, Char. »The Yearning.« In Der Prix Ars Electronica: International Compendium of the Computer Arts, edited by Christine Schöpf and Christian Schenk and Paul Pritchard, 26-29. Linz: Veritas-Verlag, 1993.
Davies, Char. »Natural Artifice.« In Virtual Seminar on the Bioapparatus, edited by Mary Anne Moser. Banff, Canada: The Banff Centre for the Arts, 1991.