Franklin Furnace Events in Real and Virtual Space, 1976 to Present

Martha Wilson will review twenty years of Franklin Furnace's temporal art presentations in real time and space, and discuss the decisions made in the process of "going virtual." Then she will present works of "live art on the Internet" produced by Franklin Furnace from 1998 through the present.

 

 

Biography

Performance artist Martha Wilson is Founding Director of Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc., a museum in lower Manhattan which, since its inception in 1976, has presented and preserved temporal art: artists' books and other multiples produced internationally after 1960; temporary installations; and performance art. Franklin Furnace now exists entirely as a virtual museum on the Web. Trained in English Literature, Ms. Wilson was teaching at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design when she became fascinated by the intersection of text and image. As an artist, she has performed in the guises of Alexander Haig, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, and Tipper Gore. Ms. Wilson lectures widely on the book as an art form, on performance art, and on live art on the Internet.