Kate Armstrong is a

Canadian artist The following is a list of Canadian artists working in visual or plastic media (including 20th-century artists working in video art, performance art, or other types of new media). See other articles for information on Canadian literature, Canadian ...

, writer and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

with a history of projects focusing on experimental literary practices, networks and

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to ...

Biography

Armstrong is a Canadian-born artist, writer, and curator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

. She received a master of philosophy in humanities degree from

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

. After gaining her master's degree from Memorial University in her early twenties, she began her current career path in the arts. The main focus of her work is to explore the relationship between art and technology. Armstrong later moved to

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

to begin her career. She currently continues to reside in Vancouver.

Career

Armstrong's network art projects include ''PING'' (2003), ''Grafik Dynamo'' (2005), ''Why Some Dolls Are Bad'' (2007), and ''Path'' (2008). Armstrong publishes on issues in

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

and has a book, ''Crisis and Repetition: Essays on Art and Culture'' (

Michigan State University Press Michigan State University Press is the scholarly publishing arm of Michigan State University. Scholarly publishing at the university significantly predates the establishment of its press in 1947. By the 1890s the institution's Experiment Stations ...

, 2002). She founded Upgrade Vancouver in 2003 and has produced over 100 events in the field of art and technology in Vancouver, as well as many international events and exhibitions in connection with Upgrade International, a network operating in 30 cities worldwide. Upgrade Vancouver was the first node in Upgrade International outside New York City. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 Armstrong convened ArtCamp, an unconference devoted to art, design and media. In 2008 Armstrong commissioned and curated Tributaries and Text-Fed Streams, a work by

J.R. Carpenter J. R. Carpenter (born 1972) is a British-Canadian artist, writer, and researcher working across performance, print, and digital media. She was born in Nova Scotia in 1972. She lived in Montreal from 1990 to 2009. She emigrated to England in 2010, a ...

, which investigated the formal properties of RSS syndication as a literary form. Armstrong taught at

Emily Carr University of Art and Design Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...

. From 2005 to 2008 she taught at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

. She lectured at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

in mid 2009.

Projects

* ''Space Video'' (2012) – Project that addresses ideas of exploration in inner and outer space. Commissioned by Turbulence.org * ''Medium'' (2011) – Book compiling the results of an internet project of the same name * ''Source Material Everywhere: A Remix'' (2011) – Book consisting of compiled Wikipedia entries for the terms "source", "material", and "everywhere" * ''Path'' (2008) – 12 volume text generated book based on the physical movements of an anonymous individual in Montreal. An updated edition was released in 2012 * ''Why Some Dolls are Bad'' (2007) – Graphic novel generator that mixes images and original text to create a narrative * ''Grafik Dynamo'' (2005-2008) – Net artwork that converted images from the internet into live-action comic strips from 2005 to 2008. Commissioned by Turbulence.org. Reviewed in Digital Humanities. Quarterly. * ''Pattern Language'' (2005-2007) – Online system that attaches patterns of narrative to participants as they travel through Montreal * ''The Problem of Other Minds'' (2006) – Voice-activated robotic sculpture that unspools a roll of paper when it recognizes keywords * ''IN[]EX'' (2006) – Project in which thousands of wooden blocks with embedded technology are released in the city for public engagement * ''PING'' (2003) – Telephone menu system that directs participants through the city. Reviewed in ''Beyond the Screen,'' 2010

Publications and essays

* ''Chapter 28. A Collective Imaginary: A Published Conversation'', with Kate Armstrong Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities: Contexts, Forms, and Practices * ''A Manual for the Discrete and the Continuous'', Fillip, Issue 11 (2010) * ''Visual Geographies'', Blackflash Magazine (2010) * ''Yo Dawg, I Hear You Like Culture So I Put Some Culture in Your Culture'', Granville Magazine (2009) * ''Robots in the Garden'', Catalogue essay, Second Site Collective (2009) * ''Data and Narrative: Location Aware Fiction,'' trAce Online Writing Centre, (2003) * ''Crisis & Repetition: Essays on Art and Culture'',(2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Kate Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian multimedia artists Canadian women artists Queen's University at Kingston alumni Artists from Vancouver Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni University of Montpellier alumni Writers from Vancouver Canadian women curators Electronic literature writers

Biography

Career

Projects

Publications and essays

See also

References