Juror’s Statement:

In the current round of the MSU Bridge Artists in Residency project, the jury has selected the project “Wastelands” – an art project speculating on a future 500 hundred years from now when humans are using bioengineering to create biogas, fueling the world with only our waste – excrement, methanogens and viruses. Selected out of a competitive pool, Tagny Duff’s proposal argues for an impressive ecocentric vision that reflects an acute epistemological awareness. Her fictitious account presents an alternative perspective to a future fraught with climate uncertainty. Not only are her methods rooted in a strong understanding of science but the jurors were also impressed by her attention to nuanced poetics and a keen aesthetic. Overall, the jury felt that Duff’s proposal aligned with research on MSU campus as well as the objectives of the Bridge Artist in Residence.

In 2010, Electronic Art and Intermedia (EAI), a new area of study was formed within the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University. Its mission is to explore new forms of artistic output brought about by science and technology. EAI builds on the history of Intermedia, which is a philosophy that historically explored the intersection among art disciplines. Expanding on the fusion of art genres, EAI applies this model within the academy more broadly to encourage new forms of research and creative activity by combining research epistemologies and praxis from many disciplines both within and outside of the arts.

Since its inception, the EAI area has invited prominent artists and theoreticians who embody an intermedia philosophy within the framework of MSU’s Visiting Guest Lecture Series.

As an extension of the visiting artists program, the newly created BRIDGE Artist in Residency Program enables artists to spend more time on campus, conduct research in connection with departments of their choice, and to produce work by taking advantage of the most diverse facilities and expertise. The mission of the BRIDGE Artist in Residency program is to immerse national and international artists within the creative space of scientific inquiry and research at MSU, connecting the arts, sciences and humanities.

Bio: Tagny Duff is an interdisciplinary media artist, scholar and educator working across media art and microbiology with a particular interest in microbial interaction and scientific practices from a cultural point of view. Duff has exhibited biological art works nationally and internationally in venues such the Science Gallery in Ireland (2011) and Espace Multimédia Gantner, France (2015). She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on the overlap between art and science methodologies and approaches including the recent publication “Mangling Methods Across Performance Research, Biological Arts and Life Sciences” published by Media-N Journal of the New Media Caucus. She is the recipient of numerous prizes and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC). Duff is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University and is the director/founder of Fluxmedia, a network for artists, scientists, and humanities researchers to engage in collaboration across art and the life sciences. She is also founder of the Speculative Life Lab housed in the Milieux institute for Arts, Culture and Technology at Concordia. Duff lives and works in Montreal, Québec.