Nell Tenhaaf
Nell Tenhaaf is an electronic media artist and writer. She has exhibited across Canada, in the U.S. and in Europe. A survey exhibition of fifteen years of her work entitled Fit/Unfit opened in April 2003 at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, and travelled to four other venues. Tenhaaf works with sound artist John Kamevaar and artist/electronics designer Nicholas Stedman (since 2003), and computer science researcher Melanie Baljko (since 2004).
Tenhaaf's works created between 1989 and the mid-1990s were aimed at deconstructing the dominance in mainstream biological and biotechnology discourse of DNA as the "master molecule." The discourses themselves have evolved since then. Later works attempt to represent some of the complex dynamics of life and involve the viewer as one element in a continuous flux, for example in WinWin (2012), Push/Pull (2009), Flo'nGlo (2005), Swell (2003) and the touch-activated video installation UCBM (You could be me) (1999).
Tenhaaf has published numerous reviews and articles that address the cultural implications of biotechnologies and of Artificial Life. She has been jury Chair for the Vida/Life art and artificial life competition based in Madrid since its inception. Tenhaaf is a Professor in the Visual Arts department of York University in Toronto, Canada, and is represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art.
