For me, the computer is not only an artistic tool, but it also seems to be a symptom for that decisive change taking place in our society as an outcome of the electronic revolution, that is, the change of our sensual perception. This goes along with a relational change in the perception of reality, also of artistic reality or of the artistic expression 'Reality'. I have been working in and with the media of film, video and photography for years, and for a while now I have been using the computer as a dialog partner for my artistic expression by working with computer-generated images. The computer allows me to widen my expression and to go into a new/different discourse of the terms 'representation' and 'reality'.

In my works with the computer, I juxtapose analog photograhy and digital photography in order to break through the photo-realistic expression, the simulation of the real. I want to achieve a non-photorealistic environment (that I also wish to see in Cyberspace), not a representation of reality, but a permanent questioning of the real. (Valie Export)

Technical Background:

HW: Mac II
SW: Digital Darkroom, Photoshop

Valie Export (A) was born in Linz, attended the Arts and Crafts School in Linz and a technical college in Vienna. She lives in Berlin and in the USA. Her work comprises, among others, various forms of films, video tapes, video installations, performances, sculpture, computer works and publications about contemporary art history. Since 1968 she has participated in international art exhibitions in Paris (Centre Georges Pompidou), Kassel (Documenta) New York (Museum of Modern Art), Venice (Biennale), Frankfurt, Lausanne, Cologne, Munich, Vienna, London, etc., and in international film festivals in London, Los Angeles, Berlin, Cannes, Montreal, Vancouver, Locarno, etc. Besides, her films were shown by many TV companies. In 1980, Valie Export was the official representative of Austria at the Venice Biennale.