Confronting sexism and toxic masculinity in gaming and other digital spaces, Angela Washko’s practice spans interventions in mainstream media, performance art in virtual environments, net art, video games, and moving image works. Washko’s unique approach uses digital and game design to challenge misogyny and queerphobia in virtual public arenas. Her projects include The Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft, a four-year-long feminist intervention inside the most popular online multiplayer role-playing video game of all time; and The Game: The Game, a dating simulator wherein players experience the practices of several prominent seduction coaches (aka pick-up artists) taken directly from their instructional books and video materials.
The evening’s dialogue will be moderated by Frenchy Lunning, Professor Emeritus of Minneapolis College of Art and Design and Visiting Faculty within the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at Macalester College
Copresented by the Walker Art Center and AIGA Minnesota.
Bio
Frenchy Lunning is a Professor Emeritus of Minneapolis College of Art and Design as well as Visiting Faculty within the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at Macalester College. She was the founder and director of both the Japanese and the US “Mechademia Conferences on Asian Popular Cultures;” the Editor-in-Chief of Mechademia, published by the University of Minnesota Press; and one of the Editors-in-Chief of the current journal series Mechademia: Second Arc. Published books include Subcultural Fashion: Fetish Style (2013), and Cosplay: The Fictional Mode of Existence (2022). She has been working in Object-Oriented Ontology, and has chapters published in two anthologies: After the “Speculative Turn”: Realism, Philosophy and Feminism, eds. Eileen Joy, Katerina Kolozova and Ben Woodard; and Object-Oriented Feminism, ed. by Kathryn Behar. She is currently researching for her third book, Revolutionary Girl: Shōjo. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, an MA from Hamline University, and a BA from the University of Iowa.
Angela Washko is an artist, filmmaker, and experimental game developer who creates new forums for discussions about feminism in spaces frequently hostile towards it. Her practice spans interventions in virtual environments, performance art, media installation, documentary film, and video games. A recipient of the United States Artists Fellowship, Creative Capital Award, Franklin Furnace Performance Fund, Impact Award at Indiecade, and Jury Awards for Best Documentary at the American Film Festival, San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, and Buffalo International Film Festival, Washko’s practice has been highlighted in The New Yorker, Frieze Magazine, Time Magazine, The Guardian, ArtForum, The Los Angeles Times, Art in America, The New York Times and more. Her projects have been presented internationally at venues including Museum of the Moving Image, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Milan Design Triennale, and the Shenzhen Animation Biennial. Angela Washko is an Associate Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University.
After-Lecture Receptions
Directly following each lecture, meet the presenters, grab a drink, and chat with fellow design lovers in the Walker’s Main Lobby.
Save with an Insights Series Package
$90 ($71 Walker and AIGA members; $38 students)
Price includes tickets to five paid events. (Unclaimed reserved tickets are released 15 minutes before the event start time.) Purchase online, visit the Walker box office, or call 612-375-7600.
Accessibility
This program will have ASL interpretation.